Sock Madness - now with Wollmeise! (and don't forget SP stuff!)

Yesterday while in the throes of Sock Madness the doorbell rang - this can only mean one thing: mail. So I went downstairs and the mailman handed me a box and asked if it was yarn. (Hee hee.) I was a little embarrassed by the fact that the mailman apparently knows me so well, but I was actually not at all sure what was in the box.

Turns out the mailman was right.



It was the final package from my super SP - Aspiring Crazy Cat Lady. I got a neat mosaic sock pattern with two colors of blue Meilenweit. That definitely looks interesting and I think I'll use it as packaged, just as soon as I get through some of my more complicated socks. She also sent some hand dyed fiber that she "made" herself. Um, blended herself - that's the word I'm looking for. It looks gorgeous!

And last but certainly not least... I told her it was my dream to try some Flat Feet - and then when I saw it at SPA I had Cathy convince me not to buy any because I had faith in my SP to come through with the Flat Feet. And come through she did! I'm very excited to use it and it seems that a few knittyboard members are excited to hear about it so I'll be starting those socks really soon and documenting the process.

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Because I'm crazy... I decided to participate in Sock Madness again this year. The truth is that I don't really care about winning - as evidenced by the fact that on Friday night I decided to just go to bed instead of powering through my socks even though I didn't have to be up in the morning. (On Thursday I actually went to bed at a reasonable hour, but then I had work as an excuse!)

But I finished well before my division hit 40 so I'm into the next round.



Pattern: Zombie Socks from Sock Madness 2
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle in Mitternacht
Started: 3/13/08
Finished: 3/15/08

As for the Wollmeise...

Well first off I really really like it. I'm putting this up front because I'm going to be comparing it to other yarns since many people haven't had the chance to try - or even see and touch - it. But none of these comparisons are better/worse, they're all just *different*.

The yarn itself is much different than what I've come to expect from a handpainted yarn. It's not a 2 ply or even a 4 ply, it's an 8 ply. (I counted.) The multiple plies make it a little splitty, but a very little bit. It didn't really bother me at all after I got used to it while casting on.

It looks very thin and doesn't really feel soft in the skein. In fact it's 100% wool but I never would have guessed it, I could have sworn there was some nylon in it. Although it looks very thin it doesn't really compress at all - I used size 1 (2.25mm) needles and I think they were a good fit - the ballband recommends 2-2.5mm. The resulting fabric is nice and not at all holey*, flexible but I think it will be hard-wearing, and soft.

* All holes seen above are intentional. ;)

The yarn is very dense, but not sproingy at all. I realize that sproingyness is a made up quality - but not by me, no idea who first coined the term - but I suppose most of you know what it is. (For example, Socks That Rock is a pretty dense 2 ply, and it's very sproingy, Koigu is also a dense 2 ply but less sproingy.) Not exactly springy but more springy and dense combined?

In any case... back to Wollmeise. The properties of the yarn aside, the dyeing is wonderful. The color I used has a very true black, something that's hard to find in hand dyed yarn. The yarn was very evenly dyed and didn't have any splotchy spots, and despite the very blackness of the black, the blue and teal-ish bits were bright and true.

The skeins also come in 150g instead of 100g - and 574 yards. For me this is probably enough for 2 pairs of socks - I think I'll use the remaining yarn for a toe up pair and see how far it goes.

Listening to: Just ~ Radiohead, If You Could Only See ~ Tonic, Soft Rock Star ~ Metric