No-nylon sock yarn review - New Leaf Yarns Alpaca blend 4ply

It's been a long time since I wrote a no-nylon sock yarn review and I am VERY late in reviewing this yarn from new leaf yarns (I bought and knitted it back in 2017 but fortunately it's still available!).  

I decided that I wanted to create my own pattern for this yarn, and these are my Calcite socks - I'll be sharing the pattern another day for these easily-knitted cabled socks.

Before I start the review, there are a couple of things that you need to know:

• I used to be really tough on my no-nylon socks because I felt that they should be able to stand up to the rigours of being worn as well as socks containing nylon.  My view on this has changed now - my belief now is that no-nylon yarns have their own qualities which make them different from commercially-produced yarns and to try to compare them as the same thing doesn't work.  I have learnt that no-nylon socks just don't last as long as ones with nylon in (on my feet anyway - I have pokey toes, see below) but the pleasure of knitting and wearing them is different to other yarns and they should be appreciated for that.  

• I still expect no-nylon sock yarns to be good value for money - after all, it's no good saying a yarn is suitable for socks if it wears through after one outing! 

• Being tough with my socks means that they'll get worn for a few days at a time; there's less need to wash natural fibre socks anyway even though we're in the habit of wearing our socks once and then washing them - you don't see sheep showering all the time, do you? 😀It also means they'll be worn in boots on long dog walks whatever the weather and will probably go into the washing machine because that's how most people choose to wash their socks - although painful experience has taught me that the dial goes no higher than a 30 degree hand wash!  (No point in experimenting unless you learn something, eh? 😀 )

• I've got pokey toes so unless I reinforce the toes of my socks, there's a good chance that I'm going to go through them faster than many other people - this isn't always helpful in a yarn trial but on the plus side, I can test that aspect out more quickly! 😀 

Monthly Musing - May 2019 - Words

“This is how I have heard what you’ve just said, did you mean it to sound like that?”

One of the conversations that we have had more than once with both our girls as they have been (and still are) negotiating teenage social conversations is to think about how their words are heard by someone else.  This might sound like an odd conversation to have with your teenage daughter, but it’s one that we’ve felt has been important over the years; a variation of “think before you speak”.

Looking back

Well hello to you!  It feels like an inordinately long time since I wrote a post about everyday stuff instead of about yarn or giveaways, so I thought that today I'd do a quick catch up post.

When I came to upload all the photos that I've been storing on my phone from the last couple of weeks, there were tons of them - but you'll be pleased to know that I'm not going to make you look at them all!   I was quite surprised by just how many there were, but it's been a nice reminder for me that there have been moments worth photographing instead of just having my head down and getting on with stuff!

💚 In the garden

Marigolds (Calendula officinalis) have been in bud for a long time and they're all opening now that we've got a bit of sunshine.  Oh, I do love their sunny faces!  I usually have orange ones in the garden but for some reason these ones are yellow - quite probably a different variety as I will grow any marigold seeds I can get my hands on!