Overcorrection

A couple of years ago - I looked in my sock drawer and felt like there were way too many dark coloured socks. Purples, burgundies, deep reds - it seemed like all my socks had a sort of sameness to them, and I wanted some more variety.

Let's be honest, this reaction was at least in part driven by laundry considerations. Darker coloured socks get washed with darker coloured clothes, which meant that if I happened to be doing a light coloured wash, no clean socks were being returned to the drawer.

And the whole scene came to be because I kept buying sock yarn from the same region of the colour wheel, and when I go to start a pair of socks, I never go looking for yarn in a shop, I always dip into the stash.

So I started consciously seeking out not-purple-burgundy-deep red sock yarns when shopping, to build up some supply, and when I went looking for yarn to cast on with, I of course gravitated to the newer, more intriguing colours.

I explored speckles (late to the party), I explored self-striping yarn (also late to the party).

And when it comes time to reach into the drawer for socks for the day, I again gravitate to the newer, more intriguing socks.

Which means my problem has now inversed itself: I wear lots of light coloured socks, so when I go to do a dark wash, fewer pairs come back to the drawer.

And darker washes tend to happen more frequently.

I guess the next pair or two should be darker. Followed by a commitment to sort of alternating?