Southdown Sock Yarn

Remember that lovely bump of fiber I received in December that was kind of green and kind of gold? It was Southdown top from the Sheepspot Fiber Club.

The Breed School chat convinced me that this fiber was destined to become sock yarn. Back when I was first learning to spin (in 2008), I wanted to be able to make sock yarn. I knew a good sock yarn was made of at least 3 plies, but I couldn’t seem to spin my singles skinny enough to make a sockweight 3-ply. Eventually I gave up. But no more! I think I can do it now. (Practice really does make perfect…)

Even though I spun this worsted-style, with a short forward draw (aka “inchworm”), this braid worked up quickly. I didn’t even pause to get a photo until I was 2/3 done:

Having just read an article about how to make handspun yarn that feels soft and not wiry (which I cannot find now – let me know if you know what I read so I can link to it), I worked hard to spin my singles more loosely than usual. I normally like a pretty tight twist angle, so this was different for me. My goal was to ply more tightly than I had spun the singles (to give the sock yarn strength) – but supposedly this would result in yarn that wasn’t wiry. And it’s not – here is the result:

352 yards in 94 grams. Instead of labelling it and adding it to my mound of handspun yarn, I wound it into a ball and measured WPI (wraps per inch) on my handy tool – I got 14 WPI (assuming I did it right). I think that qualifies as sock yarn, don’t you? Ravelry says 14 WPI = fingering so I’m going with it.

It occurred to me that perhaps I was subconsciously trying to replicate the structure of Crazy Zauberball sock yarn. Have you ever worked with it? The twist angle is pretty shallow. Also, it’s a 2-ply yarn. I grabbed some of my latest and compared:

On top – 14 WPI on my handspun. Next is the 2-ply Zauberball. The bottom strand (next to the ball) is my handspun. I think that angle of twist looks pretty similar, don’t you? AND… I think my handspun might actually be a little finer!

I know the color on these photos is all over the place – but the yarn also looks quite different depending on time of day and indoor/outdoor light. Outdoors, it definitely looks like 1970s Harvest Gold. But inside, the greens really emerge. It’s quite captivating.

Since this is already wound into a ball, I’m going to put it in queue to become socks sooner rather than later. I’m anxious to see how it will wear. My next decision will be whether to do a plain vanilla sock, or something with a bit of pattern. Maybe a rib variation or something with a waffle weave look.