Superwash or Not

I have always leaned towards superwash sock yarn, mostly because it is easier for me to throw my handknit socks in the wash with the rest of my clothes. I usually pull them out before the dryer and lay them flat to dry, but sometimes not. So far this has worked out great. The first two pairs of sock I ever knit we not superwash, the first pair got felted in the washing machine by mistake.

The second pair of ankles was knit out of Knitpick Sock Garden. I have worn them maybe three times, always handwashed  very gently in cold water. But the bottoms have completely felted themselves from wear.

Bottoms:

 

Inside:

This is what the tops look like, all nice and unfelted:

Has anyone else had this happen? Am I just extra sweaty and warm? I don' t really see the point in buying any handwash sock yarn anyway, but this really settles it for me. I don't want to spend a week knitting a pair of socks only to have the bottoms to become thick and uncomfortable. Is there some plus to handwash yarn (sock only) that I am missing? Does it wear longer?

I guess it is ok, I am more of a superwash kind of girl anyway.

Comments

[anne]

Yes! With the same yarn. The clincher was when they accidentally got thrown in the wash, and shrunk to half their normal size. Great yarn for felting, bad for socks.

[reese]

hmm... socks felting from wear! that didn't even occur to me... perhaps i haven't worn enough handknit socks to notice. what superwash yarn do you use for your socks?

[Angela]

The bottoms of my sock garden socks are starting to felt a little. I was actually going to take pictures of it. Not as bad as yours, but they don't feel uncomfortable to me. How many times have you worn those?

[courtney]

I've found that if you put the KnitPicks socks in a lingerie bag, they don't get as fuzzy. I just pulled a pair of Sock Memories Jaywalkers out of the washer and they are drying flat and they're not terribly felted or fuzzy.

I have one question for you...how many stitches did you cast on, and on what size needles did you knit those socks? I love the way the yarn made small stripes. I'm using that yarn right now (it's stargazer lily, right?) and it's making much fatter repeats. Just curious.

[Purly Whites]

Stay away from the Mountain Colors Bearfoot. It felts with wear too. But my yarn, I've washed it over half a dozen times on delicate and worn them lots, and no felting! Yay for superwash. I also think Superwash hold up better than non-superwash. At least that has been my experience.

[Emmie]

Hi Jolene, thanks for posting this- I am just making my first pair of socks right now, so I like to learn this kinda of stuff early, save the trouble!

For my first pair I am using acrylic (my hubby can't handle any wool on his feet) but I was trying to figure out what to use in the future when I make them for myself, and weighing the difference between hand/super. Mostly because I love washing my sweaters (I know, I am weird, its that lavendar Eucalan, I can't help myself) so I thought washing socks can't be too bad...

But it never occured to me about the felting from wear! So I am going to stick with superwash and the like!

Thanks!
Emms :D

[Stacey]

Mine are doing the same thing...sigh...

[Chris]

I haven't noticed that with my handwash socks, but most of my handwash ones are really thick (from Lamb's Pride and such) that I wear with slippers around the house in the winter, which is much lighter wear than in shoes.

What I have noticed is that, over time with machine washing, most of my superwash socks slowly shrink and eventually don't fit. I've started handwashing nearly all my handknit socks because of this.

[oscarcat]

An alternative (theoretically at least) is to stick to good merino yarn (i've been using jaegar matchmaker 4ply) because it's very hard (though not impossible) to felt merino.

but you probably know that. and wow - i managed to cram alot of brakets into one sentence. ;)

[pretendingsanity]

I wonder if it has to do with it being "cheaper" yarn?

[Charmaine]

Huh. It must be the size of the yarn, Jo. Because Josh's mom makes him socks ALL THE TIME that we wash over and over again and they don't felt. And felted socks must to just start to feel like felted slippers after a while.

[Disentangled]

My friend also warned me about KnitPicks Sock Garden when she learned I had ordered some myself. She says the father and son set she had made for her guys felted on the bottom with the first couple wears. I'm leaning toward making something else with my Sock Garden now...

P.S. I have a little doxie named Jenny :-)

[Brooke]

Most of my socks are from handspun and they do the same thing. I just never looked at it as a negative. Felted fabric is stronger than just the knitted fabric. So I figure they will wear longer with the felted soles. As long as it doesn't make them uncomfortable to wear or too small then I don't see why it has to be a negative. Maybe it's all a matter of opinion.

[Stephanie]

The socks I made for Travis felted too. The more handknit socks I get, the more I see the benefit of superwash. I think historically superwash didn't feel as nice as non, but lately I haven't seen much difference (like Purly's - it's really soft). So, I say go with the superwash!

[Laura]

Hmmm. I haven't worn hand knit socks myself yet, and have only made superwash for my bigger kids because their stepmom won't hand wash.

I made some socks from Knitpicks color-your-own for my toddler and she wore them actually for probably three days barefoot and with shoes - I just got them out of the washer and there's not a bit of felting (they came perfectly through the washing machine) but maybe they didn't felt because she's so little and doesn't put much weight and hard wear on her socks like an adult would? I don't know. I'm looking forward to hearing more about how this yarn holds up since I'm trying to SELL it! I might have to switch to something else for dying.

[jo]

I am

[Susan]

I had the same thing happen with the same yarn. I had the daffodil colorway and the color your own. Both have felted on the soles and on the top where the strap of my shoe and heel rubbed. No more hand wash merino. I love the feel of it but I don't think it holds up like the superwash.
Susan

[jess]

lovely colour sock BTW. Mmmm, well I don't like knitting with superwash, but I am holding judgement until I have a bit more experience knitting and wearing handknit socks!

[Lotta]

I agree with you, that if superwash is available, that's the only thing that makes sense for socks. But of course some yarns aren't available in superwash, and still hold up to wear very well. I have become a little carefull with the Knitpicks yarns as to which ones I use and what for. I've had good luck with the dye your own, but some others have quality issues. That is good to know about the sock yarn, I won't be wasting my time on that. Very frustrating to notice that what you worked so hard on, is ruined after only very little use.

[Sheryl]

Thanks for all the info. As a yarn shop owner I like to know this kind of stuff for myself and my customers.