When Audrey from Petit Bout de Laine contacted me last autumn, I have to admit, I did not know her yarns more from its name (and some pictures). After talking a bit about yarn and socks, we decided to feature one of my pattern in her February Yarn Box.
Audrey created Petit Bout de Laine more than two years ago now (in November 2014 for those who are curious). After using the “traditional” dyes for a while, she settled on the Greener Shades dyes and non-synthetic bases (with the exception of her sock yarn, more details below). Without heavy metal which means safer for her and the planet, it is even possible to use those dyes to dye organic certified yarns. She does not define herself as a big company but if you’re asking me she is definitely already one!
First impressions
I wanted to play with colours and get out of my colour comfort zone which at the moment swing from green to yellow. Audrey gave me a full carte blanche as for the colour choice and the yarn itself. I choose the Sweet’Chaussette Fingering in the Bernadette colorway which can be described as a red spectrum with purple speckles.
She has an amazing packaging. When I opened my shipping box, the yarn was wrapped in a tissue and she added a lavender sachet. So cute. 💜
If I’m totally honest, my first thoughts when holding the skein were something like: “Ooooh, that’s pretty, hey this yarn is uber soft, hmm and it smells good (please tell me I’m not the only one smelling her yarn here!) I can’t wait to see what it will look like once I’ll unfold the skein, OMG so pretty, hahaha I love my job”. All of this in basically 20s 😅
Échantillon
I was a naughty girl and did not knit a gauge. I dove right into it and knitted my sock with the fresh caked skein. In my defence, I do know which needle and how many stitches I need to knit a sock which fit my feet. Therefore, I do not have a “real” gauge to show instead you can catch glimpses of my next sock pattern to be published, Swirling Ribbons, which will be released in Petit Bout de Laine February Yarn Box. A fault confessed is a half redressed, am I right?
These socks have been knitted in 2.25mm. The yarn reacts beautifully and bloom as she should. It is a pretty round yarn, just like I like sock yarns and she is easy to knit. My first thought was right and this yarn is as soft before as after being knitted and washed. It’s a classical sock yarn with its 425 m per 100g skein and produces a dense but flexible fabric when knitted with sock needles.
Blockage
Audrey’s advice is to handwash it in cold water (and with a teaspoon of white vinegar) and to dry it flat. The stitch pattern I choose for this sock is not really holey and you can’t really see the difference between before and after washing and blocking the sock. The thread is not among the most elastic yarn I ever saw. I think it will handle an holey lace and drastic blockage pretty well.
My opinion
Honestly, I love it. I made a few mistakes knitting the sock you can see here and I have to frog the same section almost 4 or 5 times (urf!). The yarn took it graciously and you can’t ever tell it while looking at it. It’s a marvellous yarn to frog! 🐸 It also has a great stitch definition which entitles it as a perfect cable and lace yarn.
Le mot de la fin
The Sweet’Chaussettes Fingering costs 15€ per 100g skein! I think this is the cheapest handdyed yarn I ever saw! Such a bargain! I can’t wait to wear these and see how it age after many laundries but I’ll have to wait a few more days as the official photoshoot for the pattern is yet to come 😉
Do you know Petit Bout de Laine yarns? Have you knitted them yet? What do you think of them ? Give me your opinion on it in the comments.
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