In November 2020, I knit my very first pair of socks. Pleasantly surprised with the outcome and how easy it really was to make them, I started knitting pair after pair. While all of my family is knitworthy and adores the things I make them, my oldest son has a particular fondness for socks. He has more pairs now than I can count off the top of my head and wears them constantly. His socks are washed about every week to week and a half. The woolwash that I use is called KnitIQ that you can find on Amazon. It smells heavenly! Typically, I handwash all of my knits in cool water and hang them to dry. There have been times when I’m in a rush that I use mesh laundry bags, put about 3 pairs in each bag, use the KnitIQ wash, and machine wash them on a delicate, cold cycle, and hang to dry.
I knit all my socks using the magic loop method on a US size 1, 32-inch needle.
Knitpicks Stroll
KnitPicks Stroll Hand Painted in Home Movie and KnitPicks Stroll in Dove Heather for the cuffs, heels, and toes
Heel method – Slip stitch heel
Fresh off the needles:
The first pair of socks that I knit for my son (and my second ever) and was finished on January 8, 2021. At the time of this blog post, these socks are a year and a half old.
Obviously, these have gotten the most wear of all. Although they show signs of wear, pilling, and a slight loss of shape through the cuff and leg, they are still in good condition overall and have tons of life left. There have been no holes that needed to be repaired, either. Stroll is incredibly soft and resilient to lots of wear.
My rating for this yarn – 9/10
KnitPicks Felici
KnitPicks Felici in Game Over
Heel method – Slip stitch heel
Fresh off the needles:
This pair was finished on September 24, 2021. At the time of this blog post, they are 8 months old.
I wasn’t sure how Felici would stack up against Stroll, but it has proven to be a decent sock yarn that I’d probably purchase again in the future. It feels soft, squishy, and is a joy to knit with. The knitted fabric feels spongier than Stroll.
When compared to Stroll, these socks have shown more signs of wear at a quicker rate. The colors have seemed to fade a little faster as well. I’m not sure why this is as I’ve treated them in the same way that I do the rest of my handknit socks.
My rating for this yarn – 7/10
Patons Kroy Socks
Yarn – Patons Kroy Socks. I cannot believe this, but I didn’t note the colorway and have been scouring the internet to find that it’s apparently nowhere to be found now. But if you’re interested, there a ton of different striped colorways in this yarn that are readily available. I do know that I used the Flax colorway for the cuff, heels, and toes.
Heel method – Shadow Wrap Short Row Heel
Fresh off the needles:
This pair was finished on June 10, 2021, so about a year ago.
This sock yarn is easy to come by as it’s in many Hobby Lobby and Michaels stores across the US so you don’t need to order it online if you prefer not to. It’s known as a workhorse yarn, and I have to say that that holds to be true. This pair of socks seems to be holding up the best with fewer signs of wear. They’re rougher, more rustic and wooly feeling than the other yarns, but they make up for that in toughness.
My rating for this yarn – 8/10
my #1 choice for sock yarn is KnitPicks Stroll.
It hits the mark in softness, wearability, and holds up to many, many months of tons of wear. As well as being affordable, Stroll is available in all the colors one could dream of.
Have you tried any of these yarns?
What’s your favorite?
Grace says
Great review, Holly. Thank you, this was very helpful.
The Patons Kroy colorway is Fifties Stripes.
Holly says
Thanks so much, Grace! I appreciate you telling me the colorway. π
Holly says
I find this review extremely helpful and would love to see more like this in the future.
Holly says
Thanks so much!