#sock blanks

[theknitteddingo]

UNDYED SOCK BLANKS

Where can I buy undyed sock blanks for cheapish price? Or wholesale prices?

[paganfiberarts]

Sigil Yarn Dyeing

I’ve talked before about dyeing sock blanks with a sigil on them and then making an item of your choosing with that intent. Possible items include:

-Socks with a protection sigil

-A hat with glamour or even a “keep depressed/racing/anxious thoughts away” sigil

-Fingerless gloves that make everything you touch successful

I wouldn’t do a sweater in fingering weight yarn, which is what most blanks come in, but you could knit your own worsted blank and make a sweater or other large item, too!

Knit picks, which is unfortunately a US only seller last I knew, sells sock blanks here. It costs $19.99. They also sell that exact yarn undyed in a hank for $8.99. If you can knit your own blank, you can save some money with a time investment. For me and my arthritis, the time it would take me means this isn’t feasible and I would spend the extra money for the blank and consider it a matter of accessibility, just like my shower chair. Can I do without it? Yes, but it would make my life much more difficult.

At this point in time, my funds are too low to invest in the tools and supplies for dyeing yarn, but in a few months that will change. In the meantime, if anyone tries this I would love to see your process and your results!!

[ashlandbay]

Tea Time

Previously on the blog we have talked about Color Uh-Ohs and given tips on Dyepot Double Dipping. Today I wanted to share another method for toning down regrettable color choices. Step 1, relax and make a cup of tea. Literally, make a cup of tea to re-dye your yarn or knit project.

Whenever I dye yarn or fiber, I like to use the brightest colors available. While they are bright, cheerful and lovely to look at, the colors don’t always work for a particular project. This happened to be the case when I was dyeing Ashland Bay’s Polwarth / Silk (60/40) top.  As I was spinning the top, I loved watching the bright clear colors draft through my fingers and onto the bobbin. Plying the yarn was equally as visually stimulating. I was thrilled to watch the colors blend together as I knit the yarn into a scarf. And as soon as I wrapped this beauty around my neck, I noticed the sea sick tone this lovely piece of art cast over my face.

Out comes the tea.

The first step to over dyeing with tea is to soak the garment or yarn in soapy, hot water. (In an ideal world, I would have yarn left over from my project to test a few different tea strengths.) I use Nestea unsweetened ice tea mix and mix it directly into the dye pot. Once the yarn or garment is in the pot with tea mixture, I slowly raise the temperature. Once I am satisfied with the color saturation, I then add vinegar to set the dye.

Now, the part that everyone has been waiting for, the before and after photos. As you can see from the above, the color of the project to the right is much more subdued.

Above is another tea dye example. The photo is of a sock blank hand painted. The photo on the right is after that same blank was pot dyed in tea. As you can see, over dying with tea is a fun and easy way to readjust a dye project gone awry! 

[ashlandbay]

Blog about Blanks

At first glance it is not intuitively obvious why one would paint a piece of knitted fabric (also called a blank) and then unravel it to knit a new garment. But upon closer inspection, there are many unique and intriguing color effects that can be achieved with this method. Think gradients all in one skein!

There has been resurgence in the knitting market of hand dyed sock blanks. My first experience with sock blanks was when Nancy Roberts taught a class at SOAR in 2001 in Park City, Utah.  First we knit the blanks on a knitting machine. Next, we painted the blanks. Once the blanks were dry, we unraveled the blanks and used the yarn to knit socks. The real magic happens when you see the color movement on both socks are perfectly paired to each other. It was great fun and a new avenue to creatively experiment with color! The only drawback was that using the knitting machine was labor intensive.

Fast forward 15-ish years, and now commercially produced sock blanks are available! Independent dyers are applying their unique dye techniques and colorways on these fun products.

Encouraged by several of our customers we looked into producing a sock blank out of our most popular sock yarn (Willamette) and have them knit in the USA for a 100% USA product.

We received 2 different knit samples. Each blank was 4 oz and approximately 435 yards per blank. I decided to take the samples for a test run to figure out which product would be best for our customers.

Sample #1 

These blanks were a continuous knit with waste yarn knit between the blanks. I cut along the waste yarn and painted the blank with large horizontal stripes. I was not trying to have the 2 socks match. If you do want matching socks, you will need to fold the blank in half and mark the center at the fold and paint them the same color sequence and size.

The knit on this sample was tighter than I would have liked to see but I still hand painted only one side of the blank in the interest of time in consideration of production dyeing. Because of the tight knit, there were lighter spots on the yarn where the dye did not penetrate.

Another time aspect to consider with sample #1 is that I had to spend time picking out the waste yarn before I could cast on my stitches. Once I cast on, I enjoyed knitting this right from the blank and it becomes addictive to watch the color transitions as they appear on the sock.

 Sample #2

This sample was a single sock blank without any stitching to keep the ends from unraveling. No need to take time to cut the blanks. The knit was much looser than the first sample and it laid out nicely on the dye table with minimal curling edges.

I decided to paint the striped vertically on this sample and again I only painted one side. Because this sample did not have the waste yarn, I wanted to make sure that the blank did not unravel during the dye process. In the photo above you can see that very little of the yarn unraveled. Success!

Once the blank was dry, I started casting on with the loose end. No need to pick out the waste yarn. Time saver! I also did not find any white spots - no need to paint both sides. Time saver times 2!

Hands down, sample #2 was the best choice for production dyers. We are so excited that we are officially stocking Willamette yarn blanks! These blanks come in a pack of 10. Each blank is 4 oz and approximately 435 yards per blank. We can’t wait to see the photos of the beautiful colors created by our independent dyers with this product!

[girlwithapurl]

Sock Blank

Update: I’ve recently gotten super interested in sock blanks. For anyone who doesn’t know, a sock blank is a big swatch of sock weight yarn knit double into stockinette. You can treat it as a canvas and dye it however you like. The benefit is that the two balls of yarn you get have almost identical color patterns so your socks match, a rare luxury when using other hand dyed yarns.

Since learning what they were, I received four as birthday gifts. I wasn’t able to dye them while at college because I didn’t have my supplies so I had to wait until I got home. I’ve accumulated a good amount of Kool Aid but not much that falls into the warmer side but I made do. I zapped it in the microwave for two increments of two minutes but I had left it out on the counter once dyed for a couple hours. I think the dye had exhausted after the first round but the second was a safety. Then I washed it in Eucalan and let it dry overnight. Here it is dry:

I’m happy with how it turned out! I did a lot of searching around on Ravelry and saw that chevrons make the different colors blend a bit more in the sock than doing straight stripes, as you can see below.

(pictures from here)

I know my color sections won’t be as thick because my stripes are more narrow but we’ll see!

As for the dyes, the blue was a packet of blue raspberry lemonade Kool Aid with a few drops of green and blue food dye that has been hanging out in the kitchen cabinet for a long time. The orange was a packet each of peach mango and tropical punch Kool Aid with some yellow food dye mixed in and one drop of blue food dye to darken it. Then I sprinkled dry black cherry Kool Aid powder in random spots. There are splotches from handling the blank with my gloves and from small puddles of dye on my work surface but it doesn’t bother me.

And here they are! I like the colors but next time, I’d like to make bigger sections to have a more gradual blend. They’re super soft! More details on my Ravelry project page. 

[blackmarketwool]

Sock blanks in the shop! Get yours at blackmarketwool.com

[wildyarndreams]

The sock blanks areso cool??? I never got around to making socks, but I always really wondered how you could get them to look the same. Basically I haven't knitted in years and I'm sitting here freaking out in amazement over this.

They are so much fun! The two Mad Max themed ones are pretty predictable in their outcomes, but you can have really wild ones too, where the result is a total surprise.

And of course they don’t have to be socks. I prefer making armwarmers, just long tubes with a thumb hole.

[textilefrenzy]

This was my first attempt at dyeing in a long time. I bought a bunch of sock blanks from Knit Picks to try to dye my own socks. This is my first attempt, made for a friend who requested red and black stripped socks. 

I kind of failed on the stripping as I didn't pay enough attention and the stripes are not exactly straight.... But it is having an interesting effect so far I think. I can't wait to see what it looks like once I get past the heel!