A while back when I first read Around the World in Knitted Socks I went out and bought as much solid-colored sock yarn as I could afford, because the majority of the patterns in that book have you juggle multiple yarns at once. I went to my local yarn store Untangled Purls (by the way, you know you have found your home when you hear frequent commercials for a yarn store over the radio) and bought a few colors from different brands. I knit a pair of Green Isle with using white and red Lang Super Soxx (discontinued, not shockingly) and noticed almost immediately that I was shredding the life out of the red parts almost every time I wore them. Now, I’m hard on my socks (and my feet) so I expect to see signs of wear after a while but not nearly that quick. After darning them five or six times in a four-month period I said screw it and tossed them. Then I got curious and took a look at the remaining skein of the shred-happy sock yarn and read that it was 100% wool, with no nylon content. The majority of sock yarns like Regia (practically bullet-proof) have nylon added to make them much more resistant to normal wear and tear.
I didn’t want to waste the last skein so I ended up casting on a lace scarf from Victorian Lace Today and it’s going to be a perfect holiday gift for a friend of mine, just her color!
Also, I bit the bullet and bought a pattern that I’ve wanted to knit for years, Ruby by White Lies Design. I’m attending a wedding in May, so this would be perfect! I’ll knit it in either Ella Rae Classic Superwash in purple or Berroco Vintage in light green. We’ll see how subtle I feel like being.
I intend to knock out my afghan, too. Every once in a while I get a second wind on it and get several rows done, then it goes back in the box and sits for a month. I started it last March, what do you say I set a goal to finish by this upcoming March? Make it a solid year.