School of Yarn – Lorna’s Laces
Beth here,
Over the past year, I have seen a lot of schools. I recently got a degree in elementary education and am now a supply teacher who roams the region daily, navigating strange classrooms, negotiating unfamiliar routines, and sometimes – gasp! – even wrangling with obstreperous students. It is a treat, then, to visit the more familiar landscape of the School of Yarn today to write about one of my favorite sock yarns, Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock.
One of the things I love about my job at Shall We Knit? is being paid to play with different yarns like Shepherd Sock. Recently I knit a pair of socks out of it and was amazed by the number of compliments I got while I worked on them. I was reminded of something Stephanie Pearl-McPhee wrote on her blog about the pleasures of working with self-patterning sock yarns: “they make me feel clever, and I love the way that they make the muggles think that I must be a genius to manage such a complex colour pattern.”
There’s something about the play of colour in this yarn that enchants. According to its Web site at www.lornaslaces.net, Shepherd Sock is available in 93 multi colors and 49 solid colors, so there’s sure to be something that will appeal to you, too. The yarn is a tightly twisted 4-ply of 80% superwash wool and 20% nylon, with a suggested gauge of 7 stitches to the inch on 2.25 mm needles. I suggest, however, knitting at a tighter gauge for longer-lasting socks. (For my Waffle Rib Socks, I achieved a gauge of 8 ½ inches on 2.25 mm dpns.)
Waffle Rib Socks. Pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks, by Charlene Schurch. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Tuscany colorway.
This yarn is soft yet strong, and is a delight to work with. It has generous yardage to boot: each 50 gram skein is 215 yards. Even with my …. uh … well proportioned feet (they’re size 10, if you really must know) I was able to get a pair of socks out of two skeins and have plenty left over for my sock scrap blanket.
Granny Square Sock Scrap Blanket in yarns of many colors, including leftovers of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Tuscany colorway.
This yarn makes me feel brilliant, all right. Here, a single skein of Shepherd Sock produced a baby hat for a teaching mentor, with enough remaining that I could have knit some baby socks, too, had I been so inclined:
Named for the father of Ontario’s public school system, Egerton Ryerson turns heads in a roll-brimmed hat and bunny slippers. Pattern from Ann Budd’s The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns. Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock, Baby Stripe colorway.
The next time you visit the shop, study our display of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock. If there’s a colorway you’d like that we don’t carry, we’d be happy to order it in. I’m telling you, when you knit with Shepherd Sock, you’ll feel like a genius. Trust me: I’m a teacher.
Class dismissed.
Beth signing out