Hello!
Today, I'll talk about my first test knitting experience. Not as a pattern tester, but as a yarn tester. Several weeks ago, Barbara from
Le Comptoir, was kind enough to ask me if I "would like" to test a new sock yarn.
Restraining an exuberant joy Listening only to my sense of duty, I accepted. Of course.
The deal: Barbara gives me the yarn, I knit and wear the socks and tell her my opinion about the yarn.
But I just couldn't keep it all for myself. Barbara is not a sock knitter, consequently her feet are cold, I must knit the socks and give them to her, poor darling. (This way, she will be hooked, become an avid sock knitter, and order more and more new sock yarn for me to buy)
So here is the skein:
Merisock Hand Painted, from Punta Yarns, in a beautiful wild colorway
Teal, bronze, silver, amethyst, plum, copper...It was the very first time I had such a colorful skein in the hands.
I wound up the skein, delighted that it behaved so well, without a single knot.
Then I began to think about the sock pattern. What pattern will suit this yarn? No lace, no texture, this was for sure: The wild varigations would have obscured the pattern.
Sunday Swing Sock? This pattern
works well for handpainted yarns, it's easy and mindless (I was already preparing my exams) Let's go! As usual I casted on for the two socks on two separate needles. After a few pattern repeats, it became obvious this yarn did not want to be Swing Socks.
Frogged!
Mini-Cable at the back of the leg? Cute, easy, feminine.... This was a no, no. Frogged!
Stockinette? Stockinette is good, reliable, sometimes simply the best solution. Rejected. The yarn pooled like crazy. Frogged!
A difficult to please customer, as you can see.
Ribbing? No way. My ribbing sucks too much.
Feather & Fan? No, I hate knitting this stitch pattern. (Please don't ask me why)
At this point, I thought only one thing would please this yarn:
Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski. This book is awesome to tame the wildest handpainted yarn. So, I tried
Staccato Socks. I was sure, this pattern was
the one! Plus, I love the name! (I'm a violinist!)
Everything went very well, it was ideal, beautiful, perfect....until, I tried it on (or tried to tried it on). Too small. Way, too small. I could not alter the stitch pattern, or change my needle size either. Frogged!
1, 2, 3.....8 patterns tried, and this yarn is still not happy! I was livid,furious, helpless? (maybe Barbara was testing me! not the yarn) determined to bring out the best of this yarn.
A few days later....
This yarn wanted to be feather & fan. It was obvious. Since the beginning. It liked the lazy waves in the Staccato Socks. Feather! And! Fan! Okay, here is for you:
This yarn was spun and dyed to be feather & fan socks. I had lost.
About the yarn:
- It almost drove me crazy Challenging and interesting.
- Beautiful colors, with very short color sections.
- No pooling around the ankle. This is rare enough to mention!
- Amazing yardage.
- Not very elastic.
- The dye is of an excellent quality. The colors did not fade or run at all.
About the pattern:
Simple cuff down construction. Casted on 72 stitches, on 2.5mm (Addi, optional) needles.
Feather & Fan pattern (without the purl row) Finally it's not unpleasant to knit.
Row 1: K
Row 2: *[K2tog] x 3, [K1, yo] x 6, [K2tog] x 3*
Row 3: K
Row 4: K
Thank you so much again Barbara for this interesting and educational experience. (I mean it, sincerely). If you want to challenge me with another yarn, it's whenever you want! I'm really happy you
enjoy your socks.
Dear readers, thank you for reading this long long post and sorry: It's probably full of english misspelling and grammar mistakes, but I believe it's getting better with practice. I hope you got the funny tone I tried to give to this post: I sincerely loved and enjoyed this experience.
One more thing: This sock is not part of my personnal sock club, because I was not sure, until today, if I could publish these pictures. Pictures modeled by Barbara.
Only a few days left until the July Socks deadline! They are already on my needles but still not finished.
Happy knitting/crafting to you! ^^
