UPDATE: Spring 2022 apparently nettle doesn’t have much stretch and Tony told me the socks are a bit tight.
I took out 14 rows on each sock a few rows after the toe shaping, then Kitchener stitched the parts together again. They now fit me ( loosely) and are perfect to wear around the house or in my wellies.
I deliberately used different yarn in the joint and used the harvested yarn for the toes on a new pair for Tony.
https://www.ravelry.com/projects/Strickliese/hg-socks

With the colder weather my husband switched from hand-knit cotton socks to hand-knit woolen socks and I was disappointed to see yet another pair with holes. This is the third pair knitted in wool which is behind repair. All the socks knit in the COBASI (cotton/bamboo/silk blend) are much more durable.

So, I wondered what fiber blend could make woolen socks more durable and I remembered someone once mentioning nettle. Side-note: I have a special interest in nettle, because the heroine in one of my favorite fairy tales knitted shirts with nettle for her seven brothers to lift a curse and help them turn back from their swan form into human form.

I found this version of the fairy tale: Six brothers ( I must have remembered wrong), but it says here sew from asters. I know in the original it was KNIT from NETTLES, probably a translation mistake.

https://www.pitt.edu/~dash/grimm049.html

Anyway, long story short, I found some nettle-Merino blend sock yarn on line and ordered it in a pretty sky blue color Tony picked.
Firelight Fibers even e-mailed me the nicest welcoming note.
They do have a disclaimer on the durability of the yarn:” There is some disagreement on the wear-life of the nettle fiber: some folks have good luck with it lasting for years and years of wear, others find it less durable. We suggest swatching if you plan to make socks and then testing your swatch’s durability, which will depend somewhat on tension, pattern, and gauge. It is an ideal yarn for all other fingering-weight projects, like shawls and hats or mittens, as it is both soft and beautifully-colored.”
Still, I want to try it for myself and see how it holds up. Time will tell.

9.28. The yarn arrived and it is softer than I expected, I think I will really enjoy working on these socks.

To make the toes and heels even stronger, I am using a reinforcement thread. Since I don’t have two spools of the same color, I am using light silver-blue on one sock and a gray-blue on the other, flipping the colors at the heels.

I am planning to do the foot part plain with just ribbing and then use Chart A, C and D of the Bayerische Sock for the leg.

I started a simple ribbing about 1” before the heel, first adding one stitch in the middle of the row to make the total count 33. The ribbing will flow into the first rows of the charts uninterrupted.
I did the same for the back of the leg about 1” after the heel and continued the simple ribbing In the round for about .5 “.
Then I started the charts with some modifications.
Modifications to the Bayerische socks chart:

• I only work the sts between Charts through the back loop, all other knit stitches are worked regular.
• For chart D I work cables only every other row, making the total height of the cable chart 32 rows instead of 16 rows.
• For chart A and chart C I keep working the cable every 8th row as per pattern.

10.9.: In row 5 of the third pattern repeat I knit the two middle sts together to get back to 2 x 32 sts and work in a 1x1 ribbing for 7 rows before binding off using Jenni’s stretchy bind off.