When I commissioned the spin of my Yorkshire Warmth yarn, I was very specific about the yarn weights I wished for; a British “3ply” (light 4ply/fingering) and a sportweight (light dk). 3ply was a popular yarn weight in the early twentieth century when many more British yarns brands were available than is the case now. In the later twentieth century, yarn weights that had previously been widely available became much rarer, especially the lighter yarn weights. 1ply, 3ply and sportweight pretty much disappeared, so that British knitters now are unfamiliar with these terms. Indeed, the company that spun my yarns recommended that I label them with the nearest widely known yarn weights – 4ply and dk, which is apparently the standard practice in the industry. This may explain the apparent disappearance of these yarn weights!
So my Yorkshire Warmth 4ply/fingering is a little lighter than a standard 4ply. Though it produces a nice fabric at a 4ply gauge, I prefer the fabric it produces at a slightly tighter tension. Of course for socks it should be knitted at an even tighter tension still. So whereas most socks are knitted on 2.5mm needles, I knit socks in my Yorkshire Warmth 4ply/fingering on 2.25mm needles, getting 9 sts per inch instead of the standard 8 sts per inch of modern hand-knit socks. This means I use more stitches for the socks, and can therefore fit more pattern repeats in.
This has made it possible for me to create a sock pattern with a leaf design based on a lace pattern by Marianne Kinzel. I have previously used this pattern for my Lady in the Wood patterns, and casting around for a lace stitch pattern for socks, I chose to revisit this one.
I love the result!
