TBT

This week a tragic thing happened...a pair of socks I hand knit wore out under the heel.

I'm smiling in the photo because this is kinda funny looking.  But I'm not too sad about the pair being ruined...I have PLENTY of socks.  I'm not even going to darn them, except to say, "Darn Socks!" and toss the in the trash.

Someone asked me about the yarn content and if I thought that was why they wore out so fast.  The yarn is Baah La Jolla.  One of my favorite yarns, that's for sure.  It's 100% superwash merino (read:  no nylon).  I finished this pair June 9, 2012.  Thank you Ravelry, or I would never remember this fact.  So that's about 3.5 years of wear.  We moved up North (Florida to Maryland) in July of 2012 so the wearing of these socks really ramped up after that move.  I wore them A LOT, because they were one of my favorite pairs.  So laundry once a week, wearing every week from maybe Oct-April...you do the math.  A. Lot.

Then I thought...hm, I wonder what my first pair of socks was on Ravelry?  Or my first non-2x2 pair of socks?

I have two pairs of socks in those early days on Ravelry...both I never wear because I didn't like them much.  So the first pair I love and wore (and added as a project on Rav) was this pair:

2x2 Ribbed socks made with Colinette's Jitterbug. This was my favorite sock yarn back in the day and I knit many, many pairs with it.  These are still alive and well in my sock drawer, showing NO signs of wear. I finished them January 2008.  It is also 100% merino wool.  It's a tighter twisted yarn than the Baah yarn so that is probably why it's held up so well.  Practically indestructible.  

My first non-ribbed sock:

It's made with Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, 100% merino wool in the No Purl Monkey Sock pattern in September 2008.  This is hands down my favorite sock pattern.  I have knit it over ten times.  I also knit the Monkey Sock pattern with the purls now, too.   Anyway, this pair...still in the sock drawer!  Now, they're showing some felting and lots of fuzzy...so when I wash them I turn them inside out and lay flat to dry.  Yes, turn ALL YOUR HAND KNIT SOCKS inside out to wash...keeps the stitch definition crisp (Thanks Mom for that tip!).  But these aren't showing any wear in the heel at all. 

I do think that sock yarn with some nylon thrown in will wear longer and better than 100% superwash wool.  That's been my experience, anyway. So choose your sock yarn carefully, wash carefully and when they begin to wear out and you want to darn them...good luck!  Darn Socks!!

Oh!  And Throw Back Thursday?

Here's my first project I finished and posted on Ravelry!  I got the Victorian Lace Today book for Christmas that year.  This was my first lace project. We moved to Florida in the Spring.  I remember working on this pool side while the kids played in the pool. No finish date on Ravelry but I'm gonna guess Summer 2007.  I love it to this day!