Fiber Fool

If you were around last year for Socktoberfest you know doubt recall a sock yarn review I did. If you weren’t around then, go check it out, I suspect you’ll find it useful. Today, the last day of Socktober, I am giving you part one of the 2007 yarn review. Since most of the sock yarns I’ve used this year haven’t experienced much wear yet the review will be mostly on how it was to work with and how it washed up with my usual method of hand knit sock washing - cold water, gentle cycle in a front loading washer, in a lingerie bag, and hung on a drying rack.

Tomorrow, or perhaps next week (seeing as how I was plagued with headaches all day yesterday) I’ll be ringing in with a report on some yarns I haven’t worked with or haven’t been able to witness durability on. A friend has kindly allowed for me to photograph the wear and tear on the socks she’s knit in the last several years. So there will be a belated part two to look forward to.

Since last Socktober I have worked with Lana Grossa Meilenweit Mega Boot Stretch Softcolor, Dale Baby Ull, Fleece Artist Sea Wool, Knit Picks Gloss, Regia Silk, Crystal Palace Panda Wool, Brown Sheep Wildfoote, and currently Bonker’s Superwash Merino Mini.

Mega Boot Stretch Softcolor

Meilenweit Mega Boot Stretch Softcolor (Ravelry) is a gentle ombre striping fingering weight yarn of 70 % superwash wool, 23 % polyamide, 7 % elité (some sources list as elastic). You get 366 yards from a 100 gm ball, which should yield an average adult pair of socks. I knit a knee high version of Balance socks from it this time last year and used more than one ball, but significantly less than the two I purchased. It retails for around $18 a ball, so it is about average priced for dedicated sock yarn.

Knitting with Mega Boot Stretch was pretty nice. I did not notice the elastic content. In fact, I recall thinking it was a bit inelastic. Though now that it is knit up there is definitely some extra bounce back to the sock, which is a great asset in a knee high. It is not plied very tightly, so it is a bit splitty which can be a bit problematic when doing increases, decreases and twisted stitches as in this sock. It was not so splitty that I wouldn’t knit with it again. But it is not a good yarn choice for poor lighting or inattentive knitting. If I ran across a colorway that really spoke to me I wouldn’t hesitate to purchase it, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to locate a source either.

The knee highs were worn quite regularly during the winter last year and so far there are no real signs of wear. They fluffed slightly with the first washing, but no pilling or felting is evident at this time. That said, for whatever reason I am not very hard on my socks. It even takes me several years to wear out cheap commercial socks. Your mileage may vary.

Dale Baby Ull

These socks at left were knit from Dale Baby Ull (on Ravelry)which Kristen dyed for the Dye-O-Rama swap back in 2006. It is a fingering weight 100% superwash wool from the Norwegian yarn company, Dale. It is put up in 180 yd/50 gm balls, so two balls are required for an average pair of adult socks. A ball retails for $6-$7 making a pair of socks costing roughly $12-$14, making it a quite affordable sock yarn.

The yarn was fantastic to knit with. Baby Ull is the softest superwash I’ve worked with so it was fantastic to knit with. It is also quite elastic and resulted in a very nicely cushioned sock. I completed these socks in January so they too have received a fair bit of wear and washing. They look as new as when they came off the needles on the top of the foot and leg, with just a slight look of fuzziness on the bottom of the foot. The only drawback I see is that the color palette favors baby knitting. But, my understanding is that it was just as nice to work with for dyeing so I may go that route myself in the future.

Fleece Artist Sea Wool

Fleece Artist Sea Wool (on Ravelry) is 70% merino wool and 30% seacell, a sea weed derived fiber purported to have anti-bacterial and anti-microbial properties and a sheen like silk. I knit my Siren Socks from the Moss colorway in late spring. It is put up in 115 gm hanks containing roughly 380 yards and retails for about $25 US, so it is at the higher price spectrum for a pair of socks.

My personal experience knitting with it was fantastic. It is very soft and smooth. Some might find it a bit too slippery for metal needles, though I experiences no problems knitting on turbos with it. There were occasional and very small areas where the seacell didn’t draft smoothly into the machines so there was a small blip that was unnoticeable in the final sock. I do know others have run across much larger versions of that and/or knots, though that wasn’t my experience with the yarn. It is very soft and moderately plied so there were no troubles with splitting the yarn. The color sections appear quite short so I experienced no noticeable pooling or flashing, which is a huge bonus in my book.

My socks were completed in late spring and then had to await their photo shoot until September when I could release the pattern on my web site so they have only had a little wear. They appear to have withstood my normal washing methods unscathed and that are quite comfortable to wear.

Knit Picks Gloss

Knit Picks Gloss (on Ravelry) is a 70% merino and 30% silk fingering weight yarn sold in 50 gm balls containing 220 yards for $4 a ball. An average pair of adult socks will require two balls for a total cost of $8, definitely at the cheapest end of the sock yarn scale. I knit the dark blue version of Mashup Madness from this yarn in the Dusk colorway.

While I completed the first sock knit from Gloss in late 2006, it has seen no wear or the normal washing. I was slightly disappointed in how the darkness of the yarn swallowed up the pattern of the sock, so when I knit sock number two I used the yarn listed next. So far, neither sock has a mate because I tired of the pattern after two socks in row. I should get back to that. The knitting of Gloss was fine. In my opinion I prefer my sock yarn to be plied a bit more, but it wasn’t terribly splitty and did not require extra attention to knit with. The silk content gave it a nice sheen and slickness, but not so much so that I had any troubles knitting it on turbos.

Regia Silk

With 55% wool, 25% nylon, and 20% silk, these 218 yds/50 gm balls of Regia Silk (on Ravelry) cost about $9 or $18 for an average pair of adult socks.

Again, I knit only one Mashup Madness Sock from this yarn. So, I an unable to report on the washing and wear of the yarn. Knitting with it was not a pleasure. My one ball used for my sock contained two very large blobs of fiber where the nylon and/or silk didn’t’ draft evenly into the spinning equipment. It made me very mad, as I do not understand how a blob of fiber the size of a marble in a fingering weight yarn could pass through the entire mill process without clogging equipment and end up in my ball of yarn. Nevermind how two of those blobs could! I got no response from the company when I shared the photo I had of one of those blobs.

Aside from the monster blobs, knitting with the Regia Silk was very similar to knitting with the Knit Picks Gloss. Though the nylon content of Regia Silk in theory should give the yarn higher durability, especially for socks, I would think twice before buying Regia Silk again. It is one thing to pay rock bottom prices and run into yarn in that poor of condition, but when I pay $9 for only 218 yards I expect it to be good yarn. I understand that yarn doesn’t go through a mill without a break or a jam here or there. However, I am not fan of doing business with a company that does not acknowledge a complaint let alone make things right when there is a mistake.

Panda Wool

At 170 yards per 50 gm ball, Crystal Palace’s Panda Wool (on Ravelry) yarn is a blend of 46% bamboo, 43% wool, and 11% nylon that retails for roughly $7.50 or $15 for a two-ball pair of socks. Though adults with larger feet who like tall socks may need a third ball. I knit my Coyote Ridge Anklets from two balls, with a significant amount of the contrast ball remaining.

Despite the high bamboo content, the yarn did not have as much sheen as I would have expected. However, even knit at 9 sts/in the final socks still had an amazing amount of drape to it. It was fantastic to knit with. I was disappointed slightly upon washing them as I got a lot of felting. Though I have to confess that they went through an amazing amount of abuse on their first washing because they got forgotten in the washer. So, I am not comfortable saying that they would normally felt in a single gentle cycle wash in a front loader, though I can say that the only other yarn that also felted when that happened was some indie yarn with a base of Kona Superwash. Yes, I also manage to felt superwash wool. But, almost all of my handknit socks were a part of that wash, so interpret as you wish. I still plan to knit another pair from Panda Wool at some point as I appreciate their efforts to coordinate the solids and prints and it was wonderful to knit with. It will also give me a chance to see if it felts under my normal washing conditions.

Brown Sheep Wildfoote

Brown Sheep’s Wildfoote Luxury Sock Yarn is put up in 50 gm skeins containing 215 yards of 75% washable wool and 25% nylon. Again, it takes two skeins to get an average pair of adult socks, so that would cost about $12 for a pair.

I just knit two baby sized Archimedes hats and the baby socks I posted about yesterday so I can’t really comment on the durability. Hand washing in the bathroom sink made no difference in the appearance of the knit fabric. Knitting with the Wildfoote is fairly average. It is a bit splitty which only causes problems when doing increases, decreases, or twisted stitches. It is a tad inelastic as well. But, the price is good and the color selection is quite broad. I have lots more in my stash from this year’s spring break trip to the mill so I’ll be knitting with it again and hopefully be able to report on the durability.

Pattern: Charlie’s Wiggle Socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters Book One
Designer: Cat Bordhi
Yarn: Brown Sheep Wildfoote, SY700 Soft Jazz (seconds)
Needles: 2 - 16 inch US0 Knit Picks Classic Circs
Gauge: ~10 sts/inch, if I remember correctly
Size: Largest Given
Mods: I knit at a much tighter gauge, so the result matches the table at the back of the book for newborn to 3 months rather than the 9-12 months. Since the intended wearer is due in a week, I thought it would be fun to have handknit socks he/she could wear right away.
Recipient: Newborn of the owner of the coffeeshop where we knit on Monday nights. It matches the baby Archimedes she will also be getting from me.
Completed: October 22nd, 2007

Notes: The cable pattern shows up soooo much better in person. I tried many different ways of lighting the photo, but just couldn’t get them to pop. Despite the semi-busy yarn the cable adds a lot of character to the little socks. I think these may be my go-to baby socks for gift knitting (at a looser gauge), and then I can sub in whatever cables I’d like. I’m curious to pop in the X&O cables.

Also, I mentioned yesterday that just because I was on vacation did not mean that I didn’t knit. I decided to take a no-obligation, no-design project with me. It is rather rare that I knit a sock pattern by someone else. But I learned a lot in knitting my Tibetan socks, which were a mod of one of the new Bordhi sock constructions. Charlie’s Wiggle socks were another (thought I can’t try them on to see how I like the fit). So, I decided to knit another pair of Bordhi socks for myself. I’m nearing completion of the first sock, though it won’t be completed before the end of Socktoberfest. You’ll have to wait to see which pattern I chose. Feel free to guess if you would like!

Also note the knails…. I was a green witch at the Halloween party on Saturday (complete with green cleavage - still) so it only seemed appropriate to also have green knails. I had only painted my toe nails with this particular shade, but I think having it on my fingernails is growing on me! I may have to do this at other times of the year as well!

We actually were back home on Friday morning. The trip was nice, though the B&B was rather susceptible to traffic noise and much farther away from our points of interest than we had thought. I actually was quite happy to get home. *Very* early Friday morning there was a condo fire just a few blocks from us so we were awoken to the sounds of news helicopters getting footage for the morning news. There was much walking and little sleeping so getting home meant a chance to get some sleep and rest. Of course, that is how it goes, right? One needs a vacation from their vacation!

It was still a nice trip. We dined at some great places. I got some more massage bars from Lush (thanks for turning me onto those, Bakerina!) and we did lots of window shopping in neat boutique stores. My fav is Two Hands Paperie. I totally wanted to ask for one of everything. I actually left with no purchases. Though I have to admit, if the retro orange Namiki retractable fountain pen had been a bit cheaper it might have come home with me. It did make me itchy to get back to the bookbinding thing again.

I did get several new to me CDs at Bart’s - Blinking Lights and Other Revelations by The Eels, Faces Down by Sondre Lerche, Cimarron Manifesto by Jimmy LaFave, and upon DH’s recommendation, Songs to Learn & Sing by Echo & The Bunnymen. I also picked up a brand new CD that I have been lusting after for months, but have been unable to locate locally - Sparrows in the Bell by The Pines. So far I’ve only heard about the first half of the first disc of The Eels, but I should have them all listened to by this evening.

We ended up moving our arrival home ahead by several hours, but it gave us the chance to take in a matinée of Across the Universe before getting Emma form the kennel and her grooming. The remainder of the weekend was still mostly “vacation” at home. There was a Halloween party on Saturday night and the retrieval of our copy of Leopard from DH’s office. But I did no spinning or knitting that was for design work for the entirety of the weekend. That doesn’t mean I didn’t knit, but more on that later. I need to start catching back up. I did come home to some work in the Inbox that needs my attention.

I’m going to heed today’s horoscope for the remainder of the week…

You could feel analytical and pragmatic today as you focus on achieving your goals. This could cause you to feel disconnected socially and yearn for a greater balance between your personal and professional lives. You could remedy this feeling by consciously choosing to put your work aside for a few hours and enjoying some recreation with friends. Though you might feel a need to stay disciplined, too much work and not enough rest could create the opposite result that you are striving for. Instead of being productive, you could become tired and overworked. Choose to set aside short periods of time for fun and relaxation today, and you may find that your focus improves and your productivity increases as a result. From DailyOm

See you next week!

Three weeks ago we covered the last of the color descriptors. If you missed the two color descriptor installments or think you may need a refresher, please check them out before continuing. We all need to be on the same page on how to describe colors so we can better discuss color combinations. Today we’ll look at the different ways colors can contrast.

Contrast

Contrast is often defined as “the state of being strikingly different from something else.” Now, if I told you that the color palette you chose for your fair isle sweater was nice, but lacked contrast what would be your first instinct to fix it? Chances are you would choose a darker version of the darkest color or a lighter version of the lightest color or both. When people discuss contrast with no further qualifiers it is most often in reference to value. That is one of the strongest forms of contrast since that is the characteristic of a color that we can perceive from the greatest distance. However, that is only one of many ways colors can contrast with each other. A richer or more dynamic color palette can be created by incorporating other forms of contrast in a color scheme.

Contrast in Saturation and by Default Value

Thinking back to the previous installment, saturation is a measure of the pureness of a hue. When we tint or tone a color we are changing its saturation and value. So, a contrast in saturation is also a contrast in value. This is one of the easier contrasts for us to evaluate because our visual experience is dominated by value.

When we explore three colors that are identical in all areas except saturation we find an interesting shift takes place. If you take the middle saturation color and place it in the center of a light and dark saturation you see the middle one looks like two different colors. In the image at left we see the effect on a neutral gray, removing the complications of hue it is a look at just value contrast. The smaller middle square is the same in both larger squares, but the one in the darker large square appears lighter than the one in the lighter large square. On the bottom of the graphic, you can see the middle gray is indeed the same shade, no matter what your eyes and brain tell you.

In this image (right) you can see it also happens when hues are involved. If you vary the tonal family in the example you end up introducing other forms of contrast, hence this simplistic demonstration. You should experience a similar effect as you did with the gray boxes.

Contrast of Hue

The highest contrast of hues is formed by complimentary colors. If you recall, the complimentary colors are directly opposite on the color wheel. Some examples include blue and orange, green and red, violet and yellow etc. If you don’t have a color wheel handy an easy way to determine the complimentary color is to stare at the color for at least 20 seconds and then look at a white area. Because of the way the light interacts with the rods and cones in our eyes you see what is called an after effect on the white that happens to be the opposite color. Give it a try!

While complementary colors add a lot of energy to an object, when you place equal amounts of complimentary colors which are of the same saturation and tone etc. next to each other there can often be an unsettling feeling. This can often be used effectively in visual art to help convey the feeling of the piece, however in usable/wearable fiber arts I suspect that is not often a desired outcome. In the image below, look at the left side of the central boxes and notice how that line between the orange and blue kind of vibrates?

This effect can be reduced in a variety of ways. The easiest way to reduce the uneasiness is to use unequal proportions of the complementary colors. Contrasting the two colors in other areas as well by choosing different saturations for example can also be quite effective; think of the pink and green color combo that has been popular. If the complimentary colors are broken up with a neutral like black, brown, or white, the energy of the complementary colors combo remains, but is more pleasant to an observer. See how the vibration is greatly reduce when you look at the right side of the central boxes above?

The complementary colors can also serve to help your design pop. If you are working an intarsia design and the background color and the design color are not contrasting enough, you can make the intarsia stand out better by outlining that section with its complementary color.

Contrast in Chromaticity

Just as we saw with contrast in saturation, when surrounded by another chromaticity, the perceived color characteristics can be tilted towards the opposite of those in the surrounding color. For example, a bright vibrant color around a medium chromaticity color will make that medium color appear duller (left). The opposite is also true. If a dull, low chromaticity color surrounds a medium one, that medium one will appear more vibrant than when viewed alone (right). Again, if you need to, use a white sheet of paper to cover half of the graphic.

Contrast in Temperature

You may have at this point noticed a trend in the contrasts. The surrounding color enhances the opposite trait(s) of the color it surrounds. A darker color makes a lighter color appear even lighter than it does on it’s own. A duller color makes a brighter color appear even brighter. The same holds true with contrasts in color temperature or undertones. This is most notable when the middle color is one on the line between warm and cool colors.

In the graphics at right, notice how the red-violet appears cooler when surrounded by the warmer red and appears warmer when surrounded by the cooler blue. This form of contrast is also sometimes referred to as simultaneous contrast, depending upon your source for color theory information.

Conclusion

When working with yarn we don’t have the luxury of an unlimited color palette unless we are dyeing our own, so often we’re not going to be able to work with only one of these forms of color contrast. That is okay. It is just important to be aware of the different ways in which a color can contrast with those around it so you can better evaluate what you like or dislike about a given color combination. You can also use these perceptions to adjust how a color in your design is perceived.

Additional Posts in the Color Series

• Intro Stuff - Colors and Design
• Intro Stuff - My Color Meme Answers
• Part I: Hue and the Color Wheel
• Part II: Color Descriptors I
• Part III: Color Descriptors II