Tag Archives: Socks

Socks in Old Patons Kroy

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I have been sorting my stash lately, sending some of it on to find new fans. During that process, I rediscovered some old Patons Kroy. It feels so nice and I love the colour so much that I cast on a pair of socks. I also fell down a rabbit hole…

Kroy sock yarn over time

Patons Kroy is a sock yarn. It’s been available for a long time, so it makes sense that there have been some changes over the years. This Patons Kroy is a 3-ply yarn – it’s the heathered blue one on the left – while the current Patons Kroy Socks (the variegated one on the right) is a 4-ply. The 50g put-up on the old Kroy has 250 m, while the new one has 151m. There was another older 4-ply that had 186m per 50g ball, and it’s a really soft squishy yarn. (It’s in the middle.) I have a bit of that, too. With the old 3-ply, you can get a man’s sock out of one ball; with the new 4-ply, you might run short on even a smaller sock.

I bought this 3-ply Kroy yarn about 30 years ago, in two colours – this seagreen mix and a purple. There was a yarn store on Bloor St. W. in Toronto, close to Spadina Ave. on the north side. I don’t remember the name of it – it’s possible that it was a short-term rental in an empty retail space and had no sign – but it was an outlet store like Spinrite. They sold mill ends by the ounce. It might have been another Spinrite outlet.

At that time, there was a Patons mill in Toronto still. It was on Roselawn Ave. I remember it closing and being developed as condos – it is, in fact, Forest Hill Lofts, which were developed in 2003. (Yes, I had some fun checking out the condos for sale.) Patons had a mill store a little west of there for a bit, on Dufferin near Castlefield, but then closed that as well. There was only the Spinrite factory in Listowel after that, which closed earlier this year.

Socks Socks Socks

I bought the Kroy in two colours to make a pair of entrelac socks, from Socks Socks Socks. (That’s a Ravelry link.) They ultimately frustrated me so much that I frogged them back. (The issue was entirely user error: the pattern called for sport weight yarn, and 3-ply Kroy is a light fingering. I was going to change the stitch counts to make it work, but with entrelac, that was complicated.) The yarn has been loitering in the stash ever since – although I’m not sure where the purple has hidden itself away.

It’s surprising to see that this yarn was made in Canada. The current Kroy is made in Turkey, and has been balled and banded in Canada. I’m not sure what happens now since the Listowel mill is closed. Will the yarn be discontinued? Or will they ball and band in the US? Hard to know and harder to care at this point. Patons is a Canadian company no more so I’ll be knitting from my stash.

Socks by Beehive

The pattern is an old one, from a Beehive book called Socks by Beehive #113. They must have printed a lot of copies of this booklet as they’re pretty easy to find in thrift stores and antique markets. This pattern is Knotty Pines. (Those are both Ravelry links.) I really like this pattern and have made it several times, long before Ravelry (so those socks aren’t listed on my project pages there.)

Looking at the pattern on Rav, I see the recommended yarn is Kroy 3-ply by Lady Galt, which was made by Newlands in Cambridge Ontario. Here’s a blog post I found with a bit about Newlands – and LOL I have that knitting book, too. I remember my grandmother buying Lady Galt yarn at Eatons, a long-closed department store, which is another peek at the past. (I wonder if that Newlands building in Cambridge is condos now, too. Hmm. There are a bunch of them there.)

In the meantime, here’s the first Knotty Pines sock knit in the 3-ply Kroy:

sock knit by Deborah Cooke in Kroy 3-ply sock yarn, in Beehive Socks Knotty Pines pattern

I was planning to knit these for myself, so made the leg shorter than the pattern. The foot, though, ended up being too wide for me (at 76 stitches) so the sock ended up being for the mister. He doesn’t mind that it’s a bit shorter. I’ve started the cuff on the second one – it takes a bit of concentration, since it’s not as regular a ribbing as usual. The bonus is that the ribbing lines up with the pattern once you start it, so it’s worth paying attention for a few rows.

*Poof* A Month Vanished – and Fuzzy Socks

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I apologize for the quiet here. A month has slipped away from me, and I’m not entirely sure where it went. Of course, there were things to do in the garden this time of year and some canning to finish up. I also treated myself to a lot of reading on the porch, which was just wonderful. (I might not give up on that anytime soon. I’ll be out there in my fuzzies when the first snowflakes fall! LOL!)

I have been sorting and organizing, too, which seems to be a fall impulse for me. The girls are getting some new accommodations, so they won’t be standing on the bookshelves all the time (getting dusty). I’m doing some sewing for myself again (yay for fun clothes that fit) while I continue to knit on the endless black sweater in Kidsilk Haze. I may never take this one off once it’s done.

I’ve been thinking, also, about my Noro Mitred Jacket. (le sigh) The colour is pooling, each square taking repeatable increments of the colour gradation. I’ve reached the end of the I-cord, which is a bit tighter than would be ideal, and am debating the merit of taking it all back, then reknitting it, planning the placement of the squares.

Mitred Jacket Matchiness

And yes, the pattern does display an order of working the squares, but I never read that bit until now. I’ll guess the designer noticed the same thing, so my result is entirely user error. Those two leftish ones that start with fuschia and end with green, in the second row from the bottom, really irk me, as do the four mirroring each other on the other sleeve opening. (Pink through purple to pink, with pink through green to blue immediately below.) Still thinking on that. On the upside, it looks as if it will fit which wasn’t at all a sure thing.

Finally I’ve been knitting myself a pair of fuzzy socks. (Hmm. I cast them on before I even realized the reading-on-the-porch plan.) This may be my fave way to make socks right now, so let’s talk about that today.

A few years ago, I made a number of pairs of the Snowshoe Socks from Knits about Winter. (The first link goes to Ravelry and the pattern. The second is a link to the publisher’s website and wow, the book is really on sale right now.) Essentially, you carry two strands of Kidsilk Haze or a similar yarn along with your sock yarn. The three strands held together make for a thick fuzzy and warm sock. Here are those pair – I made three for myself and one pair for the mister. I think there was a fourth ladies’ pair in teal that went to my SIL.

Here’s my original blog post about them from 2020.

Snowshoe Socks by Emily Fogen knit by Deborah Cooke
Snowshoe socks, designed by Emily Foden, knit by Deborah Cooke
Purple snowshoe socks knit by Deborah Cooke
Snowshoe Socks by Emily Fogen knit by Deborah Cooke

You can see that the orange and the purple pair for me are quite generous through the ankle. I find them a bit sloppy to wear. The first pair, OTOH, which I knit from a smaller size, are a bit snug. The mister finds his too hot so doesn’t wear them much.

While two strands of silky mohair make for a cushy sock, my current experiment is a pair with just one strand of the fuzzy stuff. That makes two strands overall. I’m also using my regular sock pattern, but I dropped the stitch count to 64 stitches instead of 72. Still knitting on 2.5mm needles but the socks come out a little bigger with the two strands and so, they’re going to fit me perfectly. Ha. No baggy ankles this time. Having just the one strand doesn’t influence the final gauge as much, but you still get a fuzzy sock.

Here’s where I’m at, just after turning the heel on the first sock.

sock knit by Deborah Cooke with The Alpaca Co's Paca-Ped and Halo Watercolors

These yarns include alpaca fibre, so the socks are going to be really soft. Both are from The Alpaca Yarn Co. – the sock yarn is Paca-Peds in Purple Rain and the fuzzy one is Halo Watercolors in Picasso. Those are Ravelry links but The Alpaca Yarn Co has an online store right here. Here is Paca-Peds on their site, and here is Halo Watercolors.

I love how the colours become muted when the two yarns are held together. The sock yarn is space-dyed so I knew it would want to pool, probably in a swirl, so the fuzzy yarn softens that a bit, too.

The project bag is one I made from quilting cotton in my stqash. This is the free pattern. It’s a very easy sew, and you can subsequently play with the size of the bag. I’ve added a zipper into the seam between the two colours, too.

If you’ve never knit socks with two strands – and your feet get cold – then give this a try. Your usual sock pattern should work out just fine, but use two strands of yarn instead of just one. Like me, you may want to go down a few stitches in circumference. It depends how tight you like your socks.

New Socks for the Mister

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I’ve been stuck with my current knitting project. I can’t find the right needle for the sleeves of my current No. 9 sweater. It defies belief that I don’t have a 40cm 6.5mm needle, in all my stash of knitting needles, so I’m hunting through everything. Dollars to donuts, as soon as I decide I must not have one and buy one, I’ll find the one lurking in my projects. This is, after all, how one gathers a needle stash.

I actually made a spreadsheet a few years ago, inventorying all of my knitting needles for exactly this reason. At the time, I listed the project where the needles could be found, if they were being used. The spreadsheet is out of date, sadly, but it does not show that I have a needle in this size. Maybe I don’t. I’ll keep looking to be sure.

In the meantime, there was movie night and nothing to knit. I cast on a pair of socks for the mister, and now they’re done. (But I still haven’t found the needle.)

men's socks knit in Online Supersocke New Wave by Deborah Cooke

This yarn has been well aged in the stash: it’s Online Supersocke (6-fach) New Wave – Color, a sock yarn from Germany. That’s the Ravelry link for the yarn since it’s discontinued. The yarn was actually made in Italy. This colourway is 1091.

And yes, I really like that I was able to make them match. 🙂

This is a nice yarn, squishy but with a firm twist. I think it will wear well and the mister really likes the colours. It comes in big balls and I bought a few of them when they were on sale, once upon a time, since the colours appealed to him. Thanks to Ravelry, I know I don’t have any more of this specific yarn in the stash, but I should have one more big balls of Online Supersocke. Time for it to be knitted up!

Meanwhile, I’ll keep looking for that elusive 40cm circular needle…

Fleece Artist Socks

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Things have been really busy writing-and-publishing-wise, which means my knitting and sewing projects have been getting less action. When I need to think, I need a simple project (or two.) So I finished a pair of new socks for myself which is always a good thing.

Socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Fleece Artist Kiki, Twilight colourway

I managed to crop the toe of one of them in this picture, but the colour is pretty true. They’re knit of Fleece Artist Kiki in Twilight, a superwash and nylon blend that is put up in a big skein of 140g. (That’s a Ravelry link for the yarn.) This yarn is thick, so these socks are thick, and I used almost the whole skein.

This is just my usual sock pattern, the one I don’t have to think about too much, but this time, I added two six-stitch mirroring cables to the front.

Socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Fleece Artist Kiki, Twilight colourway

After the 2/2 ribbing, I changed to 6/2 ribbing for the rest of the sock, turning cables on two adjacent knit bands. When I got to the heel, I positioned them at the center front. They go all the way down to the toe and make me happy.

It was the Halo that got me thinking about Fleece Artist yarn and missing (as usual) their Trail Socks yarn base. I no longer have a LYS with Fleece Artist yarn, which is sad, but Ravelry shows that Trail Socks isn’t discontinued. Good news. I haven’t seen it in so long that I assumed otherwise. (Let the hunt begin.) I found Kiki at Little Knits, because it’s discontinued. The colour saturation is great and the yarn is very squishy. I was surprised by the thickness, though. These are heavy socks.

Here’s my Ravelry project page.

I’ve also rescued my Spector from Sleeve Island and hope to have that to show you soon. I still don’t love it, but I’ll be glad to have it done.

Sewn Socks – and New Knitted Ones

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I usually knit socks, but recently someone at my sewing group talked about sewing socks from leftover pieces of jersey knit. I was intrigued and had a look around the internet, then drafted my own pattern. Here’s a pair of my finished sewn socks:

Jersey socks sewn by Deborah Cooke

These are sewn from a Dutch print on cotton jersey that I used for one of my Mirri dresses. It was expensive, so I kept every shred – plus I really like it.

The pattern for these is a tube, pieced from two long rectangles. One has darts for the heel so needs to be cut a bit longer. Originally, I measured the length of my foot for the pattern, but ended up shortening it by about 2″ – because of the stretch of the jersey knit. I first tried these with rounded toes but the fit wasn’t good, so I shaped the toes for left and right socks. Here’s my pattern now:

Pattern for Jersey Socks drafted by Deborah Cooke

It’s 4.25″ wide, with a .25″ seam allowance on each side. I have skinny feet. 🙂 These end just above the ankle and things are getting snug – if I wanted to make taller socks or knee socks, I’d need to widen the pattern and maybe even shape it to fit the calf.

Here are the other two pair I made of scraps:

Jersey socks sewn by Deborah Cooke

They don’t look like much when they’re laid flat, but they are quick to make. I serged the darts, then all around the perimeter. It literally took minutes to make three pair. I just used a zigzag to hem the tops, but could have used the twin needle instead.

They’re more like sock liners to me, but then I tend to wear thick socks when I wear socks. They’d be easy to make to match another garment and would be fun to wear with shoes that will only allow a thin sock. I might also wear them as sock liners this winter. The tan and black ones are made of a sweater knit and they’ll be the warmest of them all.

Have you ever sewn socks?

I also finished kniting a new pair of socks for myself in self-striping yarn.

Socks knit in Online Supersock Stripe by Deborah Cooke

This is Online Supersock 6-fach Stripe Color, which has been well-aged in the stash. I think I bought it originally to make socks for the mister, but he missed out this time. 🙂

New Blue Socks

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Most of my socks are wearing out, so I’ve been knitting new ones for myself for the fall. Here’s my latest pair.

socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Kroy Socks Blue Raspberry

I really like this colourway. I used a little bit more than two balls, and needed to join from a third ball for the toes. I ran out with each ball after about 3/4″ of the turquoise band that begins the toe. You can see that I added more turquoise when knitting the right one, which means less purple on the toe. I’ll survive that. 🙂 Fortunately, I’d found that third ball in the mill ends at Spinrite, so it only cost $1. I have a lot of it left for my sock afghan or maybe another knitted dress for Barbie.

And yes, I already have another pair of socks on my needles….

More Kroy Socks

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I’m due for some new socks so took on that project for my summer knitting. After all the sock yarns I’ve tried, I keep coming back to Patons Kroy Socks. The colours aren’t as unique as hand-painted yarns, but the socks always wear well. (My other fave yarn was Fleece Artist Trail Socks, which was both pretty and durable, but they don’t use that yarn base anymore.)

Kroy Socks (that link goes to the Yarnspirations site) is a thicker version of this yarn, with four plies instead of three, so it has less yardage. There’s 166 yards per ball. Usually, I buy three then have close to half a ball left over. This time, I decided to use just two balls.

The first pair is a blue colourway called Magic Stripes. (It’s the last colourway on the Yarnspirations site.)

socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Patons Kroy Socks

I used my usual sock pattern, casting on 72 stitches, working in 2/2 rib for about 12 rows, then switching to 6/2 ribbing to the heel. I usually knit a total of 72 rows before starting the heel (because it’s easy to remember) but this time I worked only 56 in the hope of making each sock out of one ball. As you can see, I ran out and had to make the toes black. :-/

For the next pair, I followed the same strategy, accepting the fate of black toes. This colourway is called Mexicala Stripes (it’s the second colour in the third row of swatches on the Yarnspirations site). I’m always up for some bright socks and these are definitely bright. The colourway has a really long repeat: there were only two repeats in the skein. You can see that the yellow from the top of the cuff starts again at the end of the heel flap.

Sock knit in Patons Kroy Socks Mexicali Stripes colourway by Deborah Cooke

This time, I worked 55 rows to the heel flap, then only 18 RS rows on the heel flap. (There were 19 on the blue pair above.) I was surprised by how much difference this made – I not only finished the first sock from one ball but had 3g of wool left over. The second sock is still on the needles, but it will match exactly.

How do you make socks match exactly and effortlessly? This strategy only works when you shop in-person and can look at the skeins. Choose two that start at the same point in the repeat of the colourway. My second ball of Mexicala Stripes starts with the same yellow band, so the socks will match without any trouble at all. When you order online, of course, the person filling the order will usually just grab the next two balls, so this plan won’t work.

My next lot of Kroy Socks is three balls in the colour Blue Raspberry. I’ll make taller socks and have some left over for my sock afghan. I’ve been adding to the one made of mitred squares. Hmm. I talked about those in this post, although they don’t have a post of their own. I’ll write a post about that for Friday.

Have you knit any socks lately?

Green Socks

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This past weekend was Thanksgiving in Canada. After cleaning and cooking and cleaning, I’m behind on everything after the holiday. It was a really good dinner, though, and everyone went home with some leftovers.

My completed knitting project today isn’t very exciting—it’s a new pair of socks for me. I like them, though, and given that I’m behind on everything, a new pair of socks suits me just fine. I knit these from stash yarn—Rowan Fine Art is discontinued. (That’s a Ravelry link because it’s not on the Rowan website anymore.) I liked this yarn a lot even though it was comparatively expensive when it was new. When it was discontinued, I stashed quite a lot of it. The colours are rich and it’s handpainted—they did the colour variations in a very regular manner, though, which means it makes patterns in the knitting like a variagated yarn.

Here are my new socks, knit in Lapwing:

socks knit in Rowan Fine Art by Deborah Cooke

They took 76g or about 3/4 of a skein.

This is the pattern I have memorized that varies slightly as I knit. I cast on 72 stitches on 2.5mm needles—I wrote up this pattern for my niece a while back and you can find it here. Since this yarn is thinner, I could have used 2.25mm or even 2.0mm needles.

When you look at the skein, there are four colours in the handpaint: a light almost-lime green, a medium green, a dark olive green, and a blue-green. It’s kind of interesting how they end up pairing off and making spirals of pooling. I like the efect in socks but would be less happy with this pooling in a sweater. You might remember that I made a shawl in Rowan Fine Art in a reddish-brown colourway called the Starling Wrap. You can see that there were four colours in that colourway and they paired off into repeating stripes, too. That’s something I’ll need to keep in mind as I use my stash of this yarn.

Starling Wrap designed by Marie Wallin knit in Rowan Fine Art by Deborah Cooke

And here’s an interesting project with Rowan Fine Art Aran – the same yarn in a heavier weight – by DayanaKnits, using planned pooling. This project is possible because of the regularity of the colour repeat, and I find it fascinating. Have a scroll through Dayana’s projects while you’re on her blog. She’s a prolific and talented knitter.

I’m off to a knitting fair this weekend for the first time in years. I have a little list and am hoping to find some graduated dying by local knitters. It’ll be great to have the chance to smell the yarn fumes and squish the skeins again!

Pink Socks

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The problem with finishing big projects is that I haven’t had much to show you. You’ve seen enough in-progress pictures of everything currently on my needles.

I did make a pair of socks, though. There’s something particularly cheerful about self-striping yarn in bright colours, isn’t there?

Of course, I had to make them match. 🙂

socks knit by Deborah Cooke in Online Supersocke Comedy Color

The yarn was in my stash – it’s Online Supersocke Comedy Color, and the colourway is 1280. The yarn is discontinued, so that’s a Ravelry link.

New Socks

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I’ve been finishing a book lately, which means I need to some mindless knitting in the evenings. Socks are the perfect choice. I just finished this pair in Fleece Artist Trail Socks, which appears to be discontinued. Hmm. That explains why I haven’t seen any for a while. (That’s a Ravelry link.) The colourway is Nightshade:

Socks in Fleece Artist Trail Socks, Nightshade, knit by Deborah CookeI used my usual memorized pattern for these, casting on 72 stitches, working the ribbing for a while (12R of 1×1 in this case), then looser ribbing to the heel for 72R total. I did 6×2 ribbing this time, and worked a cable twist every 12R, which made counting the rows easier. It does make the socks a little more snug to pull on. I have 12g of yarn left, which will probably make one mitred square for my leftover-sock-yarn afghan.

I’ll have something more interesting to show you next week. 🙂