Until recently my sock knitting yarn has been limited to solid colours. I have wanted to try out some self patterning yarn for a while. My main concern about self patterning yarn is, will I end up with a pair of mismatched socks. I liked the look of this established brand Opal, so I thought I'd give the yarn a try.
Yarn Details
100g
425m
75% wool, 25% polyamide
Opal Pullover & Sockenwolle 'Sweet and Spicy' #6755
Made in Germany
Made in Germany
I purchased my yarn from The Woolstack. Included with the yarn were two patterns, one for a pair of gloves with fingers and the other for Simple Socks & Gift Pouch. I followed the supplied sock pattern which gives instructions for cuff down socks in one size - ladies medium - which was just right for me.
One thing that put me off slightly, was the tiny needle size of 2.25mm (US 1) and thinking this would be another project I'd never finish. Usually I knit boot socks with DK or aran weight and nothing smaller than a 3.75mm (US 5) needle. However, I enjoyed watching the pattern develop so much that the needle size didn't seem to matter.
After I'd cast off the first sock I had a feel for how the pattern works with this yarn. I could see that I needed to unwind and remove about three meters of yarn from the ball before casting on my second sock. This meant that I started casting on the yarn part way through the orange, rust and cream pattern section. There's hardly any difference in the two socks. There is lots of yarn left over, may be enough for some small children's socks.
Really enjoyed using this yarn and straight forward pattern. I'd definitely think about using this brand again in a different colour way.
