Ode to Felici

Felici sock yarn is one of my favorites. Knit Picks produces it in "limited editions," and there have been three so far.

The first edition featured stripes in four colors, varying widths. When I realized that the second edition would have stripes of equal widths, I rushed to buy 4 colorways from the first edition. And that's nothing, because my friend Neil bought 2 balls each of all 8 colorways! You have to admire that. In for a penny, in for a pound.

I have knit 3 of my original Felici yarns so far:

1. I meant to knit this colorway, "Coastal," for myself, but I was tinkering with a new toe-up pattern, and they ended up fitting S instead. Doh! Still, it was a great office knitting project. I recall working furiously to finish the short row heel one night before going to an all-day meeting the next day. I had to be prepared for primo knitting time.
2. Next I took another colorway on a trip to Colorado last summer, as my airplane/travel knitting project. It's called "Clay," which seemed very appropriate in the dusty high mountain landscape of western Colorado.
3. Finally, I knit these for myself - the colorway is called "Pebbles" but I called them "Cocoa Pebbles." I wear these almost every week, as they match anything with khaki or brown in it.

I never did buy any second edition Felici, because I didn't care for the stripes of equal width. But now the third edition colorways are out, and we're back to unequal stripes. I got a bit carried away. I bought five, including three balls of "Cochineal," because I plan to use one of them for really large Deck the Balls ornaments (my sock yarn leftovers aren't enough to cover the biggest ornaments).

How do I love Felici? Let me count the ways...

1. It's really soft. This isn't a dealmaker for me, though, as there are tons of super soft sock yarns out there, and many of them fall apart the first or second time you wear them. 100% merino is not always the best choice for sock yarn. This is 75% merino and the micron count is pretty darn low (19.5, I believe). Touch it - you'll be surprised!
2. It's really sturdy. The 25% nylon really holds up its end of the bargain. The three pairs of Felici socks in our house get worn often, and they still look great. No thin spots and no excessive pilling.
3. It's reasonably priced - $5.29 per 50 g ball. This is nothing to sneeze at!
4. Generous yardage - 218 yards per 50 g ball. In one of my geekier moments, I created a spreadsheet listing all the yarns with which I have ever knit socks. I included the following data: name of yarn, yardage per 100 g, yardage per ball, weight per ball, who knit for, man/woman/child, how much yarn required, and notes about wear. Then, based on that information plus a personal judgement call on how long my socks were and how much yarn was left (or not), I made a final assessment of "skimpy," "adequate," "plenty," or "over the top." In each of the three pairs knit so far, I am happy to report that Felici was deemed "plenty." I never ran out. I never ever worried about running out. And my Felici socks have fairly long cuffs.
5. I like stripes. Self-striping yarn entertains me and is ideal for office knitting. A simple rib pattern, or something a little sassier in the rib family (like uneven rib or shadow rib), shows it off to its best.

Maybe I should have saved this lovefest of a post for Valentine's Day...

Come on, what are you waiting for?!? Start a Felici sock today!