Sunday, January 18, 2009

The leaf socks that aren't are no more

I finished knitting the leaf socks that aren't in November. November 21st, to be exact. They became my favorite socks, despite the fact that the splitty yarn made them unpleasant to knit. I had knit them small enough so that they didn't slop around on my feet (I like my socks snug), and the under-arch expansion fits my foot perfectly. I'm not used to having things fit my feet perfectly, and so I really appreciate it when they do. I will forgive a sock for being a pain in the neck to knit if it repays me by fitting well.

I wear knit socks a lot around the house, but not a crazy amount. I have very few pair of handknit socks in my collection, and so my favorites get worn fairly frequently. I probably wear these socks once a week, depending on how on top of things I am in the handwashing department (and really, how long does it take to hand wash a pair of socks?).

On Sunday, I looked down at my foot and saw this:


That, ladies and gentlemen, is a wear spot. In socks that are less than two months old. The rest of the sole is in similar condition:


(Look at that ladder! It didn't show up at all when the yarn was intact!)

The sole is quite threadbare, compared to the tops of the socks:


I'm considering a repair job, but it would need to be so extensive that it doesn't really seem worth it. And, why go to the trouble of darning something that won't even last 2 months?

You might ask, as I did, what happened to all the fiber? Did I just pull it on a nail or something? Well, if you happened to turn the socks inside out, you would find something like this:

All that remains of a completely disintegrated yarn.

I am not pleased. Has anyone else had this happen with bamboo/merino blends?