My First Impressions
Cheryl Potter owner and
fiber artist extraordinaire, of Cherry Tree Hill Yarn
located in Vermont, graciously sent me her new color Sugar
Maple Supersock yarn to review. Having never used her yarn,
I didn’t know what to expect. When I opened the package, I
was taken by surprise at the strikingly gorgeous colors in
Sugar Maple. They are absolutely brilliant and stand out
which made my sock design pop out to my total amazement.
Usually with most self patterning yarns, designs will not
show up as well as they will using a solid color yarn. So
you have to take this into consideration when matching a
yarn with the pattern that you want to use. This was not the
case with Sugar Maple, while I was careful to design a
pattern that would work well with this color and yarn; I was
able to use a lacey design that did stand out beautifully. I
was also impressed with the way the colors when changing
softly blended into another. The each color was brief enough
to produce a nice random speckled effect rather than
splotches of color (some refer to this as pooling) here and
there. The reason the colors do not pool is because of the
short repeats. Although Cheryl uses 4-7 colors in the sock
yarn, which can cause pooling, she does 2-3 repeats. Sugar
Maple has 4 colors with 2.5 repeats meaning 10 colors per
skein. She also tries to blend like colors yarn so the 2
yellow will create another yellow and when the yellow goes
to pink it creates a nice salmon color.
However
the color wasn’t the only thing about Supersock that makes
it stand out from your usual sock yarns. It has a much
tighter twist to it than any other sock yarns that I’ve
used. I wasn’t sure what I would think about the texture
until I knitted socks with it. I soon found out once I
completed the first pattern rows of my sock design. I was
pleasantly surprised to see that the tighter 2-ply twist
gave my design more definition. It reminded me a bit of
taking pictures (Photography is another of my favorite
pastimes). Before I shoot a picture, I have to decide what
settings I will use to increase or decrease the depth of
field for the level of sharpness that I want for that
particular shot. If I take a close-up of a flower, I want
the depth of field set so that I will be able to see the
tiniest detail in my picture. That’s just what Supersock
does, the details of a lace design stands out and the best
part is you don’t have to worry about settings like you do
with a camera.
Because Supersock is
tightly spun, it also maintains its strength without the
need to add nylon reinforcement in the heels and toes and
socks hold their shape beautifully. No stretching out. No
sagging.
Another notable thing is
the splitting
factor of the yarn while knitting. I knew that would get
your attention. Let me explain. I use Addi Turbo circular
needles a lot for my sock knitting. However the blunt rather
than pointed tips of the Addi’s make it difficult to knit
lace patterns. And on some yarns the blunt tips tend to
split the yarn rather than glide through all the tiny
strands. This was not the case with Supersock. I experienced
very little splitting which made my knitting go much faster
and I could even knit while watching TV and not looking down
at my knitting.
And not to forget the
feel of Supersock. The best way that I can describe it is
super soft which gets softer after each wash. My husband,
who shows no interest in anything other than music, kept
picking up my socks and admiring the beauty and softness of
the yarn. If the colors weren’t so feminine, he would have
been wearing them without my knowledge. Quite a compliment!
Regarding care of your
Supersock socks, the instructions do say that you can
machine wash them, however I wouldn’t recommend it because
you may accidentally forget to change your temperature
settings from hot to cold. Do I need to tell you what will
come out of your machine then? I wash all my hand knit
socks by hand using cold water and Woolite which I consider
to be well worth the effort since I’ve already put in a lot
of knitting time as well as gorgeous yarn.
As far as wear goes, I
always add nylon reinforcement to all 100% wool yarn even if
the yarn such as Supersock doesn’t need it. For me it’s
worth doing to preserve my work.
Conclusion
Supersock is definitely to be considered when you want
vibrant, softly blended colors and strong stitch definition
as well as softness. Socks made with Supersock are wonderful
to wear. A real treat for your feet! My feet will testify to
that!
