Step out in style

While we were driving back from Bear I finished Nigel's latest socks.

He requested short socks (and I'm always happy to oblige with a request like that!). These are knitted in Austerman Step in the Cobblestone colour. I really like this yarn both for it's texture while knitting (it's infused with Aloe Vera) and for it's washing and wearing characteristics. I'm not thrilled about the colour/patterns but they are great for Nigel's socks.

The eagle eyed among you will notice that they don't match. While winding off some yarn to start the second sock at roughly the same place in the colour run, I encountered a knot. I didnt think too much about it, but as I knitted the cuff it was clear that after the knot the yarn had been rejoined in reverse order. After consultation with Nigel I continued knitting the sock anyway (as you can see).

I was pretty annoyed however, I'm not really bothered about knitting matching socks, and don't usually try to match them, but I think this sort of mistake is pretty outrageous in a high-end yarn. I mind less when I'm paying $3 for the yarn than when I shelled out $20!

At Stitches I noticed that the manufacturer had a stand and went to talk to them. I explained that I had not tried to return the ball to the yarn store (well I had already knitted one and a half socks out of it) but I wanted to pass the feedback on. The person on the stand was interested to hear (or at least feigned interest) and offered to send me a replacement ball anyway. She said that she had not heard of that happening before.

She also explained that Austermann are moving away from yarns with long colour repeats (like this colour) because they get so many complaints from people who want to knit matching socks, and there is not enough yarn for 2 long or big socks and matching. I guess this is the knitting equivalent of "additional yardage required for plaids".