On my travels I bought the 2.5mm sock knitting needles I knew I’d be needing at some point… and then I couldn’t help but start on another pair of socks with a ball of Regia yarn I’d picked up on my first few days in Helsinki.
The travelling didn’t leave a lot of time for knitting. I got through most of the first sock and back home in Sydney I lost interest in the project because I realised I wasn’t in love with the colours. I jumped on to other knitting to experiment with some of the yarns I’d found in Finland, but I came back to the socks a few days ago and decided to ignore the colours and just enjoy the knitting (and learning). Reaching the toes and making the reductions to see a finished sock put a big smile on my face. And then before I knew it I was finishing up the second sock.
Knitting needles
The 2.5mm needles were perfect for the combination of yarn and my knitting style. The resulting fabric is more compact than on my first pair of socks which were knit with another 4-ply Regia yarn but with 3.25mm needles.
Yarn
Schachenmayr Regia 4-fädig Color (shade: Snowflake schlitten ID# 07712), 100g/420m, 75% virgin wool/25% polyamide. The socks feel very comfortable and light on my feet!
Amount of yarn
These two ladies short socks weigh in at 54 grams. I lost (or rather, rolled up a small ball for another day) a small amount as I tried to start both socks from a similar section of yarn to line up the colours.
They’re a keeper
Although I’m not a fan of the colours, they’ll always remind me of the travels where I made these socks in airports, hotel rooms and trains in both the countries I call home in the north and south of our funny little world.
The main lesson
These things are addictive! Third pair of socks under my belt and I’m getting more confident with the knitting (let’s not talk about the colour picking). I’ve been reading a variety of patterns and daydreaming about all the creative ways to make socks.
Oh, and I managed to get the stripes to match!
Hi Niina, My freind bought me a skein of the stripped yarn that you made with your mittens. I want to make my granddaughter a sweater with this yarn but only have one skein. How can I purchase more of this yarn?
Thank you for any advise.
Cathy
Hi Cathy,
Thanks for asking!
Are you referring to the Novita Raita yarn? Their website is in Finnish but their Raita page shows the colours they currently make.
Finding a stockist of the yarn will depend on where you live because Novita yarns aren’t stocked in many countries. You might be able to ask a local yarn store to order it for you or email info@novita.fi to see if they could ship it to you or at least point you towards a useful store.
Otherwise, I haven’t used Suomikauppa but they are an online store for Finnish products. They stock plain coloured Novita yarns but you could send them an email and they might be able to arrange delivery of the amount you need.
Keep in mind that yarn from different dye lots may vary a touch in their colouring. Buying the entire amount of yarn from a single dye lot for a piece of clothing could prevent any variation but the stripes of the Raita yarn could work in your favour reducing any obvious variation.
Good luck with tracking down the yarn, Cathy. I’d love to know how it goes!