Knitting socks is a favorite project for both beginners and experienced knitters.
Before you start your sock knitting project, however, you need to know the type of sock yarn to use. This will ensure you end up with good-looking socks that’ll hug your feet well, keep you warm, and lasts long.
In the following post, we’ll outline for you the complete guide to finding the best sock yarns for coming up with knitted socks.
Why Get Sock Yarns?
If you want to knit a gorgeous pair of socks that are durable, elastic, and long-lasting, you MUST use a sock-specific yarn. The best sock yarns enable you to create socks that are well-fitting able to withstand hard use, and even tolerate the moisture in your feet.
Choosing the perfect yarn socks is all about going for a fiber and yarn weight combination that fits the intended use of the socks you’re knitting. You might have heard some knitters say that you can knit socks with just any type of yarn.
But if you’re new to knitting socks, we advise you to strictly stick to yarns with a ‘sock yarn’ label. That’s the surest way to ensure you’ll be able to knit durable and easier to wash than the general yarns.
Overall, the best sock yarns are:
Let’s have a closer look at the 5 best yarn socks you can find on the market today…
Our Best Sock Yarn Picks:
1. Spinrite Yarns Patons Kroy Socks– (Best Self Striping Sock Yarn)
Patons Kroy Socks Yarn is a super-fine wool blend yarn (4-ply) that you can use to knit socks as well as other items such as gloves, mittens, and finer garments. It comes in a 50g, 1.75oz ball size and has a yardage of 152 meters or 166 yards.
The nylon plus superwash wool blend used in making this sock yarn assures you of extremely durable socks while keeping them soft and warm. The wool plays a crucial role in keeping the moisture away from your skin.
Since this yarn comes in a rainbow of multi-color options, it’ll surely enable you to come up with gorgeous socks that your friends will envy. It’ll also allow you to come up with eye-warming gifts for your friends and loved ones.
Remember that this fine wool blend is machine washable and dryable (tumble dry), translating to easy, hassle-free care. But make sure you DON’T air dry the socks or iron them!
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2. BambooMN JubileeYarn Soft and Slim Yarn – (Best Yarn for Crochet Socks)
BambooMN Super Fine Weight Yarn is another unique and useful superfine yarn you can use to come up with knitted socks as well as baby items and light sweaters.
The yarn is a high-quality blend comprised of rayon (from bamboo), wool, and a touch of nylon. The wool gives your socks a luxuriously soft and cozy feel while the nylon ensures the extra strength and durability they require to hold up to feet/shoe friction.
Taking care of socks knitted with this slim yarn is also easy since the yarn is 100% machine washable and dryable (tumble dry).
It also comes with perfect rainbow colors that enable you to enhance your knitted socks. If using this yarn to knit socks, we suggest that you use crochet hook D or E—depending on how tight you wish to crochet.
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3. Premier Bulk Buy Wool Free Sock Yarn – (Best Wool Yarn for Socks)
If you’re looking for 100% wool-free sock yarn for your sock knitting project, you can’t go wrong with the Premier Wool Free Sock Yarn.
The Wool-Free Sock Yarn is shipped to you as a pack of 3 yarns with a total of 705 yards/ 5.25oz (645 meters/150gr). Unlike the previous version of wool-free sock yarn, this product has been upgraded with brighter and bolder colors.
The contents of the yarn include up to 97% acrylic for lightweight, and warm. Soft, and wool-like knitted socks. You’ll actually feel good knitting with this yarn due to its wool-like softness. The remaining 7% is PBT material which adds strength and durability to your socks.
With the yarn’s deeply saturated color plus fun to-knit stripping pattern, you’ll be able to come up with incredibly cute pairs of socks for your children, loved ones, or friends.
Note that this yarn is machine washable and dryable for easy care. The recommended crochet gauge for this yarn is D-3 (3.25mm). And the ideal crochet hook is E4.
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4. Lion Brand Yarn 240-202R Sock-Ease Yarn – (Best Acrylic Sock Yarn)
Many avid sock knitters across the US are already familiar with the Lion Brand Yarn 240-202R Sock-Ease Yarn. This is a traditional fingering weight sock yarn that comes designed to provide you with flowing color patterns in a sophisticated pallet.
As a fingering-weight yarn, you can use it not just for socks but also scarves, and other similar items. The full yarn is composed of 75% wool for a super-soft and warm feel. The remaining percentage is made up of nylon material for extra strength and durability.
What’s more, this Sock-Ease yarn also features an Aloe Vera which helps soften your hands as you knit your socks.
Like most of the other sock yarns out there, this yarn is also machine washable and dryable. Keep in mind that this yarn is 3-1/20 ounce (100 g), 438 yds (400 m). Each skein measures approx. 7 by 3 by 3-inch.
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5. Knit Picks Hawthorne Hand Painted Sock Yarn – (Best Yarn for Slipper Socks)
Knit Picks Hawthorne Hand Painted Sock Yarn is a superwash wool that’s unquestionably sturdy and colorful. It comes slightly twisted for sock durability. And then hand painted with a mélange of hues plus surprising color pops.
Each skein of this sock yarn is a unique creation made using hands, meaning the exact colors might vary slightly as you move from skein to skein.
The fingering weight yarn comes designed using up to 80% Superwash Fine Highland Wool. This allows you to come up with socks with luxurious softness and warmth. The yarn is also made of 20% nylon material which translates to added strength and durability.
Thanks to the variegated hues (violet, blue, teal, amethyst) plus surprising pops of color (bright aquamarine), this yarn will enable you to come up with genuinely eye-warming socks.
And yes, this yarn is also machine washable and dryable for easy care of your socks. The recommended hook sizes for this yarn are B – E hooks (2.25 mm-3.5 mm).
Other than socks, you can also use this yarn to knit other items like shawls, scarves, gloves, mittens, etc.
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What to Look for Before Getting Sock Yarns?
The best yarn socks to use for your sock yarns depends on the type of socks you wish to knit. Here are key things to look out for to ensure you get the most suitable sock yarn for your needs:
FIBER CONTENT
The first thing you should look for in sock yarn is the types of fiber used to make it. If you ask around, most sock knitters swear by yarns comprised of wool and nylon fibers (with wool taking up a larger percentage).
Why this choice? Well, the wool material is highly breathable, so it enables you to knit socks with excellent moisture/temperature regulation.
The material also feels soft and is extremely elastic—ensuring comfortable, well-fitting socks. Unfortunately, using wool alone means that your socks will not last long. That’s why the perfect sock yarn should also feature an additional fiber like nylon to add extra strength and boost its durability.
WEIGHT
Remember that yarns meant for knitting socks come with different weights. That said, the most common weight is the fingering (superfine). We recommend this gauge to you as it feels more comfortable on your feet and hugs your feet perfectly well for enhanced fit.
If you use the thicker yarns, then you should get ready to have socks that look quite thicker and take up more space in your shoes.
COLOR
The type of color to choose is usually a personal preference. You know what colors you like most, and that’s all you need to choose the perfect yarn color for your knitting project. However, allow me to state that the stitch socks tend to look better when knitted with a solid or semi-solid yarn.
Variegated yarn can easily distract from the stitch—concealing all your hard work. As for plain stockinet socks, you have total freedom over which yarn to sue—whether you prefer variegated or hand-painted yarns.
MACHINE WASHABLE
How do you want to take care of your socks after you’re done knitting them? If you’re like most people, you’d prefer washing them with the machine. And in that case, you should look for sock yarn labeled as “superwash.”
This simply means you can toss them in the wash along with the rest of your laundry. For those who prefer handwashing, the superwash issue shouldn’t limit you to what yarns you can use for your socks.
Final Verdict
Knitting socks can be an addictive activity for both beginner and pro knitters. The task becomes even more addictive when you have the best sock yarn for your sock project.
When choosing the perfect sock yarn for your project, the most important things to look for include the type of fiber used to make it, its weight, color, and aftercare (machine washable).
Our list of the 5 top sock yarns will provide you with some of the best sock yarn options you can order today to start working on your knitting project today.