RIP Cashmere Socks

Well, this is a milestone. I've never had to throw away a pair of handknit socks before. Can't say I like this feeling.

I can't remember exactly when I finished them, but I want to say it was about last fall. So they're babies compared to some of my other socks, which are going on three years old and show virtually no signs of wear. Regia. Swear to God, that stuff is fortified with iron.

So here's the story. I knit those socks out of Jojoland cashmere blend picked up for a song at Stitches Midwest last year. Cashmere socks? Love it! The first time I washed them (in the machine, then in the dryer, while in a lingerie bag, which is about as much babying as I ever give my socks), they felted ever so slightly. Not enough to interfere with the stretch in the fabric, but enough so that I thought I ought to be more careful with these.

They're among my favorite socks for comfort and warmth, right up there with the Dale Baby Ull and the Cherry Tree Hill. I tended to wear them as soon as they were washed and dried. My only concession to their tenderness was to let them dry flat -- I still put them through the washer in the lingerie bag, and there was no further felting, and I bet I washed them like that three times a month for probably eight months. I thought they would be fine.

Until....

I washed them yesterday and pulled them out of the lingerie bag to dry, and felt my heart turn to lead. They had felted, this time for real. While they were still wet, I pulled and tugged on them to try to break up the felting. I put them on my feet -- still wet -- thinking they could block around my feet and loosen up some. It was a struggle to get them on. It hurt my toes to walk in them. They seemed to tighten up as they dried.

I literally had to cut them off.

(cry)

Bye-bye, cashmere socks! Oh, how I loved you! You were too young to die!