Sock pact

I made a pact with myself a while ago. I wouldn't buy any more sock yarn until I had knit a pair of socks with each brand of sock yarn that I own. That's a lot of socks, and I am *almost* done! The point behind this exercise was to (a) use up some of that stash yarn, (b) learn more about the different sock yarns, so that I can make better informed decisions about purchasing future sock yarn, and (c) why not?

Here are the latest socks: Socks that rock, Lana Grossa Meilenweit, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, and KPPPM

I also have a confession to make. The only sock I have left to knit is.... the other Pomatomus sock. That's right, I only knit one. I am a bad bad knitter. Shame on me.

And here's the analysis:

Wool blends - Maybe I haven't knit with enough wool blend sock yarn, but I really can't tell the difference in feel or wear. The big benefit is machine washability, and Jawoll comes with matching reinforcement thread. Otherwise, I get much more knitting pleasure from 100% wool socks.

1. Regia 4ply - These socks are okay, but I'm really more into the luxury 100% wool socks. The colorways tend to be pretty nice, but I'm still not sure what I think of the whole self-striping thing. The jog kinda bugs me.
2. Lang Jawoll Colori - Again, these aren't 100% wool, so the knitting pleasure wasn't as great. I also had such horrific pooling issues with this that I'm just going to give up and not count this yarn as part of my stash anymore. The nifty thing about Jawoll is the accompanying matching reinforcement thread.
3. Meilenweit - Meilenweit comes in lots of good colorways, but mine sucked for some reason. There were lots of little white specks where the dye didn't take. The picture may not show it, but my sock is blemished.

Machine washable 100% wool

4. Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock - I really like the yarn itself, but I have to do some work to avoid pooling issues. Unfortunately I only like a few of the colorways. But the yarn is really sturdy. Probably holds up the best of all of the 100% wool yarns. Best for textured patterns that will eliminate pooling issues.

[EDIT: Well, holy moly, I stand corrected. Shepherd Sock is 20% nylon. In that case, ignore everything I said about wool blends all being the same and not as good as 100% wool because Shepherd Sock is damn good and definitely a class above the other wool blends.]

5. Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Ultra - I love this stuff, and I love Buffy, the owner of Shelridge Farm. A good range of solid colors as well as her own handpainted colorways (she says she'll take requests as long as you don't want something too exact). Machine washable and oh so soft. This is what I used for Pomatomus. Of course, I haven't washed it yet, so I can't tell you how it will stand up to washing.

100% merino Louet Gems based - The next four are all made from the same base yarn which is a tightly spun merino. It is luxuriously soft and slightly thick for sock weight yarn. The main difference between these is in the color.

6. Blue Moon Fiberarts Socks that Rock - These socks do indeed rock. The colorways are pretty awesome. I had no pooling issues and love love love these socks. The color variations are generally not so subtle and short enough to avoid pooling. Socks that Rock was the most affordable of these four with a retail price of $18 for a pair.
7. Cherry Tree Hill Supersock - Like Lorna's Laces, I don't like the colorways of CTH as much as some of the others, but they have Potluck colors which are random and sometimes fabulous. I've found CTH on sale for $15/skein.
8. Fleece Artist Merino Sock - I haven't seen much, but I love the colorways I did see. I can't tell if I like the Fleece Artist so much because it's rare or because it really is all that. But if there's any question, it really is all that. The colorways seem a bit richer/deeper than other brands, but also subtle in their switches from one color to the next. I want to say this is the most expensive sock yarn I've ever bought, but the skein was also quite large. Unfortunately I don't have the tags anymore, so I can't say for sure. I do really love these socks though.
9. Koigu PPPM - Ah, KPPPM, so often coveted. KPPPM is definitely the most color intense and varied of the lot, often using the whole rainbow in a single skein. Because of this, pooling is highly unlikely though I have noticed repeats lining up. The one thing about KPPPM is that if for some crazy reason you want to part with it later, you won't have a problem selling it on ebay for well over retail. People go apeshit over this stuff. I've bought it on sale for as little as $8/skein, but it can retail for much more ($11 is probably the norm).

The cheap alternative

10. KnitPicks Dye Your Own - My least favorite of all the 100% wool sock yarns. These pilled during the knitting and seem a bit flimsy in comparison to the others. While more pleasurable to knit than the yarns with nylon, I would probably go for Regia or Jawoll over KnitPicks because of wearability. I should use one of the KnitPIcks pre-dyed sock yarns to give them another chance, but I really would put this yarn at the bottom of my sock yarn preference list.

So what have I learned? Well, I obviously like the 100% wool socks the best. What sock yarn will I buy in the future? I still haven't tried Mountain Colors Bearfoot, but I don't get along too well with mohair. I'm hesitant to try Opal because of the nylon content. The top of my wanted sock yarn list is probably Diakeito which I'm sure to snag on my next trip to Commuknity. My stash already contains a hefty amount of KPPPM and Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock. Why would I buy more sock yarn? Oh right, because I'm absurd.