Georgia spun a FINE 'yarn':
Your post immediately reminded me of Ellen DeGenere's (SP??) AmEx ad, where she's meditating and 'wandering' about the sox she paid double for... LOL Noreen
*buying* Fair Isle socks
Nov 10, 2006
8 Replies
I wanted to buy some Fair Isle socks for DS--and yeah, $16 plus shipping would be much less of an investment than the time it would take to knit them--and I saw some in the Garnet Hill catalog. But they turned out to be
43% nylon, and that seemed like too much. So I turned to Google...and read 8 pages of results, which were almost completely about patterns for knitting your own. In fact, the only men's socks for sale on those pages turned out to be the Garnet Hill ones, and some that weren't even a Fair Isle design. Hmph! If I started now, I'm not even sure I could finish them by Christmas.
Georgia
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You might want to reconsider. The nylon will add durability.
Looking at some vintage sock yarn, I find that 50-50 wool/nylon seemed to be quite standard. Modern sock yarn goes from 75-25 to 80-20, but it's also thicker. Does he like thick socks, or would he rather have thinner ones that fit into dress shoes?
$16 for real Fair Isle is a bargain! If they're the specially dyed yarn that just vaguely resembles it, then it's not such a bargain, but still, if they're good looking it's not impossibly high priced for a good wool blend.
=Tamar
Considering that specially-dyed yarn that does a bad imitation of Fair Isle runs about $16 per ball I'd say finding socks made of same for
*only* $16 is quite a bargain.I think Georgia's issue is not with the price but rather with the decided un-Fair Isle character of the $16 socks she found...
Did you see these?
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stop at Fair Isle socks? Order from across the water and get himsome authentic(ish) Argyles, too!
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just get him some plain cashmere socks, or some stripey socks, andget yourself some cashmere tights since you're already ordering -packing and post won't be any greater for it!
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if you want to get really posh you might be able to commission apair of custom socks - but not for this year, the Fair Isle Knitters'Coop is booked!
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OK, you're talking me into it: Here's the description: "Soft, spongy bouclé yarns offer lightweight comfort to mid-calf socks. Knit in a diamond Fair Isle pattern using an extra-fine wool blend. 57% Italian wool/43% nylon. USA." From the photograph they appear to have the same thickness as what I get on #1 needles with that 75/25 yarn, though they appear to be a tighter gauge than what I get.
Thanks!
Georgia
Not only are you a champion knitter, you are also a champion enabler. Sorry, I couldn't resist.
Boucle in Fair Isle? Sheesh. Still, if you like the way they look, it's a reasonable price, and that's one more gift settled.
=Tamar
The photograph looked pretty good. Of course I won't know what they feel like until they get here, but I should know in a week or so.
Georgia
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