Compliments of the season to you all. Our Dear Girl made this card.
This is my last post for 2017. Needle & Spindle will be having a wee rest over the Festive Season and probably most of the January school holidays too. Thank you for being such enthusiastic, loyal readers this year. I have cherished this space and the return of making and sharing to my life.
Before things wind down (up) too much before Christmas, I thought it timely to update the Tuff Socks Naturally project. This project is an open, collaborative project, a spinning and knitting adventure, exploring natural, local, more sustainable alternatives to the current superwash and nylon sock yarns and fibres.
I just finished my second pair of socks for the project, a 3 ply worsted sock yarn hand spun from a Corriedale x Ryeland x Finn fleece from Lucinvale Fleeces, reinforced at heels and toes with a mohair laceweight spun up from fifth clip mohair locks from Mohair Rare. I will post these properly next year with all their geeky deets.
Now, let’s catch up with the other Tuff Socks comrades. Mary from Local & Bespoke has just finished spinning and knitting a lovely pair of cabled socks from a blend of Blue Faced Leceister, Texel and Silk. She spun these fine with a tight twist and they look super handsome.
Adele has one half of pair of socks hand spun and knitted from Shropshire tops from Shropshire Woolies and she’s made some sample swatches to test machine washing.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BcrArMEhCTI/
We’ve also had some other folks join our open sock exploration. Clare Devine from Knit Share Love made a pair of socks in Blacker Yarns Mohair Sock. She wore them non stop on a UK trip for a month and will be sharing her thoughts on how they went in the new year. Look out for a post on her blog.
Lauren Champs from South Australia is going to be making a pair of bushwalking socks from this lovely Shropshire wool.
Josh Moll from the Netherlands made these walnut dyed socks, reinforcing the heels with a strand of mohair.
It is super exciting seeing the socks starting to emerge on Instagram. We are using the tag #tuffsocksnaturally. Please use the tag for any fibre selections, spinning and knitting experiments and finished socks that fit the project theme. You can also share any information or links in the comments sections of this blog or Local & Bespoke.
After all the festive flusterings are done and it is time to start thinking of the New Year, why not start with a freshly spun/knitted pair of socks for the tuffsocksnaturally project. Do join us!
I look forward to seeing you back here next year.
