Sock Yarn Review, v 12

1. KnitPicks Hawthorne - I used the "tonal handpaint" colourway. I was hoping that this yarn would be a "budget" version of Woolen Rabbit Pearl, and it some ways, it is that. At half the price, it certainly is "budget".... The yarn base is nice - not merino, so not as soft as Stroll - with a nice tight ply and lots of boing, so I find it pleasant to knit with. The dye job is not as nice as Woolen Rabbit - the colourways are not as subtle and it stripes in short sections. I think that it's probably not suitable for complex texture designs (like cables) because the colours are overpowering. I've seen other reviewers complain about excessive colour bleeding, but I have not had any issues. I will have to see how this yarn holds up in the long run.

2. Drops Fabel - this is a very popular European sock yarn that I have now finally found a local-ish source for. The colour selection is huge. It's superwash wool (not merino) at 410m/100g, and feels pretty close to Regia, although a little harsher and a bit splittier to knit with. It has an excellent price point! Again, will have to see how this holds up through the laundry.

3. H&W Comfort-Wolle sock wool (uni colours) - got this online from a retailer in Ontario; it's not a common yarn. But, very very nice, right up there with Regia. I'm pumped to see how this will handle repeated laundering; if it's good it will be a close contender to Regia!

4. Not sure if this qualifies as a sock yarn, but I've been knitting a project with KnitPicks Stroll Gradient. Yeah....no. Not something I'd knit socks with - the gradient isn't really a gradient - the colour changes are too abrupt. Also, some of the colours stripe/pool during parts of the "gradient". And then there's the fact that it's Stroll - a yarn I am starting to like less and less...

I have recently found an amazing online source for sock yarn: Wool Warehouse. This outfit is based in the UK but shipping to my front door is a flat-rate $CD7, which is f*&*ing cheap, folks! Not to mention that the yarn price is amazingly low! I looooove their selection of Y-chromosome friendly Euro sock yarns.

So, a few days ago, this showed up on my doorstep:

[a crapton of sock yarn, in a lovely organza bag!]

Love the yarn. Love the bag! Can't wait to get started!