Sock Wool Review 6

First off, an update on Malabrigo Sock. Unfortunately, I'm de-rating it. I'm finding that after a year's wear, my Malabrigo socks are felting and fuzzing a lot, now even on the leg portion. Both pairs. For the price of the yarn, this makes me unhappy. I won't be using it for socks again. :(

The Tosh Merino Light has held up much better; it doesn't fuzz, pill, or felt, although the colour wears off on the sole of the foot...but since nobody can see this, I'm good with it.  I'm up-rating the yarn. Note: you MUST use reinforcement thread in the heels and toes with this yarn or you will have holes before you can say darn it!

And here are some new brands I've tried:

Regia 3-ply: nice, manly colours available. Decent price. Thin like the Kroy 3-ply, but minus the fuzzy halo. It's also much twistier which can be annoying when knitting. Worth a try, though. It's a good match for combining with Schoppel Zauberball and Lang Mille Colori.

Lang Mille Colori: lovely slow colour variegations - but not as slow as the Zauberball. The yarn is very fuzzy, loosely plied, and splitty. It is a pain to tink or frog. A very similar yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Magico, which I will be trying soon. Both of these are priced a little lower than the Zauberball, hence my interest! If you look out, you can get 100g for about $15.

Woolen Rabbit Pearl: This is a mail-order-only yarn, unless you happen to live in New Hampshire. It's not cheap, especially once you factor in the shipping costs (US$23/pair plus $4 shipping per skein to Canada, where I live). But, I am in love with her colourways, even if there are not very many "greens" available. The browns, greys, blues, and reds are amazing and rival Madelinetosh and Malabrigo; no striping or pooling, with complex colours that look good in complex stitch designs even on a sock-scale. I've tried "oakmoss", "cape cod blues", and "pumpkin patch"; all beautiful. The Pearl yarn base is fantastic. It has a nice tight ply, a slight sheen, very little halo, and the stitch definition is superb - try it for cables! The one downside of this yarn is that due to the tight ply, the dye doesn't penetrate the yarn, so if you split or unply it, you'll expose the white core. I have tried some of Woolen Rabbit's other, heavier yarns and they are very, very nice. Definitely on my list of go-to's for special gifts! **update** after a year of wear, these socks are not pilling, and fuzzing only very slightly on the foot. However, the foot is showing discoloration as the abrasion from walking removes dye.