Sock knitting question + can you identify this yarn from Poland?

April 22, 2018 5:26 AM

I need a sock pattern (requirements below) and want to know if I can use this yarn (pics: 1, 2, 3) that I bought in Poland to make it. Or if you wouldn't recommend making socks with this yarn, what else would you do with it?

The pictures include most of the label. I have checked Ravelry and googled various words from the label and have had no luck identifying the brand or anything about the yarn. It looks thick in these photos, but it is very thin - 17 wpi. I have two skeins of ~110 g each.

Question 1: Do you have/can you find any info about this yarn?

Q 2: I would like to make socks from this yarn, but from what little I know about socks, the yarn usually has some small bit of something to give it elasticity. This is 100% wool. Can I make socks from it?

Q3: If I can make socks from it (or as a general question, if this wool is not suitable for socks): What pattern would you recommend? I have not done socks before, but I have done mittens two-at-a-time and would like to try socks the same way. I think toe-up would probably be easier than top down, but I'm not super attached to that. I would like some interesting texture like cables, but nothing too complex.

Q4: If I can't make socks from this wool, what else would you recommend doing with it?

posted by 2 cats in the yard to Sports, Hobbies, & Recreation (11 answers total)

Response by poster: Forgot to mention, the socks are for a man.
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 5:53 AM on April 22, 2018

You can make socks with pure wool, the main reason sock wool has nylon added is for improved wear, but you totally can just use wool if you like it (and my fibre nerd mum says there are wools that are really great for socks). However, ravelry tells me that your yarn, at 17wpi is more like a laceweight so I wouldn't do socks (although you could, but they would be very thin and probably not wear very well) but probably a lace scarf or cowl. If you are already a ravelry user, you would do better to use their awesome database to choose a pattern.
posted by glitter at 5:56 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

I don’t know anything about your particular yarn and would avoid it for socks based on looks because to me it looks like it might be ... not close enough to the middle of the softness scratchiness spectrum for me. Too soft and I find all wool socks aren’t hard wearing. Toonscratchy amd it doesn’t matter how long they’d last, they’ll be in the drawer forever.

For this and future labels, you can use google’s (and probably other company’s) translation app photo thingy to get started on your yarn translation more easily than googling individual phrases and finding the special characters in your keyboard.
posted by bilabial at 6:12 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

From what I see in your pictures, this yarn is not suitable for socks. Sock yarn is ideally made from either 100% superwash wool (it resists felting) or a combination of superwash wool and nylon (nylon gives the wool more longevity) and is generally soft next to the skin. This yarn looks as though it would be irritating against the skin so I would recommend using it for outer clothing or for something that requires felting (a bowl, handbag, toy, etc.). You can always knit a swatch and play with gauge/washing/felting. Good luck!
posted by bulclippr at 6:34 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Wow, this is old yarn - the plaza in Wrocław was renamed in 1992, so it has to be over 25 years old. It's pure combed lambswool, not superwash. It might be itchy, but it's traditionally used for thick socks with the itching stimulating blood flow. Example of traditional socks. Such socks have been worn and handwashed for centuries. Currently they're considered a healthy item for people with arthritis, often worn as slippers around the house.

Personally I find them too itchy so I'd knit up a lovely ski cap style hat for the guy instead. Washed less often, and it'd be wonderfully warm.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 7:26 AM on April 22, 2018 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: Actually the wool is far softer than it appears. I hate the feel of most wool on my neck, and this doesn't bother me.

@I claim sanctuary: Wow, thanks. Do you know Wroclaw? I got the wool in March of this year, in a little yarn shop probably along Kotlarska or nearby, in the old town. The block had several shops with art or crafts of various types. The shop also had bundles of what appeared to be sets of long yarn strands, though I couldn't tell how long - could have been 5 meters, or 40. Most were quite brightly colored. This and some heavy red yarn wound into small log-like shapes was about the only thing I could determine was one intact strand, so that's what I bought. I couldn't communicate well enough with the shopkeeper to understand what these bundles of long strands would have been for. Do you know?
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 8:12 AM on April 22, 2018 [1 favorite]

The way the texture of the yarn looks, I would not do socks with it. I'd get sock yarn specifically and make something else with that, that shows off its lovely qualities. I can't tell from the photo how thick the yarn is, and if it's not sock weight, then definitely do not make socks - this does really matter.

For patterns, the one I use is something a good friend recommended in The Yarn Harlot's Knitting Rules! that's been very easy for me to get started on. Note: I do these one at a time and am not prone to second sock syndrome, but I don't think there would be an issue with doing two at a time.
posted by bile and syntax at 8:28 AM on April 22, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: The bundles should be hanks of yarn - same way Malabrigo, for example, sells theirs in the US. You need to wind it in a ball for knitting, but it should be more or less one strand.

If you're in Wrocław or Kraków again I recommend E-dziewiarka - I order from them online and they have an excellent selection of interesting yarns. They should be up to English :) Most serious Polish knitters are, due to Ravelry resources.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 9:52 AM on April 22, 2018

You've already gotten good advice, but one thing to keep in mind with wool is it's usually not machine washable. I would not use wool on something that needed to be washed frequently. Given that you don't know what the washing directions are for this wool I would only risk hand washing. Consider whether you'll be able and willing to remember to set these socks aside every time you use them and wash them by hand.

If you don't make socks with them, what you can make depends on the yardage you have, but I would stick with things that don't need to be washed very often, e.g. cowls, scarves, shawls, gloves.
posted by brook horse at 10:43 AM on April 22, 2018

I would worry that socks would felt. Wool, unless it's superwash, felts with heat, moisture, and friction, which means that if you sweated in wool socks while you were walking, they could definitely felt. They'd also be a pain in the neck to wash.

I would probably knit mittens, but mittens are my go-to.
posted by ArbitraryAndCapricious at 11:31 AM on April 22, 2018

Response by poster: Thank you all for your answers and suggestions!
posted by 2 cats in the yard at 5:15 PM on April 24, 2018