Welcome to the shadowy realm of the ugly sock. This is a place where a lonely knitter toils away, becoming more and more disgruntled and angry, realizing she's spending precious days working on a pair of socks that look like they were designed for slogging through trenches or for prison garb. She is a disciplined knitter though, and keeps knitting away despite it all...
This is where the Catholic school training shows, for better or for worse. LOL
Everything started out right with these socks--the yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, in a colorway called Baltic Sea. The subtle colors really excited me--I thought this would be one great pair of socks. The yarn was bought at The Sow's Ear in Verona, Wisconsin, on a road trip with several good buddies. Good memories from that day.
The sock is the Garter Rib, from Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. Easy, easy. But it was apparent as soon as I was a few rows into the top ribbing that there would be color pooling. A better knitter would have ripped the socks apart and experimented till a non-pooling pattern was found. But I am not that better knitter. I just kept plugging along.
The second sock was no better. The colors pooled in a different but equally unattractive way.
Argh.
This is the second pair of socks I've made from Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock yarn. Both pairs had bad color pooling issues. When I was working on portions of the sock where there weren't 72 stitches, the colors distributed nicely, giving a hint of what these socks could have looked like.
So here is the question: why would a company like Lorna's Laces manufacture a sock yarn that has consistent color pooling problems when making a standard 72 stitch sock? This would seem like a basic of product design to me. This is sock yarn, people! It should be designed so that it makes nice socks. Depending on needle size, no frills socks like these are made with what--60 to 80 or so stitches?? Why would the color pool right in the middle of that range?
Questions, questions, and no answers. But the bottom line for me is that I'm done with Lorna's Laces sock yarn.
11 comments:
You've stitched them so beautifully!!...what a shame the colours pooled the way they did...I'd be tempted to write a letter.
I have never seen a sock from Lorna's that didn't at least SOMEWHAT pool. somewhat stripey pooling is the best you can hope for from that yarn (see example here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/girlreactioncrafts/2925309631)
Color pooling is a pain, especially when you put so much work into a project. Don't give up on Lorna's Laces, though, the yarn wears like iron and washes up beautifully, time after time. Maybe a solid or a heather next time?
I've had the same pooling issues with Lornas Laces, and I find that the LL Shepherd Sport pills like crazy. I've also had the pooling problem with LL Shepherd Sock, but at least it doesn't pill. :o(
I've vowed not to purchase any more LL for socks.
Good on you for persevering Kathie, I have a feeling I might have given up after the problems appeared. Sounds like that particular brand is an issue.
Apart from the colour issue, the pattern and the workmanship is excellent!
Be sure to have a great weekend.
*hugs*
Tazzie
:-)
Oh my goodness - I'm not a knitter so don't know good from bad, but they sure appear to be excellently made - they'd look really great with my brown boots! And I don't even know what "pooling" is! They are lovely to me. 8-))
That is too bad. I had some interlacements yarn that was fugly. I stripped the color out (after the socks were knitted) and then redyed them using kool-aid.
Call me nutty, but I really like the pooling. Truly! It's kinda funky, offbeat, syncopated. And the colors are great.
Kathie I really don't mind the pooling! I think they look lovely! But...I'm freaking out here because I am starting on my 2nd pair of socks and I'm using 64 stitches! EEEK! Maybe I should be doing 72?? Is this a trial and error thing? My first pair in class used worsted weight so we just did 48 stitches. I'm about 1/3 done with the first sock...I hope they fit!
If you really dislike those socks, you can mail them to me. :o) You see I am not a knitter, but I love hand knits (socks especially). Go figure.
I also use a (men's) sock pattern that has 64 stitches--sock yarn and size 1 needles. Maybe that's what "Lorna" thought you were going to do!
These socks fit me well (women's= cast on 60) and though I've only made about seven pairs, with yarn from Hobby Lobby and Joann's, I've had no pooling.
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