One thing you’re really not supposed to get in the habit of doing as a designer is getting rid of samples. Sometimes it is necessary, when you have too many samples and just not enough space… but invariably you need that sample, whether it’s for new photography, or of course for a show.

Guess who gave the original pair of Mom Socks away? And who needed one for the booth?

I recently received a skein of lovely 4/8’s wool (worsted weight) in Aqua (a new color for this year) from Mountain Colors to review.  (They have a plethora of handpainted colorways, but I requested Aqua because I needed a lighter colored semi solid to show off the cables.  And, oh, because I love aqua and turquoise and all those permutations.)

What better way to get feel for it than to use it? This is a very nice, sturdy wool yarn. It’s soft enough to be comfortable next to skin, in my opinion, but not so soft that it won’t wear well. The color is lovely – a bright semi solid aqua, with areas that barely hint at bit more green than blue.  It’s fantastic for showing off the cables.

I did work this up at the tight end of the recommended gauge, getting about 6 sts/inch in Stockinette on US3 needles.  I’m not the only person to use it for worsted weight socks — here’s a link to some patterns on Ravelry.

I’m sure at a looser (more normal gauge) of 4-4.5 sts/inch you’d get a lovely drapy-er fabric that would still be great for cables. It softened and filled out a bit once I blocked the sock.

I don’t have a before pic, but here’s a couple after photos.  (It is REALLY HARD to try to get a pic of a sock when you’re wearing it. Just sayin’.)
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I received my skein directly from Mountain Colors for review purposes.  All opinions are my own.