Black alpaca Simple Luxury socks done!  I would have finished them earlier, but we've had so much going on that they just kept falling behind.  I'm so happy with them, though.  The yarn is probably the nicest alpaca I've knit with in awhile, and they're delightfully silky soft.

I planned on making a green pair next, but realized that my mother-in-law's birthday is at the beginning of next week.  She mentioned that she'd like a pair for that, so I need to get cracking on that.  I have some fun self-striping sock yarn that's got a lot of red in it that I plan on using.

Anyway, here's the long awaited black socks.  You can find them listed here, in my etsy shop.

I'm dying, here!  We left to visit family, and I got notice today that my alpaca is waiting at the post office for me!  All of this time, I've been waiting and waiting and pining away for it, and it arrives a day after I leave.

Oh the injustice!  Oh the humanity!

My MIL is checking on the house, so I'm going to beg her to go pick it up for me so it doesn't wait too long in the cold, dark, unloving post office. :)

I've posted about a bazillion times about the alpaca yarn I've ordered, but today I'm very excited.  The Bolivian post service update shows that the yarn left the country three days ago.  It's not tracking in the US yet, but it's so nice to see it finally moving along on its journey.

It takes an average of two weeks to arrive, according to them, and it's only been one week.  I'm champing at the bit to get my hands on those lovely little skeins!  Until it arrives, I'll be compulsively running the number through track-trace and the USPS website to see if there's any news on its location.

A few weeks ago, I got notice that a bunch of yarn that was backordered was on its way to me.  I've been waiting and waiting and planning, and it still hasn't arrived.

I called and it turns out that it won't be shipped...and they haven't refunded my money.  I've spent several hours trying to rectify the situation, and it's pissing me off more and more.  I'm itching to knit more alpaca socks, but I'm tired of making them in blue!

I'd like to make a black pair, definitely, and maybe I'll start on a green pair for my brother for the holidays.  I'm craving alpaca and I can't have it.  I'm even shunning a lovely yak blend that I was itching to use.

Gah!  The frustration.

After taking last week to work on projects for my family, I'm back and really ready to knit for my shop.  I finished a pair of slippers for my husband, a pair of socks for me, have almost finished the lace for my grandmother, and have picked out colorways for both my mother and mother-in-law for birthday socks.  I'll probably start working on those later in the week.

Over the past two days, I've been working on things for my shop.  I knit a pair of Orange Tabi that I've had listed as made to order in my shop, and have almost finished another pair of Watermelon Tabi that I'll probably list tomorrow.  

I've also spent some time picking pictures out and editing them for color and contrast.  It seems like my monitor must be really bright (even though I've calibrated it), because I've had a few comments about my dark pictures.  Now that I've enhanced them a bit, I can see that they do look better, but I'm still a bit afraid that they're too blinding.

I'm also itching to buy more yarn!  I've been doing really well on knitting up my stash, but there's really nothing quite like new yarn to get creative juices flowing.  I did find out that I have three colors of alpaca (green, more blue, and black) on their way from my supplier.  I back ordered them a few months ago and completely forgot about it, so that'll be fun.  

I forgot to go over what I managed to accomplish last week, but I'll go ahead and do that now.

• I finished sewing up all of the sock sleeves I cut out.
• Finished my Simple Luxury Alpaca socks.
• Knit up a new pair of tabi.
• Worked on a new pair of cotton/wool tabi.
• Printed out a bunch of new sock bands.
• Started a lace piece for my grandma.
• Finished weaving in the ends of a bunch of pairs of socks!
  

This week, I'd like to:

• Finish up the cotton/wool tabi.
• Start a new pair of cashmere or yak blend socks.
• Finish up the lace piece for my lovely grandma.
• Work some more on my experiment.
• Possible take some more pictures, including some action shots.

I usually read while I knit; and, last night, as I was finishing up another pair of Simple Luxury Alpaca socks for my shop, I glanced upon a post detailing the number of stitches (estimated) that someone had knit into a sweater.  As I read, I thought of all of the people who've asked 'why are these socks so expensive?', 'why are they so much more special than a machine made, $15 pair?', or other similar questions, and realized I've never actually written anything the minute details of what's in a pair of socks.  

For the following example, I'm going to use numbers from a large pair of socks from my Simple Luxury line.  Many people glance at them and consider only the design.  They're not very flashy, compared to many of my tabi and carry a heftier price tag; and, though they're made of higher-end fibers, that's not the only justification for the price.

What is then?  Well, each sock is made up of over seventeen thousand stitches.  Yes, that's 17.000 with 3 0's.  Each one of those stitches is slipped from needle to needle by hand, not whirled around the gears of a machine.  A pair of socks has over 34.000 stitches -- about twice what a proportionally- sized sweater (on larger needles with larger yarn, of course) uses.

As for yarn, these socks take a little over 1/4 of a mile of yarn.  

That's a lot of stitches!

Recently, I've noticed a lot of posts and received a lot of comments about washing woolen products and, especially, handknit socks.  Many people shy away from wool and handknit socks because of the maintenance involved in keeping them comfy, wearable, and clean, so I figured I'd write up a post about how I've cared for the socks I make and what I've found best.

My stock yarn is 85% wool, 15% mohair, traditionally not something that's machine washable.  My husband wears these socks exclusively, and hand washing 4+ pairs of stinky woolen socks by hand every week just isn't in my schedule.  So what do I do?  I chuck them in the washing machine.  Every time I mention that, I see several people recoil in absolute horror, so hang on those of you who are cringing and crying for socks long lost.


Check your washer setting.  Many washers, especially now, have tons of different washing programs -- some even have a wool setting!  I'm not lucky enough to have one of those magical machines, and always look for a few keywords when using a foreign machine: gentle, lingerie, sweaters, hand wash.  These cycles have little agitation, one of the big killers of non-superwash wools, and are what you want to select.  

Check your water temp.  My washer has four temperature programs: hot/cold, warm/warm, warm/cold, and cold/cold.  Cold/cold is the way to go.  Changes in temperature can 'shock' woolen products and cause fulling, and warm temperatures will make your non-superwash wools shrink to child size in no time at all.

Ditch the detergent.  There are several fine fiber, no rinse products on the market today (SOAK and Eucalan, for example) that are wonderful for woolen products, but I'd recommend, for machine washing, a regular bottle of shampoo.  Yep, shampoo -- I use an old bottle of TRESemme that someone left in the guest bedroom.  Regular detergents are harsh on clothing, and wool is hair, right?  Since I've switched to using shampoo in the machine, I've noticed that even my most felt-ready pieces maintain their structure and texture much, much, much better.  Guess those conditioning elements really do prevent tangles!

Bag 'em.  Rather than just throwing your socks in the machine, stick them in a lingerie bag or mesh washing sack.  These will not only prevent Missing Sock Syndrome, but it will keep them from rubbing, shedding, and commingling in the washer, which can increase the chance of fulling.  I use the Honey-Can-Do, multiple-compartment, lingerie bags, so I can fit four or more pairs of socks with one zip and I don't have to try and juggle a bunch of little bags when doing the laundry.


Avoid the dryer.  Even if your dryer has a no-heat tumble cycle (mine doesn't), the tumbling can be pretty hard and encourage fulling.  Either hang or lay your socks flat to dry.  Tops of dryers, drying racks, countertops, whatever work great.  I put a small fan on high on top of the dryer where I dry my socks, and they dry in a few hours and don't stay damp for too long. 

I use that regimen for all of my socks, including cashmere, alpaca, and other delicate blends (and my bras, fancy undies, etc...), and it works out pretty well.  I know everyone has their favorite method, but I figured I'd share mine for anyone interested in handknit socks but who've been turned off by the presumed maintenance.