With the traditional late-February snow storm has arrived a tropical tide of summery sock yarns!
Just in time to cast on, work at a relaxing pace, and have them ready in plenty of time.
Let’s look at what different brands have come up with for the warm weather.
I’m not going to bury the lede – perhaps our most asked about yarn last season was the Regia Pairfect line. We’ve brought it in in Pairfect Cotton! The yellow strand you see in the picture marks the beginning of each sock, allowing you to get an exactly matching pair. It’s 72% Cotton, 18% Nylon, and 10% Polyester. If you like the sound of that, I recommend grabbing them quick because they’re going to disappear fast – and like the original Pairfect it’s not going to be easy for us to get back in stock for awhile!
Cotton is the cornerstone of summer knitting – it doesn’t have the warmth of wool, allowing your feet to chill out a bit while still getting the scrumptious comfort of handknit socks! Our old friend Nylon sticks around to help the socks stand up to wear and tear. You’ll find almost all summery sock yarns have that smidge of Polyester – generally a stretchy polyester blend called PBT – to make up for the lack of stretchiness of cotton, that’s usually provided by the wool in a traditional 75/25 sock yarn.
OnLine’s Supersocke Cotton Stretch is 39% Cotton, 13% Nylon, 7% Polyester, and 41% Wool. Less nylon and polyester than the Regia – no worries, the wool will help keep the shape, while the cotton will give it that squishy cool breath of air!
Want more cotton? Lana Grossa has released a yarn called Solo Cotone that cuts down the middle men and has 87% Cotton with 13% PBT Polyester – that’s more polyester than any other summer sock yarn we have in store, in there to give all that cotton some stretch. They have two colour lines – a semi-tonal that you can see on the right, and the more traditional patterning multi on the left. This variety of colours makes it great for the summer tank top project, or warm weather baby clothes!
“But Chloe,” you say, “what if I don’t want cotton?”
Well, I have three options for you. SOFT, SOFT OPTIONS. Just so soft.
From Wisdom Yarns, we have Saki Bamboo (top left) 50% Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon, 25% Bamboo. The bamboo cuts down on the warmth for you, while the merino gives you the silky smoothness, and the added nylon makes up for the weakness of merino. Saki Silk (top right) is 55% Fine Superwash Merino, 25% Nylon, and 20% Silk! That is one classy blend.
Looking for something both wool-free and cotton-free? Wisdom Yarns’s Naked Sock (below) is 93% Acrylic with 7% PBT for stretch. Everyone who has gotten in a squeeze so far can’t get over the silkiness! You can check out Naked Sock’s Ravelry Project Page to get a peak at how these colours work up.
All of these breathes of summer air can currently be found in the shop canoe, front and center when you come in the door, as if to say “Don’t worry – summer’s coming!”
– Chloe
True North Yarn Co. 