wildyarndreams:

So what IS a sock blank?

The sock blanks sold by Wild Yarn Dreams are a piece of knitted fabric I have made on my flatbed knitting machine. I have used two strands of sock yarn held together. Then I have dyed the ‘blank’ into a pattern.

To knit with a sock blank you take the ending out of the live stitches on one side of the blank, and you unravel it as you knit. Because there are two strands of yarn, they have been dyed identically, and that’s why blanks are very suitable for things you need two of: socks, gloves, armwarmers, etc.

They are particularly suitable for knitting two-at-a-time, but if you prefer to do one sock, then the other, you could always wind the thread you’re not using into a ball and do that one later.

As you can see in the photos, the colour pattern on the final product will be completely different from the blank. To a degree I can design for a certain effect (I can tell you if it will stripe, for instance) but you never know exactly how it’s going to turn out. That’s the joy of them, and I find that it’s very motivating to keep knitting, as the next interesting colour change is just around the corner. (sadly I have no photo of a project made with the slow gradient blanks)

Because the yarn has been knit before it will probably be a little kinky, but this doesn’t generally hinder you in knitting it up at all. Just gently wash the finished project and the stitches will be just as smooth as any other project.

There are currently a few blanks in the shop – I’m busy dyeing Big Squish winter yarn for an upcoming market – but I’m always happy to talk about dyeing a custom one if you have something in mind.