Handspun sock(s)!

Remember the gorgeous fibre I received from Helen at My Heart Exposed in a Christmas Secret Santa Swap?

I proudly give you... (drum roll) the socks!

I had two 100g braids of naturally dyed BFL in similar shades from Helen so I split them into thin strips. I pre-drafted the fibres as I knew I needed a fine singles to make up my finished 2ply sock weight yarn. The strips of extenuated fibre were spun at random to further distribute the subtle colour variations and the plying was a standard 2ply (2 singles yarns spun Z twist, plied S twist).

The spinning wasn't terribly scientific, measuring tpi, wpi and degree of twist by eye (with apologies to Mabel Ross!). Nonetheless, by the time all the combining and plying had been done it seems to have evened itself out and the socks look like they'll be pretty hardwearing.

The pattern for the socks is my simple 2 x 2 rib groovy sock pattern. A basic heel flap, cuff-down affair with a nice star toe (I have pointy toes!). Being a dpns girl they're done on a set of 5 (very well-used!) Brittany dpns. I had several skeins, each slightly different so I knitted in stripes to create the extra colour variations and avoid blocks of colour. The flash has over-exposed this shot a little but I've included it because it shows the amazing lustre in the BFL.

The shot below shows the subtlety of the colour variations better. I have to say the sock looks pretty uninspiring when it's not sporting a leg but I haven't worked out how to photograph my own feet yet and no-one in the house has hobbit feet as small as mine!