Monday, August 18, 2014

Hudson Bay Socks


Hi, Knitters,
Yesterday I got a bit of a start on the cuff of my self-titled Hudson Bay Socks out of the Fishknits Yarn, Canadiana. I am pretty excited about the look of the sock so far. What a nice knit. The yarn is wonderful and the dyeing is top-notch. I purchased this yarn a little while ago so I am happy to finally get it going.

Needles: US size 1/2.25mm dpns, 6-inch length, by Signature Needle Arts
Project Bag: Little Skein on Etsy
Pattern: My free How I Make My Socks recipe

If you don't know what a Hudson Bay wool blanket looks like click here to find out!


Ever since I posted this skein on Instagram a few days ago Fishknits has been having a great run on the Canadiana Strong Heart sock yarn. Skein after skein is flying out of the shop. I gave Jo Dee Fish, the owner, a heads up that I would be posting more about her fabulous and fun sock yarn on my blog this week. Jo Dee said she would be dyeing up a bunch more of this unique colorway in case any more of you are interested.

Here is the information and history from Fishknits Yarn on Etsy about Canadiana:

This yarn is available for special order only. It can take up to 3 weeks until it is shipped.

A Fishtastic yarn called Canadiana made with our Strong Heart base: 
20 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Blue
6 rows Natural
8 rows Golden Yellow
6 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Red
6 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Green
~240 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Green
6 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Red
6 rows Natural
8 rows Golden Yellow
6 rows Natural
8 rows Deep Blue
20 rows Natural

Designed to look like the famous Hudson Bay blankets, indigenous to Canada;-) Each skein is dyed so that the knitter can knit a pair of natural colored socks with a stripe of Deep Blue, Golden Yellow, Deep Red, and Deep Green, just like the blankets, with a narrower stripe of natural between each stripe. It has been dyed with the stripes occurring at each end of the skein, with lots and lots of natural colored yarn in between. If you divide the skein in half you will two equal balls, one for each sock:-)

This colorway was designed and originally sold by Everything Old Crafts, here on Etsy. She has graciously given me the rights to sell this awesome colorway. We can all thank her for this awesome colorway.

Strong Heart: 80% Superwash Merino, 20% Nylon 2-ply high twist. 400 yards, 100 grams. The two plies in this yarn plump together making this yarn is so soft. It includes a touch of nylon which makes it very strong, perfect for socks, mittens, hats.

The test sock was a plain vanilla sock pattern knit on US 1 needles over 64 stitches. Your stitch size may be different than mine so the stripes may be slightly narrower or wider than mine.

~400 yds, 100 grams
7-8 stitches = 1 inch on US 1-3

Well, there you go! I divided the skein in two 50 gram balls. I am knitting the socks from the cuff down so I have to rewind the second ball so the striped section is at the beginning of the ball and not tucked away inside. If you are knitting toe-up socks you will need to have the stripes at the inside of the ball if you are hand-winding. I will definitely make the pair match this time. With the bold stripes it will be very easy to do.

The first sock seems to be zooming right along! I need a little fun and mindless project on the side right about now. I hope your Monday is going well and that your week is off to a good start.
xo ~ susan