Allow me to vent for a moment. So you know those socks I finished the other day? The Waving Lace socks in the different dye lots of the same Koigu colorway? They did something funny when I washed them for the first time. I present to you Exhibit A, the photo above. Seriously, what the hell happened? I have knit several pairs of socks, as well as cowls and fingerless gloves, using Koigu, and while there's some fading and pilling over time, I have never seen any of these items go five shades lighter after the first wash. Never. I am kinda shocked and a little disappointed. I do find it extremely funny that the toe I thought may have been too light or too pink for the originally plummy socks is now so much darker than the currently pale mauve socks. Now you can really see the difference in the dye lots being as one didn't fade into oblivion whereas the other did.
Now please let me make it clear that I am not bashing Koigu here. That is the last thing I want to do to a yarn that is my old faithful, my steady go-to yarn, whose color range is lovely and whose base is squishy fabulosity. I don't want to make the good folks who dye this yarn look bad or trash-talk it because I truly love Koigu. (I also don't want angry torch-bearing mobs rioting in my normally quiet little spot on the interwebz like they did the last time I said something that was unfortunately construed as less-than-flattering about a yarn that everyone loves and just might have a fierce cult-following. It was one of the reasons I shut down my old blog. *shudder* Let's not go there....) I am just baffled by this, though.
When I look through my handknit socks, I can tell which ones are my favorites as their colorways are definitely subdued by all the wash and wear. And I am not always so kind to my socks. I accidentally felted my stripey Noros by unwittingly throwing them in the dryer. Heh. Ooopsie! I still wear them, but they are not as crisp and vibrant as they used to be. I am trying to wrap my mind around this situation, however. This is different. I'm left thinking, "If I had known this yarn was going to do that, I would have used something else." Because I was in love with this pattern in the original yummy shade of raspberry, but it does nothing for me in ballbag pink.
Okay, venting over. Done! We may now return to our regularly scheduled knitting and crocheting and other fun stuff. Wonky socks and all, life is pretty darn good.
ETA: Talk about awesome customer service! Rhichard from Koigu has contacted me, apologized for the situation, notified the store where I bought the yarn for me about the bad batch, and offered to send me make-up yarn. THAT is fabulous customer service. I am glad to know that Koigu stands behind their product this way. Thanks again, R!
9 comments:
If it doesn't seem like too much work, you could try over-dying them to a darker colour. It might hide the different toe, and make them a nicer colour.
I think the dye wasn't correctly set. This happens sometimes. Even to great dyers. I think if you contact them, they may in fact apologize and possibly compensate you in some way. Did you notice the color coming off on your hands at all when you were knitting? That's often a sign that a dye hasn't been correctly set.
In either case, please tell them, because it will help them to see where their quality control went wrong -- especially if you have the dye lot number written down.
(By the way, when I first saw those socks last week, it inspired me to pull out my favorite socks book and cast on for these in some malabrigo sock in brown!)
I think they kind of look cute, though...
Oh my God--the angry villagers came after you?? I am terrified of this, this is why I sadly don't try not to comment on the Rav boards as I have a fear of being drawn and quartered in public;)
that is just plain weird!
Oh no! Al least it's down by the toes and can be hidden in your shoes.
You said "ballbag pink."
heh. heh heh heh.
Aww, What a bummer. Hey that is great of Koigu to come to the rescue - Hmmm, did he offer to RE-KNIT the socks, though? Nooo, shucks.. boo sucks.. heehee only kidding, lol.
YAY Koigu!!! So happy to hear about that!
Free yarn, hurray!
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