Wool socks

[Clark Badgett]

Who makes them, how much will they cost, what are the available colors and what is the approximate turn around time on them.

[Canton Zouave]

Re: Wool socks

Mr. Badgett,

Send me an email and I will give you a source for good period socks.
Hand knitted from a period pattern.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Wool socks

Mr. Morris, could you please post the information on the forum? We prefer to keep useful discussion out where everyone can benefit from it.

Mr. Badgett, I take it you're not up for knitting your own just yet? LOL

If a hand-knitter is charging what the socks are actually worth in labor time, they'll be the most expensive footwear you've ever owned. Most don't charge what they're worth, though. Turn around time is going to vary greatly for each knitter, too.

I'll leave it to others to post what sorts of pricing they've found for period-appropriate hand-knit sock prices, etc... I just bribe my mom. :)

[Canton Zouave]

Re: Wool socks

OK...here we go.

Another good source for wool socks...would be to go to Orchard Hill Sutlery's web site. They offer a set of hand knitted socks based on a pattern presented in a February, 1865 "Sanitary Bulletin" from the US Sanitary Commission. The socks are completely hand knitted with no elastic and made from 100% wool. I do know that they run a little heavier in yarn weight, which was a concession to modern wear.

That all for now.

[Clark Badgett]

Re: Wool socks

Mr. Badgett, I take it you're not up for knitting your own just yet? LOL

If a hand-knitter is charging what the socks are actually worth in labor time, they'll be the most expensive footwear you've ever owned. Most don't charge what they're worth, though. Turn around time is going to vary greatly for each knitter, too.

I'll leave it to others to post what sorts of pricing they've found for period-appropriate hand-knit sock prices, etc... I just bribe my mom. :)

Not up to that level just yet. But I have finally gotten to garter stitch down. I completely understand you when say most folks undersell themselves, as while I may not be the fastest at it, my speed has increased very rapidly ove rthe last day or so and it still takes forever to knit a 2 inch square. Is wool yarn easier or harder to knit than acrylic?

Todd, thanks for the lead. I will keep it in mind as soon as our tight budget has a little wiggle room.

[ElizabethClark]

Re: Wool socks

I think wool is the easiest of all fibers to knit with--Nylon has a nasty feel to it, and slips, where wool has a slight "bounce" and grips a bit better in most cases. Cotton is miserable; no bounce at all.

While learning, you might do your fingers a favor and pick up a skein of wool to practice with.

[HOG.EYE.MAN]

Re: Wool socks

Does anybody know if Kathy Kleiman still makes wool socks?

Any info about how to get in touch with her would be great.

thanks,

[Spinster]

Re: Wool socks

Clarke,

Wool is MUCH easier to knit with than acrylic. As a beginner, you'll also be better served by choosing wooden or bamboo needles--some vendors are Brittany or Crystal Palace. As you become more skilled, you can graduate to steel needles and knit faster.

I make socks, hand knitted of 100% wool, dyed with period dyes. Turn around time--well, it depends on how choosy you are . If you like the colors I'm knitting at whatever moment you place an order, and I'm makeing your size, then turn around is sometime this week, as long as Papa's health doens't take a sudden turn for the worse. If you want a color that I haven't dyed lately and you have an odd-sized foot, well, it will take awhile. Either way, they are $50 for the pair, shipping included.

[K Bartsch]

Re: Wool socks

Sister Lawson,

Howzabout a zinging hot pink pair from your fine and 100% authentic cochineal dyestuff, and bois d'arc whangin' yeller heels and toes?

Couldn't resist! :wink_smil

By the way, I'm serious....

[manevin]

Re: Wool socks

Just ordered a pair of socks, and a scarf, from Kathy Kleinman. Fighting Boys Mess has a link.

Michael Nevin
69th NYVI

[Spinster]

Re: Wool socks

>Keith wrote,
>Howzabout a zinging hot pink pair from your fine and 100% authentic >cochineal dyestuff, and bois d'arc whangin' yeller heels and toes?
>Couldn't resist!
>By the way, I'm serious....

Lawdhevmercy son--between you and Tim Prince I'm gonna corner on the market as a maker of fine things for fellows whose color choices may lead some to suspect them of being light in their brogans.....

Susan has a rose cochineal and varigated gray on the needles now, though I'm not sure what size they are, and has just finished a logwood purple and brazilwood orange pair. I'm doing the spring dye run at Toulouse this upcoming weekend, so I'll get up enough of both colors to make your socks.

I'm antsy about the bois'd arc though--I know it was grown in this area, but am having a hard time documenting its use as a dye--it has so many native names. I''ve begun using fustic as a fall-back--not as yellow, but certainly well documented.

[Clark Badgett]

Re: Wool socks

Out of curiosity, which colors and sizes do you normally have available. I wear a modern size 9 shoe. Can't order at this particular moment, the wife would skin me alive with finances as tight as they are.

[Spinster]

Re: Wool socks

Stock colors are indigo blue, walnut brown, and brazilwood marroon. Sometimes solid, sometimes with contrasting heels and toes, depending on what yarn we dyed lately. Ususally there is at least one large(your size) and one extra large pair somewhere in process and finished within a week or so. Anyone with a shoe size beyond a 13 takes a bit longer

We get backed up with custom orders(like mr. pink and yellow above--we're still giggling) in the fall and winter, and the flow begins to slack off in the spring, just about the time we run out of yarn and have to start dyeing again.

We also entertain trades of period goods as a method of payment.