Sock Yarn Test. . .

I love testing new yarns, so when The Knitting Goddess posted that she had dyed a new base called Britsilk and was looking for feedback, I was very eager to give it a go.  Britsilk is made up of 40% Blue-Faced Leicester, 20% Wensleydale, 20% Alpaca ad 20% silk.  All the wool is British and it's spun and processed in the UK and then dyed by Joy.  She sent me a mini-skein of this bright rainbow colourway - very smooth and soft to the touch.

This blend is very similar to her Britsock range where the breed percentage is the same but instead of the silk, there is 20% nylon. While I would never use pure silk for socks, I am interested in non-nylon substitutes for typical sock yarn ( if you are too, check out Mrs M's Curiosity Cabinet blog and podcast here as Meg's embarked on a much more extensive experiment with non-nylon yarns) and so was curious to see how these would work for socks.  I didn't have enough for a full sock, but since holes first tend to appear around the toes, I knit this little toe cap.  It's a lovely yarn to knit with - runs very smoothly through your fingers and this photo doesn't really do justice to the  intense colour and shine of it. 

For my first test, I wore it inside another sock for a week and went about my daily life which involved several walks into work ( about three miles each).  At the end of the week, there was some agitation of the fibres where they had rubbed against each other, but no distinctive pills and more importantly no holes. On the left is the top part and the right, the sole, which has felted slightly.

Next, I tested it in my hiking boots, tucking it inside on the last two walks I did with my rambling group.  In total that was about 25 miles over two separate days, occasionally over some rough terrain and definitely in hot conditions.  My feet were certainly sweating and this toe cap got a good workout.  I then popped it into the washer and dryer. Here's how the top and sole looked when it came out. 

And the inside - as expected this has felted quite a bit, but again, no discernible signs of pilling on the outside and no holes at all.  I'm pretty impressed.

In conclusion, while most knitters I suspect will use this yarn for shawls and garments that need the lovely drape and luxury that silk brings, I do think it could also be used for socks as it seems to be as strong as any yarn with nylon in it.  It certainly felt wonderful on my foot and given the testing I've put it through, I think it's a credit to the wool fibres in this yarn that have given it the strength and stability that a sock needs.   One word of caution though - I made the silly mistake of not hand-washing this sample first before chucking it in the washer. As with many hand-dyed yarns, the dye can bleed on that first washing, so I've foolishly ruined three grey t-shirts.