The Virtual Knitter

Disclaimer - This is my first review so be easy on me! Since I’m a very knew sock knitter, you may wonder what business I have evaluating sock yarn. Well, keep in mind that even though I’ve only recently started knitting socks, I’ve been wearing them for decades! Also, I hope that my experience spinning and my familiarity with the qualities of different fibers will lend me some credibility!

Review – Noro Kureyon Sock
I wanted to love the new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn, but alas, I do not. I like it very much, but I do not love it – at least not as sock yarn.  The colors really do sing to me, as Noro colors usually do. Unfortunately, Kureyon’s signature colorways can only be achieved by means of a singles yarn, and singles do not make an ideal sock yarn. You can continue to read my full review, or scroll down to my conclusion below.

Detailed Review
I’ve carefully swatched the new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in order to provide this review. I have not yet knit an actual project using the yarn, so this review is based solely on my experience with the swatches. Once I complete a project, I’ll append this review if necessary.

Noro Kureyon Sock does not disappoint in the color department. Noro has done an excellent job of replicating their Kureyon colors in this new sock weight version of the yarn. I find their colorways to be nothing short of ingenious. In fact, were it not for the Noro color palette, I doubt very much I would hold their yarns in such high regard.

However, despite their success with its color, I’m not all that impressed with it as sock yarn. Yes, I believe it will make some beautiful socks – at least to look at. But they might not be so beautiful to wear. Or even to knit, for that matter. Why? Well, because this yarn just isn’t very soft and it lacks the “bounce” that most wool or wool/nylon sock yarns possess. I’m also a bit concerned about its durability. Obviously Noro shares this concern, since they’ve included a warning in the care instructions! Sock yarn should be durable, so for the manufacturer to suggest that the yarn might be fragile is bothersome. 

I’ve heard that ideally, 2- or 3-ply yarn is best for long lasting socks. However, Noro Kureyon Sock, just like its big brother Kureyon, is a singles yarn. It does appear to be fulled a bit, as I’ve heard Noro does to create stronger more balanced singles, which should help a bit in the durability department. However, it is still quite fragile, easily breaking when tugged. In fact, one section pulled apart while I was gently trying to loosen a small tangled blob that came out of the center pull skein.

For my first swatch I cast on 36 stitches and knit in stockinette stitch. I washed by hand in cool water using a mild soap, spun out the excess water with a short spin cycle in my washing machine, air dried and then ironed gently using the lowest setting on my iron (as suggested on the label). 

I’ve been achieving a nice density with thicker sock yarns using US #1 needles so I started with #0 Crystal Palace Bamboo circulars. Due to the roughness of the yarn, the drag on the bamboo needles was considerable, and the result was a less dense fabric than I prefer for socks. The gauge came out to 8 stitches per inch after washing and blocking.

Since I wasn’t happy with the first swatch, I tried a second one using US #0 Addi Turbos, which are ever so slightly smaller in diameter than the Crystal Palace needles. The drag was greatly reduced with the metal needles and I was much happier with the results. Although the gauge was only marginally different at 8.5 stitches per inch, the fabric was just dense enough to be suitable for socks.  Keep in mind that depending on your own knitting style, your gauge could be either tighter or looser than my own.

	Swatch 1	Swatch 2
	Yes, these are both from the same ball of yarn! This shows an example of how varied the colors are within a ball. This is typical of the beautiful Kureyon colors.

I kept a control swatch to compare the softness before and after washing. My swatches got only slightly softer with the initial wash, but I suspect that with subsequent washings they will continue to soften up to a point. I could definitely tolerate socks made from this yarn, but people with sensitive feet will likely find it uncomfortable. It does knit up to be noticeably softer than it initially feels coming directly off the skein.

Typical of many Noro yarns, Kureyon Sock is not of a completely uniform thickness, as you can see in the picture below. This gives it the more rustic look that I think of as a trademark of many Noro yarns. I like this quality but others may not prefer it, especially for socks. Fortunately, I found no stray pieces of vegetation as are often encountered in standard Kureyon. I suspect that the process of blending the wool with nylon has eliminated this problem (although as a hand-spinner, I really don’t think of it as a problem myself!)

	As you can see, there is a great deal of variation in thickness! The piece on the far right shows where the break occurred.

And finally, based on my swatches, I think the color transitions may be a bit longer than I prefer for self-striping socks. However, a true evaluation can only be made upon completion of either an actual sock or a full size tubular swatch so I’ll have to report on those results later.

Conclusion
I think Noro may have missed the mark with the name on this one. I don’t doubt that it will make absolutely lovely socks. But practical socks? No. I think they would have been wise to follow the trend they’ve established with the Noro Silk Garden line and called this Kureyon Lite instead of Kureyon Sock. Sure, some  knitters will be happy to make socks with it, but I think its true calling may lie in the creation of other types of projects. I personally can’t wait to try knitting lace with it!

They’ve really delivered on the color, but the roughness and low durability may not be best suited to socks. I predict many sock knitters will be disappointed in its texture and lack of springiness. Hopefully enough knitters will be adventurous and use it for other projects in order to guarantee it’s success, because it really is a lovely yarn. I predict I’ll play a role in doing just that!

Go forth and knit!

Kristi

Good morning!  This quick message is simply to serve as advance notice that I’ve got a mini-review of the new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in the works.  I completed one swatch on size 0 needles, but have decided that I need to also do one on smaller needles as I was not completely satisfied with the fabric density after washing and blocking.  I don’t have any size 00 needles so I’ll attempt to pick some up today at lunch time so I may be able to wrap this up by end of day tomorrow.

I’ll leave you with a couple of  teaser comments though.  First of all, the color transitions, in true Noro fashion, do not disappoint!  Second, this is not your average sock yarn.  And with that, I’ll bid you a Good Day, and a Merry Christmas, with a promise of more to come in a day or two!

Kristi

Confession – I’ve only just completed my first pair of hand knit socks.  Although I first picked up the needles over 4 years ago, I don’t have a lot of time to knit big projects, so spend much of my time experimenting on small simple items where I can try out new techniques or stitches without making a big commitment. It would seem then that socks would be a natural fit, but no, they have intimidated my until recently. In fact, I’ve only just completed my first full pair of socks within the last month, and I’m now working on my second pair. But now that I have taken the plunge, I think a new addiction to socks is inevitable.

I’d like to introduce my first pair of socks to you.  These are knit with Plymouth Sockotta yarn, following the pattern for the Garter Rib socks found in Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, a great resource for sock virgins. 

Now that I’m officially hooked, I’m working on a pair to give to my mother for Christmas. Unfortunately, our celebration got moved up to tomorrow, so they won’t be finished in time! Well, being that I always try to look at the bright side of things (Always Look at the Bright Side of Life, ta dum….) Oops – no time for Monty Python right now! Anyway, I’m taking this as an opportunity to make sure they fit her. Her feet are about the same size as mine, so I fitted one to my foot, but didn’t close the toe. I’ll let her try it tomorrow so I can adjust the length if necessary and then I’ll finish the other one to match. I figure then I’ll have a good measurement for future socks for her. I’m not sure any other family members would appreciate hand knit socks, but I suppose I’ll make at least one pair for John. I’ll just have to make sure they’re machine wash and dry for him!

I’m also venturing out into trying as many different sock yarns as possible. I realize that with the plethora available, I’ll never be able to try them all, but that won’t keep me from trying! I got two new ones just this week from Little Knits, one of my fave online resources.  One is the new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn and the other is called Boo Fly from Fly Designs, in their color called “Petrol.”  I guess it’s supposed to be the colors of an oil slick or something.  It’s a beautiful colorway with shades of purple and some light blue.  The light blue is concentrated along one area of the hand, so it will be interesting to see how that knits up.  Here’s a picture of both of the skeins, just out of the box:

The Boo Fly is a blend of 60% Superwash Merino, 30% Bamboo and 10% Nylon.  It’s nice and soft and should be quite durable and enjoyable to work with.  Fly Designs Yarn is hand-dyed yarn from Angora Valley Fibers, which is located somewhere in Washington State.  They don’t list exactly where on their site, but that’s close enough to call “local” for me. 

The Noro is 70% Wool and 30% Nylon.  Unfortunately it’s not superwash, but it’s a very interesting yarn.  Much like their standard Kureyon, it’s a little uneven and also only a singles yarn.  The Nylon does seem to give it some extra durability, but sure doesn’t add any softness!  The ball band suggests a 2.7-3.3 mm needle size (US 2 or 3), but I’m thinking I’ll have to go down at least to a size 0!  I’m using size 1 right now on thicker sock yarn for a good density.  I’ll definitely have to be very diligent with my swatching on this one – washing and drying under the same conditions as I plan for the finished product.  In true Noro fashion, the color is stunning, as you can see in the photo of the end of the skein below:

Once I get a chance to work with it a bit, I’ll post a mini review here.  I can already tell you that this one won’t be for “everyday” socks, simply because of the care required.  But then again, there’s nothing “everyday” about Noro yarns anyway!

Well, I’m off now to finish up some Christmas shopping and preparations.  Happy Holidays!

Never, and I mean NEVER, underestimate the importance of proofreading!  Why do I say this?  Well, I’ve just experienced the results of poor proofreading first hand, but fortunately in a very amusing way.

If you’ve read any of my other posts, you’ll know that I just created a rather ugly placeholder page for my future site, www.VirtualKnitter.com.  I’ve actually already updated the page several times, adding a link back to this blog, updating with some key info about subscribing to my e-mail updates, and adding a meta description for search engines.  It’s that last one – the meta description – where I had a little trouble.

You see, I didn’t proof the meta description.  Instead, I only proofread what actually appears on the live page, using a web browser.  Silly me – should have gone back to the actual code to proofread too.  Imagine my surprise today, when I checked again to see if Google had indexed the page, and saw this:

Do you see the error?  Yup – my site is going to be a “turkey” resource!  For those of you who don’t know, the meta description is what gets listed by the search engines as the description of your site.  And I have a “Turkey” solution – YIKES!  That’s supposed to say “turnkey” if you hadn’t figured it out.  And the change has been made to my code, so as soon as the site page gets crawled again, it should get corrected, but for now, I’m the turkey.  Oh well.  It’s not like a million people are going to be finding the site via Google at this time anyway, but even so, how embarrassing!

Just to let you know, I’m still collecting comments and suggestions on what to include at the Virtual Knitter.  Please visit my earlier entry called “www.VirtualKnitter.com and make a comment to get an entry into the prize drawing for a skein of Noro Kureyon Sock.  I’d love to read your ideas!

Happy Knitting!

Good morning readers!  I just wanted to quickly say thanks to those of you who have offered awesome suggestions  for the Virtual Knitter already and encourage the rest of you to submit your own suggestions.

One thing I forgot to mention is that my e-mail sign up form at the Virtual Knitter uses the “double opt-in” process for extra security, so you’ll be getting a message from me asking you to verify your registration.  When I signed myself up on the form using one of my other e-mail addresses, the verification message went straight into a junk e-mail folder.  So, please check your junk folders too after signing up so that you complete the process.  I’m not going to post the e-mail address that the message will come from, but it will be obvious that it’s from me.

And finally, I just wanted to respond to Panhandle Jane’s comment.  Although I didn’t mention it specifically, you are correct.  I do not have any intention (or time & resources) to create something like Ravelry.  When I stated this would not include forums, I should have gone on to say that my intent is not to create a “community” so much as a resource.  Hope that clarifies things a bit!

Thanks to all who have commented so far! 

Kristi

Hello!  Once again it’s been eons since I’ve posted an entry on my blog.  There are a multitude of excuses I could make, but the truth is that I’ve just been lazy.  OK, sure, I’ve been very busy with other things, but given the fact that I can put a post up here in a matter of just a few minutes, that’s just not a good excuse.  Once again, I’m trying to kick myself in the old rear end to commit to posting at least once per week, but ideally more often – perhaps two times per week. 

I wonder if I really have enough to talk about twice a week. I guess time will tell.  I’ve been knitting and spinning more and more lately so I should have things to write about (and less time to do it – here we go with the silly excuses again!)  I’ve even become actively involved in a spinning group for the first time, learning some really exciting things from the other members, so even more topics to choose from!

But now for the newest thing I’ve got up my sleeve – VirtualKnitter.com!  I bought this domain just a couple of days ago and am starting to plan out what I picture as a great resource for knitters, spinners and other fiber artists.  Sort of a turnkey resource where they can go to get all kinds of content such as geographical lists of stores, tips & techniques, patterns, etc.  I know there are things like this out there, but I want to put them in one easy to navigate place – sort of a knitter’s portal, if you will.  It may sound like I’m dreaming, considering my track record with blogging, but I’m going to give it my best shot!

What I don’t want it to be is an online magazine (that’s what Knitty.com is, and nobody can compete with Knitty, IMHO) or a forum (I’m loyal to Knitter’s Review – no need for another KR!)  It’s going to need to be a little different than both of these – something that can complement them rather than compete with them.  Maybe one day we’ll even be advertising on each other’s sites!

I have actually already launched a placeholder site for VirtualKnitter.com where I’ve explained a little bit about my plans and invited people to submit their e-mail address to be on my mailing list.  It’s my hope that I can build up some anticipation as well as use my subscriber base for some “market research” and beta testers.  So, feel free to hop on over and fill out the form. I’m using a very reputable e-mail vendor (Vertical Response) that complies with all the anti-spam regulations so you don’t have to worry about anyone besides me being able to use the list.  And I certainly won’t be using it for anything other than disseminating information about VirtualKnitter.com and getting site development feedback. 

I’d also love to get comments from my readers on what you think should be included in the perfect Knitting resource site.  Keep in mind what I’ve described – no forums, and not a “magazine,” but other than that, I’m open to ideas!  In fact, just to give you some incentive, I’ll randomly select one reader who comments between now and January 10th as a winner of a skein of the brand new Noro Kureyon Sock yarn.  So, put on your thinking caps and start sending those suggestions!

Kristi