I love a good book giveaway, don't you, dear readers?
A while back, Carol Sulcoski asked me to be part of her upcoming book, Sock Yarn Studio. I loved the concept... A book using all sock yarn but with no actual sock patterns. I, like many knitters, have an impressive sock yarn stash, but here's a deep, dark knitting secret... I'm not a huge fan of sock knitting. I only knit them for my mom and even then I'm not super thrilled about it. However, I LOVE sock yarn! Most of my shawls are knit in sock yarn and many of my accessories. I also find a beautiful hank of hand dyed sock yarn to be an ideal gift for a fellow knitter.
I worked with Carol when I worked at Vogue Knitting and always loved her designs and spunk. Carol is an attorney turned fiber artist and has a great blog here and dyes insanely gorgeous yarn under the name Black Bunny Fibers.
Without hesitation I agreed to be part of Carol's book and was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when the finished book landed in my mailbox. The book is organized by 1, 2 or multi-hank projects, all in sock yarn but no socks. There's some interesting tips on how to avoid pooling, how to knit "faux isle" (more about that in a second) and features an impressive cast of designers.
I knew immediately that I wanted to do a project showcasing faux isle. Faux isle is a great trick, especially if you have a crazy hank of sock yarn and you're not sure what to do with it. Mix it with a solid (black or white is always a good option) and it always looks like you used many more colors than you actually did. The end result? My Fair Isle Peacock Hat knit with 1 hank of Louet Gems Fingering (black) and 1 ball of Skacel's Zauerball (the pinks and reds). On a side note, I love, love, love Zauerball. If you've never heard of it or knit with it, get a ball and have a blast. It's like a party in a ball.
See what I mean? I nice pink and red variegated combined with a solid black looks like I used way more yarn than I actually did. Genius! As always, this projects has many things I love in my knitting, corrugated ribbing, birds, fair isle and bright, popping colors.
This book has 26 great sock yarn patterns (no socks!) and lots of helpful and interesting info on sock yarn. If you're like me and have an impressive sock yarn stash and knit very few pairs of actual socks, this is a book for you. And good news! I'm giving away a free copy! Leave a comment here on the blog about what your favorite non-sock pattern to knit with sock yarn is and a winner will be chosen at random on Thursday evening, October 18. Make sure you leave your Ravelry name or email so I can contact you.
Happy non-sock knitting with sock yarn!