The Ideal Sock Project [Master Post]

As I’ve mentioned before on the Vlog, I have an obsession with the idea of making socks. It seems like the next logical challenge for me, the next milestone. The standard commercial sock yarn is a blend of superwash-treated wool, plus nylon and maybe an add-on like bamboo or silk. This is the norm… but in my research I’ve begun to realize I’m not totally happy with the norm.

It goes like this– I already avoid acrylic, mostly because of it’s reaction to fire (cotton and wool are much safer options in an emergency– they don’t melt on to your skin), but also because of microplastics. But as I was researching sock yarn– specifically, spinning my own sock yarn, I realized a few things. First, superwash yarn is more damaging than I thought. Until recently, I didn’t realize that superwash wool is often coated in a plastic coating– I honestly thought they just removed the scales via a chemical process, but apparently the majority of superwash yarn is also coated in a plastic resin…that still produces microplastics…just like acrylic. And nylon of course is…also acrylic… and has the same issues.

So where does that leave socks? Well, the ideal sock yarn is stretchy wool that doesn’t shrink + a strong fiber or two for stability, all plied tight for longevity. So what can we change?

First off, some wools are naturally superwash, just because they resist felting in general. According to the many trials and experiments run by the members of Shave Em to Save Em, heritage Down breeds are especially felt-resistant, or even in some cases, pretty much felt-proof. Their unique crimp also makes them suited for socks because they are incredibly stretchy. These can be a little hard to find in some cases, but they are a great option! I’ve also seen mention of Cheviot and BFL being good options, although at the moment I can’t find the sources for that.

As for nylon… the most-referenced replacement option seems to be mohair, while adding silk and bamboo also can help (although again…bamboo and other rayons from plants have issues of their own, that we can discuss later). This is still a more experimental area though, as there are many options to try.

That brings me to my plan– the Ideal Sock Spinning plan– of carefully spinning and testing as many of these options as possible, to see which work best for my purposes. There are honestly way too many variables for me to test this out with any sort of hard numerical data, but I can at least try to provide some context to the blends that are possible, and my personal preferences.

Other referances:

• Spinning SE2SE Wools for Socks (Video)

This is the master post, and all videos to follow will be listed below:

• Cheviot/Mohair/Silk Blend
• Southdown/Dorset Horn/Bio-Nylon
• Tunis X Fleece (this is a longer video, and will take a while to complete)
• BFL/Silk/Mohair (video to come)