Sheringham

 I have known this day was coming since I bought Gladys Thompson's book on Patterns. (and I spilled red wine on page 82.)

I have cleaned the white fluff off the combing bench, and moved a kilo of that Romney that I dyed navy blue years ago to the bench. It has been languishing in the stash.

I am going to knit a Sheringham - from handspun 4-ply fingering. Not the "tight one" knit on 1mm needles, but the fluffy one knit on 1.3 mm needles. (I like the motion of the stiffer needles. I intend to knit it on 5- 12" needles using a knitting sheath that hangs below my belt.)  All needles except 1.3 mm have been banished to the needle chest. 

Here in sunny California, I like to spin on the patio in the cool of the morning. I figure 2 or 3 weeks to get the spinning done. (Actual spinning/ply time under 55 hours.) (There is a real chance that with a new drive band, actual spin time will be closer to 30 hours.  I come from a world where we plan increment, baseline, and decrement budgets. )  

Then, 10 or 12 weeks of knitting - not all the time but 4 to 6 hours per day.  (Actual knitting time, 200 to 300 hours.)

Sock fabric!

Elastic, durable, good moisture control, with minimum bulk

Early last spring, I set a goal of learning to knit "sock fabric". I wanted the fabrics of  Gladys Thompson's Sheringham ganseys and  Weldon's various gentleman's socks. These fabrics were knit from 4-ply Scotch Fingering Yarns. Paton's Beehive, was a commercial example, with samples still available. I also had samples of Froelich Wolle Special Blauband, which is also a 4-ply fingering yarn. It was clear to  me that 4-ply fingering was a fairly common kind of yarn - that at one time was commonly handspun.  

The modern Paton's BeeHive is synthetic and the Blauband contains 15% nylon. I like wool yarns, so after looking around, it seemed that I would have to become competent at spinning "sock yarn". I played with various forms of 3-ply (1680 ypp) and even made 6-ply versions, also ~ 1680 ypp, and decided, I wanted good,  4-ply fingering. Such yarns are based on 20s. (singles with 20 hanks of 560 yards /pound)

I could spin worsted 10s (5,600 ypp singles), so I did not fear 20s, but knew they would take some practice to spin on a production basis.

First I needed to do some spinning from the stash.

As excavated from stash. It is a colored (silver-brown, sepia) Cotswold-cross

 with a spin with a spin count under 40s. I bought it for a gansey for myself, but my 

wife tells me it is the wrong color - so it is promoted to socks. It should be a durable as nylon, 

but with all the virtues of wool.

First pass on combing

First bird's nest for this project.

 It needs better planking.

First spinning trial. Grist should be ~11,000 ypp (e.g., 20s). 

At this grist it spins very fast  and easy.  By the

time I write this, I have several bobbins of singles wound off

 and ready  to start plying.

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Repeat for every large bin in the stash. No blending - each single is from one fleece. Often the yarns would be marled, plied up from yarns spun from different fleece.  Except for the navy-blue Romney, all fiber was undyed.

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Also, there was a reality check - did I really hate yarn from this fleece spun as 10s, and plied up in 1,600 ypp 3-ply?  Mostly, I had 10s spun, and it was just a matter of plying and knitting a swatch. Ya, I wanted 4-ply fingering.

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With the exception of a coarse gray Cotswold,  I liked the 4-ply 2,500 ypp better than the 3-ply 1,600 ypp.  The surprise was one of the coarser Rambouillet fleece. It was surprisingly hard to spin as 20s.

I settled on the singles being worsted (Z) spun ~12,00 ypp at 17 tpi. The yarn was S plied at 12 tpi. A hank of 560 yards is ~ 23 grams,  which can easily spun on my DRS system. Length is lost to twist in plying, so a hank of 4-ply is ~500 yards/ 90 grams.  However, I lose good control of twist after ~ 40 grams, so I ply the finished yarn an ounce at a time. Commercial 4-fingering was traditionally sold in 1 ounce balls, so I do not feel too bad. I do feel these yarns are real sock yarn with good abrasion resistance, elasticity, and moisture control when knit on 1.3 mm needles at ~ 12 spi and 20 rpi. I like these fabrics - a lot. I find them worth the effort.

I sampled six fleece, and  spun a worsted 20s from each. These were plied to produce 2 marled and 2 single fleece yarns with grist between 2,000 ypp and 2,500. These were knit into a chain of swatches on 1.3 mm needles. The Cotswold swatch was finished with about 3/4" knit on 1.0 mm needles in deference to Gladys Thompson's description of Sheringham ganseys. In the photograph, a 1.3 mm sock needle is  above the bit knit with finer needles.   When knit on 1 mm needles that  4-ply fingering spun from Cotswold  is weatherproof. Such knitting is a hell of a lot of work.  As plain knitting, it has very limited elasticity, so it needs a stitch  pattern to give it elasticity and wearing ease.   On the other hand, imagine an 8-ounce "gansey" that is weatherproof! That is real magic! Something like that would be worth spending 10 weeks knitting.  (Frankly, I would use a finer wool to spin 23s or 25s, if I was going to knit on 1mm needles, but I have bouts of "crazy"! )

4 samples from different handspun 4-ply finger fingering yarns.

Gauge is about 12 spi by 20 rpi. ( ~240 stitches/ inch^2).

The long needles are 1.0 mm, the short sock needles are 1.3 mm.

These days I hang a small weight from the bottom of the knitting sheath

to provide better balance.

I am not sure why, but the spinning went a lot faster than I expected. Current theory is that when inserting more twist, I spin the wheel faster, so I am drafting about the same speed I would if spinning 10s. I know this project put a lot of wear on the drive bands, and they need to be replaced sooner than I expected.

Sorry about the pix quality-  I was up on Mt. Brionies, slipped in the dust, and came down hard on my phone.

Fresh Fiber

 I am sure, that by now, you are sick unto death, of my saying "Fresh fiber is good".

Here in California, we have been having some "fine dry weather" that produced some natural experiments on why fresh fiber is good.

1) I use Alden's recipe for spinning oil. It is great for spinning very fine, but it is mostly water. Put it on fiber and let it day and it does not work when dry. 

2) Wool can absorb moisture, and wool holding some moisture is easier to spin fine.  

3) If combed wool dries so much that it is hard to spin fine, it is better to spray it with water and recomb and diz, rather than just spritzing with water. Just spritzing does not evenly moisten all fibers. Combing spreads the moisture through the wool mass and along the fibers. In our fine weather, if I just spritzed the mass, it would dry, before the moisture diffused to all parts of all fibers.

These factors may not be so prominent for commercially produced combed top. I will accept that argument if you can take that commercially produced combed top and spin it at its "spin count" as it comes out of the package. I an spin wool at its spin count as it comes off  the combs. When I have commercially produced combed top I prepare it just like I prepare raw fleece.

I once complained about the warm weather in California one spring, and my boss said, "I will do something about that right now!" And, he handed me a one way ticket to Saudi Arabia and I spent a long warm summer fighting oil well fires and disposing to the resulting hazardous waste. Since 1991, I have not complained about the weather in California. At worst, our weather is an opportunity to learn and improve one's moral fiber. The truth is: Wool grease melts at 120F, so it is easier to scour wool in our fine climate.

Spinning and Swatching like a demon

 What I really want  is a "gardening gansey". Something like a "rugby jersey" but in finely knit wool.  The fabric should be like sock fabric - elastic, durable, and able to handle moisture - cotton rugby jerseys fail at the moisture control criteria.

My old ganseys are really too warm for the current climate and resulting garden chores. (We no longer own an apple orchard in Northern Pennsylvania.) One gansey was knit to the criteria of defending me from thorns as I pruned roses in the winter rains.  In these dryer times we gave up roses. 

Anyway, in experimental spinning for weaving, I spun bins of yarn in the ~ 7 thousand ypp range. Some white, some blue. Swatching tells me that those singles as 3-ply yarn (~2,000 ypp)  make a nice sock yarn, which when knit on 1.5 mm needles make nice fabric, that I think would be good for walking socks or a gardening gansey.  In the past, I knit "boot socks" from 5-ply gansey yarn (1,000 ypp). I did not really think about finer sock fabrics - I was focused on the issue of "How warm can knit wool be?"

This is a major change in paradigm. As I get older, I am less likely to go up into the snowy Sierras and more likely to just walk up Mt. Brionies - a pleasant 2-hour walk if I take the short cut.   It is past time to recognize that there is less snow in the Sierras.  On the other hand, wool boot socks do still feel good on the cold tile kitchen floor on a winter's morning, when I come down to make breakfast. I have 75 pair of good wool boot socks - enough to keep my feet warm while I cook thousands of pots of steel cut oats. 

No, that 3-ply yarn will not be a durable as 4-ply from 11,200 ypp singles. However, that 3-ply  yarn by virtue of its coarser fiber will be more durable than commercial yarns such as  Special Blauban or BeeHive.  And I have those singles on hand and I can ply enough yarn for a gansey in a morning. (I knit swatches from the 4 samples the yarn I already made.)  I will not be off at sea - if a part of the gansey gets worn, I can reknit it.  I have more of those fibers, I can always spin more yarn to match.  And, a fabric knit from 2,000 ypp yarn is just right for Mt. Brionies in any season.

To get here, I had to stop thinking in terms of  modern patterns that use commercially available yarns.

I had to swatch until I found a combination of  yarn and needles that produced a fabric that was well suited to the intended purpose. I had to revert to Knitting in the Old Way as in the book by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts and Deborah Robson. (I do not sell anything these days, but I am honest about what works for me.) Knitting in the Old Way was the key that unlocked Gladys Thompson for me.  I think, the process of swatching yarn as spun and the processes in Knitting in the Old Way produce good sweaters. 

Mostly, ganseys are knit to fit. This makes them warmer for their weight, and it means less knitting - faster production.  Knit to fit, these firm fabrics need pattern stitches to provide extra ease for movement. Sure, you can just run vertical ribs from top to bottom, but that is more work, makes a heavier garment, and not as warm as panels of plain knitting. The Sheringham ganseys have moss and chevron patterns across the chest for extra ease. I also like some of the chest patterns in Mary Wright's, Cornish Guernseys & Knit-frocks. Many of Cornish patterns are similar to the Yorkshire patterns in Gladys Thompson. I expect they were knit for men doing the same kind of jobs in the same climates. 

I have said it before,  "A sweater is only a sweater, but a sweater with matching gloves, socks, hat and muffler is an outfit."  And, gloves, socks, hats and mufflers make very good swatches.  I tend to use Mary Thomas's Knitting Book as guidance on these objects, particularly gloves. Except for gloves, I tend to knit on longer needles.   For glove fingers, I often use shorter "sock needles".  There was a time when I had special very short glove needles, but now I knit everything with a knitting sheath, and all needles are at least 5" long, and mostly steel.  If I must knit soft gloves on big needles (e.g., US2) I use 6" wooden needles because they lighter, less slippery, and less likely to fall out when held by only a few stitches on one side of a finger. 

Like a good little demon, I did recently knit Froehlich Wolle Blauband and Paton's Beehive on the recommended US2 needles. I still hate that fabric. 3-ply,  2,100 ypp yarn knit on US2, is enough firmer to make a reasonable glove fabric - better than those damned, old worthless knit  Army mitten liners!

It is time for me to transition from spinning and knitting objects that prove how warm knit wool can be to spinning and knitting objects better suited to the modern climate. Yes, the finer 20s (11,200 ypp singles) are 40% slower to spin than the warmer 10s, (5,600 ypp singles) but I can still spin them at over 300 yards per hour.  I can still spin/ply a hank (500 yards) of 4-ply sock yarn in a day. 

There is a couple hundred pounds of fiber stash in the house, ranging from Lincoln to Rambouillet, with a lot of Cotswold and Romney in between. At some point, I have spun hanks from each of those bins as 20s, 30s, & 40s. I have spun 40s (22,400 ypp) from the Romney. There is a bunch of  Heinz 57 from the Woolery, and I have spun 54s (30,240 ypp) from that  (sorry, it is not a 57s grade fiber) and there is the Rambouillet from Anna Harvey (https://www.annagotwool.com/) from which I have spun hanks of 560 yards that weighed less than 6 grams e.g., ~ 45,000 ypp). (A small part of a large fleece. Other sections of the fleece spun at closer to 40,000 ypp.)  The real lesson of that evolution was that hanks of fine singles must be tied very carefully, or they will tangle. Alden never worked with such fine threads, so his advice on tying skeins of fine singles is - understated. Some of those skeins tangled, and I called them, "My little shits". From that, many spinners assumed that I could not spin fine. No, I could spin fine, but I had a learning curve on tying hanks of 45,000 ypp singles so they could be handled.

The fiber you have on hand can likely be spun in to 22,400 ypp singles or any lower grist. Finer fibers like Shetland can be spun into 30,000 ypp singles. Merino and Rambouillet can be spun into 40,000 ypp singles.  Mostly, the fiber is not the problem.  Any fiber you buy in a retail store selling spinning supplies can be spun into 22,400 ypp singles.

I think all the books on spinning for knitting, fail to properly discuss plying. Alden fails to talk about using a tension box to facilitate plying.  Great knitting yarns are spun rather fine, then plied to a useful grist. A tension box is essential for smooth, easy, consistent plying.  With a tension box, 5-ply or 10-ply yarns are  easy. Without a tension box, consistent plying is difficult.   With thicker singles (10s) I can ply from center-pull cakes. For sock yarn with finer singles, I ply from bobbins. I think all plied yarns need to be steam blocked.  Steam blocking results in a much better yarn (knitting or weaving). 

And when I buy commercial combed top or roving, I steam it prior to combing. Yes, I comb, diz, and plank and diz commercial combed top. The top is wound into birds nests, then carefully transferred to the distaff for spinning. Fiber that sits as bird nests for a few weeks gets recombed.  And, that is some how I spin finer than most hand spinners.  

Old dog learns new tricks

I have been sampling/swatching/ playing with old yarns like Paton’s Beehive, Froehlich Wolle Blauband yarns, and Jamieson’s of Shetland 4-ply yarns with a grist of  ~2,500 ypp. I have knit them on 1.5 mm and 1.3 mm needles, and like the 1.3 mm needles.

(Some of these yarn labels recommend US2 needles. I first swatched these yarns on the recommended needles. I did not like the fabric, which is I have these nice old yarns in the stash - for an older and wiser knitter to revisit.)

I like the 4-ply construction much better than the 6-ply cable construction that I have been using. The cables are cooler and more durable, but do not have as nice skin feel.  

The Paton’s Beehive, Froehlich Wolle Blauband yarns, and Jamieson’s of Shetland 4-ply yarns with a grist of  ~2,500 ypp seem to be disapearing. There are small lots on Esty, and EBay, but it is hard to find yarn for a sweater. 

These yarns are based on worsted spun singles of 11,200 ypp (20s). Almost any long wool fleece can be spun to that grist.  It takes me a day (after fiber prep)  to spin 4 hanks of singles and ply them together into 500 yards/ 90 grams of good sock yarn. On 1.3 mm needles, 90 grams is a wicked lot of knitting. These 4-ply yarns are easier to produce (fewer steps) than the 6-ply cabled that I have been playing with and knitting on 1.5 mm needles.

Today, this is the kind of yarn I like to knit, but it is very hard to buy such yarns these days. I will tell you about it, but I am not going to spin it for you.

(Yes, with a slower wheel, it will take you longer to spin this kind of yarn. That is not my fault! It is something you should take up with people like Henry Clemes or Robert Ashford.)

A Rabbit Hole

As I started knitting,  yarns seemed to be based on singles of 5,600 ypp.  Gansey yarn was 5-ply (1,000 ypp, allowing for contraction as a result of twist).  The "worsted weight" of  Paton's and Lion Brand was 840 ypp  (e.g., 6-ply grist produced as a 3 or 4 ply yarn requiring  much less  twist and much cheaper to produce).

Paton also produced BeeHive  wool  which has a grist equivalent of  2 singles of 5,600 ypp, but was produced as a 4-ply yarn. It was based on singles of  11,200 ypp. Such singles have a lot of twist and are durable. One must pay for that extra twist and durability, but it was worth it. 

"Jumper yarn" was traditionally a 4-ply yarn with a grist of ~ 2,500 ypp. It was very good stuff. It was/is the basis of the sock fabric I want to knit. Most of the commercial lines of this yarn have been discontinued. Some of it is on ESTY. Over the years, I have bought samples of it from discount bins, but I never learned the technical knitting skills to use it to its highest use, and I did not understand how wonderful fabrics knit from these yarns could be. Now, these brands of wool seem to have been replaced with synthetics.  I still like campfires, so I am not looking for synthetics.

Few hand spinners spin 5-ply gansey yarn because it requires a lot of twist and is thus slow to produce.  The 4-ply, 2,500 ypp needs more than twice as much twist as gansey yarn.  It takes me 3 days to spin yarn for a gansey that takes me 9 days to knit so I should not feel too bad if it takes me more than a week to spin yarn for a sweater that takes me more than a month to knit.  

Spinning yarns based on finer singles is a real rabbit hole. If singles of 11,200 ypp are better, perhaps singles of  33,600 ypp would be much better? That is not a very deep rabbit hole - I spun some 10,000 ypp, 3-ply lace yarn a while back and decided I did not like knitting lace. For now, I am focused on "sock fabric".

As I study sock fabric, I am learning some technical skills - but mostly it is about the value of knitting good stuff. I thought I learned some of that knitting weatherproof ganseys.  No, I just scratched the surface.  The more we have cheap synthetic mass produced clothing, the more precious good clothing becomes. 

Good knit objects are some effort to produce, but if they are really good then you realize that they are worth much more than the effort put into producing them.   I want real value from my textile efforts.

My wife's mother was a very good, fast knitter - and her needles clicked. As I said, there are other reports of knitting needles clicking. As I have gotten more proficient with 1.3 mm needles, they have stopped clicking.  If my needles are clicking, that means that energy is being transferred to the other needle, instead of to the yarn. The needles are levers for moving loops of yarn. Energy that does not go into the yarn is wasted. And, clicking needles mean that one hand is transmitting stress and trauma to the other hand via the needles.  Why should I let one hand bang-up the other hand?

Irish Cottage or Lever Knitting

 It can be fast! It  can reduce stress on the wrist and hand. It can be done with tools bought at any knitting store. For some knitters these are overwhelming advantages.  I wish them well!

On the other hand, it is not particularly good for fine needles, and hence is not particularly good for fabrics that must be weatherproof. Irish Cottage Knitting is not particularly good for fine socks.

Starting in 1999, I set out to knit weatherproof fabrics. It was soon apparent that Irish Cottage Knitting was not a good option for my needs 

Knitting sheaths have similar motions, so  techniques using a knitting sheath are just as fast or faster! Using a knitting sheath, I can work with very fine needles of any length. 

Yes, I had to make the knitting sheaths. The first few knitting sheaths I made were crude, functional, and the time invested was less than the time saved by knitting (the first project) faster. I put a lot more effort into later knitting sheaths, but they have been used on hundreds of knitting projects, and have saved me a lot of knitting time. And, they allow me to knit fabrics that I could not otherwise knit.

This summer, I am learning to knit "sock fabric". I am knitting worsted spun, high twist yarns in the 2,500 ypp to 1,200 ypp class. The fabrics are knit at  between 9 and 15 spi, and include fabrics in the 12 spi by 20 rpi as reported by GT for Sheringham ganseys.  I am not real thrilled by modern sock knitting yarns. I find myself making/spinning my own yarns.  Wool fibers have scales and crimp, that with twist hold the yarn together and give it durability.  Super wash wool does not have the scales, so it has less durability. If I am going to put the effort into knitting, I want durable. Still there is a difference between knitting a sock at that gauge and knitting a sweater at that gauge.  In particular, worsted spinning 6-ply "sock yarn" 17 tpi singles is an easy week's work for a pair of socks, but a sweater's worth of that yarn takes longer. 

Wool is less flammable than synthetics, and for a sweater that I am going to wear out and about, I want less flammable. 

Nylon goes into sock yarns because it is cheaper than wool; it is a filler. For various reasons the wool wears away from the nylon; people see the residual nylon and think nylon makes a durable sock. No, it just helps the wool wear out faster. If I am going to put the effort into knitting, I want durable. That goes double for a fine sweater.

The effort to spin good yarn is less than the effort of buying most commercial yarns, them knitting more socks (or sweaters) because that yarn was designed not to be durable. Some, like Frangipani are very durable, but have a high ply twist, so the yarn has less fill and even when knit firmly produces a fabric that is well suited to modern centrally heated conditions.  Sweaters knit from Frangipani are not well suited to -- taking a nap in the snow. The lesson is : If you wear your beautiful Frangipani sweater to the pub on a cold night, call a taxi, rather than trying to walk home in the snow! ( : 

Irish Cottage Knitting is fast, but it is not suited to producing dense, durable fabrics. Rather the assumption is that the objects will go threadbare or sag, and you will have to knit new objects.  

My points are:

• Spinning is faster than knitting yarn designed to fail.
• Good knitting is faster than knitting twice. 
• If you just like knitting, there are always people that need well knit objects.

Knitting needle tips

 I have been moving toward blunter/flatter knitting needle/ knitting pins/knitting pricks for several years now. For a long while, I thought flat tips were better for knitting and domed or rounded tips were better for ribbing.

Today, I recognize that as a lack of skill.  Now, I like flat tips for knitting and purling. I like flat tips for ribbing. With skill from real practice, they are faster.  Perhaps, if I sit down and practice, I will be able to knit bobbles with flat tipped needles. (There might be 10 cakes of real 10-ply Aran yarn, in the stash.) However, from here I think pointy needles/ knitting pouch is a better toolkit for panels of brioche stitch.

Flat tipped (needles) do not  work well as hand held needles - they really do need a knitting sheath.  

And, knitting  sheaths work better with flat ended needles/pins/pricks. 

If  I need pointy needles for a substantial bit of knitting,  I likely use a knitting pouch. If it is just a few stitches, I will use them in a knitting sheath, or just hand hold them.

If you are going to FINISH a good stream of  fine socks (30,000 stitches per sock) per year, a knitting sheath and flat tipped needles are the easy path.

The Click of Knitting Needles

 In the book Heidi by Spryri, her blind grandmother's knitting needles clicked as she knit by the fire. And, there are other literary references to the clicking of knitting needles.

From this I assumed that a good knitter's needles clicked as they knit. However, I did not hear modern knitter's needles click, and I did not click as I knit.  This was good as it allowed me to do a lot of knitting as my wife and I watched movies.  

However, recently, my needles have started clicking as I knit. The currents culprits are 1.3 mm steel sock needles with a Durham style knitting sheath when knitting firmly spun sock yarn.  It is not a big deal - it is not something you would hear over the Star Wars sound track.  

But yes, Spyri was correct that some knitter's knitting needles click as they knit.

Sock Fabric

 I was going to spin the yarn, and knit a fine gansey this summer. 

Then, I realized that the fabric I wanted was actually "sock fabric".  

Thus, when I was out sailing with guys that had gotten many pairs of handknit ski and hiking socks from from me over the years, and I told them that my plans for the summer was to learn to knit socks, they were surprised.  However, there are socks and there are "socks"!

I cabled up some 6-ply, 1,680 worsted yarn, and started looking for needles to knit it. I was not impressed by 2 mm, 1.9 mm, 1.8 mm, 1.5 mm, . . .  . but ahh! the yarn comes alive with 1.3 mm needles. Stitches are easier to  knit and easier to see than with the thicker needles that I had tried.  Actually the 1.3 mm needle got mixed in to a set of 1.5 mm needles Iwas working with, an the difference was such an epiphany, that I frogged the 20,000 stitches that I had already knit with the 1.5 mm needles, and am reknitting it with 1.3 mm needles. (I have not frogged the first sock of the pair, and I may keep it because it is a good sock, just not a great sock. ) 

That yarn, knit with 1.3 mm needles is a lovely fabric, and just as importantly, it is as fast to knit as coarser fabrics knit on thicker needles. The stitches pop and are easy to see, and it is easy to feel when the stitch is correct. And, it is suddenly a smooth fabric, that will not chafe.  It is the same explosion of understanding as when I first knit 1,000 ypp gansey yarn with "gansey needles".  It convinces me that the magic of  gansey knitting is the ratio of the yarn grist to the diameter of the knitting needle. Now, I believe there are other such wonderful convergences between grist and needle size, with spinning factors such as twist per inch also important.

I also think "that magic" only appears when using a knitting sheath.  Now, I am using blunt tipped knitting "pins" or knitting "pricks", which do not work well with a leather knitting pouch.  More and more, I am convinced that knitting tools were rather specialized. A leather knitting pouch with pointy needles is a much better tool kit for lace, Fair Isle, and perhaps Aran sweaters with bobbles.  I no longer use my knitting pouch for socks.  If I needed a pair of lace socks, I would be buckling that  leather knitting pouch around my waist as I read the pattern.  More likely,  I would knit a fine pair of socks and then use the pouch to knit lace cuffs to stitch onto the socks. 

For a fine sock fabric, I want a knitting sheath, and fine needles. 

I do not care how long the needles are - I use whichever knitting sheath that brings the knitting into an ergonomic knitting zone.  The knitting bag now has 3 lengths of fine sock needles in it - and a different knitting sheath for each needle length. If I was a professional - knitting a ship cargos of one kind of sock, I would need only one set of needles and one knitting sheath. My personal knitting would just be done with that one tool kit. I have the 3 tool kits not because I do so much knitting, but because I want to know how those different tool kits work, and I do not have a teacher to ask.

Yes, this summer, I am learning how to knit a sweater of fine sock fabric. It may be blue or white or dyed, but my wife tells me it will not be any of the natural browns in the fiber stash. Oh Well! That frees up those brown fleece to be fine socks.