It's a shame really, these socks are going to be perfect when they're done. I plan on giving them to my dad for Christmas and I know that they are going to be comfy and cozy and loved by him. But still, I kind of hate them right now. According to Ravelry I started these socks on July 3rd, so the fact that they are still lingering means that clearly I'm not that smitten. These socks have a few things working against them; first off, the yarn, though it has a beautiful soft texture (it's 10% cashmere) and a gorgeous, rich, dark colour, it bleeds... like crazy. Normally I keep socks as a purse project to work on in waiting rooms and away from home, but after a few rows of working on this pair my finger tips are completely blue. I could have easily remedied this problem by setting the dye a bit better myself before I started, but I didn't. Lesson learnt, deep colours like this (especially with the hint of turquoise) are notoriously hard to set. I'll give these socks a really good soak before I give them to my dad, and if that doesn't work to get out the excess dye I'll let them simmer in a pot of hot water with vinegar for a bit to see if that helps. For the record - this yarn wasn't dyed by me, it's by another fantastic dyer who's work I'm a big fan of, but this skein unfortunately is just a tough colour to set... I don't blame the dyer, I should have tested it first.
The other big negative working against these socks... I apparently hate 3x1 ribbing. I don't know why, it just doesn't flow for me. 2x2 ribbing, 1x1 ribbing, we're cool. 3x1 ribbing makes me want to just quit. This is another issue that could have so easily been avoided if I had just remembered that I hate working 3x1 ribbing and had instead made these socks in a ribbing that I enjoy. I don't know what I was thinking.
Oh well, despite all that, I know that these socks will be beautiful when they're finished, and my goal is to work away on them this weekend so I can finally wash the blue dye off my hands and move on! Dad had better love these socks.
