Ding dong, the socks are done

Which old socks?

The Pomatomus socks!

Ding dong, the stupid socks are done!

Okay, it’s unfair to call them stupid. The pattern was great—Cookie did a fabulous job with both the design and the writing. In the pattern notes, she claimed that the finished sock was very stretchy. Boy, is it ever! The socks were so stretchy that the blub could wear them! He wears a 10W, and I’m a 7, bordering on narrow. Wow. I also love the texture and the complexity, and I really love how the pattern looks great in variegated yarn. There aren’t too many sock patterns out there that can claim that, as most of us well know. It is the yarn, the wonderful squishy Colinette Jitterbug yarn that I had major issues with. Well, let’s get to that in a minute—first the details!

Pattern: Pomatomus, from Knitty. Designed by the illustrious Cookie A.
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Bright Charcoal. 1 skein + 20 g
Modifications: none
Began: March 4, 2007
Finished: April 21, 2007. Obviously we had some issues here. A month and a half to make a pair of socks? Without me undergoing major surgery or having to take large exams? Yeah. Issues.

Here’s the back.

Well, issue #1 was that, whoops silly me, I didn’t look at the yardage requirements before I cast on, and so I ran out of yarn. I can’t blame that on anybody else—that was totally my bad. However, you would think, wouldn’t you, that 100 g of sock yarn is enough to make a pair of average sized women’s socks? Each skein has approximately 291 yards. That is a bit skimpy, especially when you consider what the going rate is for this yarn ($21). But, like I said, it was my fault that I didn’t check to see if I had enough before I started knitting—I just assumed I did. And we know what happens when we assume, don’t we? Luckily I was bailed out by a nice person (thanks again June!) who not only sent me extra sock yarn, but also a very cute little crochet hook that fits perfectly in my knitting pouch. Yay for knitters. If only we ruled the world…

Issue #2 was that I was out of town for a week and I couldn’t knit very much during that time. Totally unrelated to yarn.

Issue #3—there were serious, and I mean serious, knots in the skein. I think I lost count at six. I had a hellva time when I wound it on my swift. Many swear words were spoken. All of the cats ran outside, except for Buster who sat, staring at me wide-eyed through the entire procedure. It was not pretty. It slowed me a bit in the knitting, but not really noticeably. Every time I came to a knot, I snipped it and went on. I didn’t think that much of it at the time—well, I was annoyed, but the colors still seemed to match up so I didn’t get too pissed. In fact, I didn’t even notice anything until I had finished the socks, which brings us to…

Issue #4. Oy. Here is Issue #4.

I made the picture kind of big so it would be easier to see—do you see it? Look at the left sock. Let me remind you that when I ran out of yarn, it was just after the gusset decreases.

See it now? The green circle is where I started knitting with the extra yarn—which actually matched the original (i.e. the other foot) so well that I think it must have been from the same dyelot. BUT the red circle is where there most definitely was a BIG KNOT, which they obviously used to tie this yarn together with one from a different dyelot.

A DIFFERENT DYELOT! It looks like I have a light colored band around my ankle! Man, I’m pissed. I fully expected to have a mismatch between the skein I bought and the extra yarn that I got, but within the same skein? THAT is jenky. I am mad! Grrr.

…sigh.

(Clearly I’m getting through my stages of grief quickly, here–denial must have been when I was knitting. Then I jumped to anger, skipped bargaining, and slipped right into depression. Screw the acceptance.)

I loved this yarn so much. Remember? Remember how I gushed about it? I feel like I’ve been betrayed. But…I still love it. It’s so squishy and nice! Stupid Colinette! How could you screw up such a nice yarn? Arrugh! I’m so torn. I do love it, but…it was not good to me. This yarn is like a bad boyfriend. It cheated on me, stood me up, then came back with its beautiful colors and softness like flowery promises. Ack. Someone needs to write a country song about this yarn.

But did you see? They have new colors!

…clearly, I need an intervention.