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Of all the countless articles and endless advice written about sock knitting I feel that the one thing which should be top of the list, rarely is.
What am I talking about? The yarn of course.
You can have the perfect stitch pattern, the perfect needles and create socks that are the perfect fit with amazingly matchy stripes. But none of that matters at all if the yarn isn’t up to the job.
A lot is written about so-called sock yarns - often taken to mean a 4ply or fingering weight yarn which usually (but not always) is a wool blend with up to 25% nylon. This often leads to the assumption that this is the only type of yarn suitable for sock knitting. But in reality it is perfectly possible, desirable even, to knit a sock in 100% natural fibres.
Nylon is added to give strength to a yarn, a job it does admirably. But the same effect can be achieved by adding another fibre such as alpaca or mohair to the blend.
If you want to read more about this and maybe experiment with some nylon free socks for yourself, this article by the Wovember team in conjunction with Sue of Blacker Yarns is a great place to start.
Another crucial factor which is often overlooked is the matter of gauge. People often complain that their socks wear through quickly, especially in high friction areas and may blame the yarn. If this is a problem for you it might be worth switching down a needle size or two. Friction is reduced considerably when the fabric has a tighter weave - the fibres literally have less room to rub against each other - and the resulting sock will be much longer lasting. Knitting socks on 2.5mm needles used to be my default but increasingly I have noticed much better results (and increased longevity of heels/toes) by switching down to 2.25mm needles.
Whilst no one wants a bullet proof sock*, aiming for a slightly denser fabric than you might usually go for could work wonders.
* This reminds me of when, as a sock newbie I decided to knit a DK weight sock on my regular 2.5mm needles. What could possibly go wrong I reasoned - surely you always used ‘sock needles’ to knit socks.
The end result was a pair of booties that quite literally stood up by themselves.
And that’s never a good look.
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