Having discovered that knitting socks is actually fun – see yesterday’s post
– I now have a question about said knitting.

I have read variously about wear strands, nylon ravel strands, carried fuzzy nylon strands, etc. I’m not quite sure what the proper term is. The purpose of these strands is fairly obviously to extend the life of the sock by putting additional material in the places subject to the most wear. Having grown up working outside in Wisconsin winters, I’ve worn out many a wool sock. I can really see the value of increasing the durability of something as labor intensive as a hand-knit sock.

I have some questions about how this strand is added.

How is the strand added? Is it carried with the knitting and knit into the sock, or is it threaded through the stitches to prevent them from unraveling once the first stitch starts to wear? I can see potential value in both approaches.

I wear out socks in three places, with the ball of the foot typically being the first place to wear through. The other places my feet chew up socks are the top of the big toe and the outside bottom of the heel. The big toe isn’t just a toenail thing – I have had calluses on the top of my big toes as long as I can remember.

Most of the tutorials I have read mention carrying a nylon or fuzzy nylon strand through the heel or toe and heel to provide additional material with good wear capabilities in those areas. I can see how it would be easy to carry an additional strand of material – two strands held together for knitting purposes – through these short-row areas. As you can see from my sock pictures, I’m already making a sock with the toe and heel a different color. It seems very simple to carry an additional strand in these areas. Is this how it is done?

Unfortunately, the most vulnerable section of my socks is the ball of the foot which is knit in the round. An additional thread in this area would have to be carried all the way around the foot – which lead me to the idea of threading the extra strand through the loops to prevent the sock from unraveling. The additional thread could easily be “sewn” through the bottom stitches in a back and forth pattern. Is this the preferred technique?

What sort of nylon thread is used? Is this something I’ll find at a knitting shop, or should I go to a sewing store and find a good nylon sewing thread?

My final question is about feeling the nylon threads. Many of the socks I am making will be alpaca or alpaca blends. I don’t really want to feel the nylon strands in the sock. Is this an issue?

Any and all thoughts are welcome.