Tragedy, dear knitters, has struck our happy home. On Wednesday an event so distressing occurred that it even made me late for work (yes, you read that right). For the first time in the three years that I have been knitting socks I suffered a heel blow out.
As you can see, it wasn't just that the heel blew out, it was the back of the heel. You may recognize these as my Nutkins that I knit not even a year ago out of Madelinetosh sock. I should have listened to my inner knitter when I bought this yarn. She's the rational one. She's the one who knows that I wear socks at least five days a week even in the summer. She's the one who knows that I love my handknit socks and would prefer to wear them over commercial socks. And she's the one who knows that a yarn without nylon content, even if it is superwash, does not belong on my feet.
I didn't listen to her. I ignored her warning with such arguments as "everyone else knits superwash merino socks and is fine" or my personal favorite "there's something very environmental about knitting socks without the synthetic. I'm being a good person by buying this expensive yarn and putting it on my feet" Clearly my inner knitter is way smarter than I, for not one year later I pulled on these socks, which I had carefully hand washed for months, only to find a gaping hole right where my shoe meets the back of my foot.
I could use this as a learning opportunity. I could pull out my leftovers and find a way to darn the one sock and reinforce the heel of the other. I could, but I won't. I have a renewed commitment to knitting socks only out of yarns with nylon content, and I don't have the heart to repair these only to have them fall apart on me again. So for now I will put them aside and wait for the pain to lapse. Then I will pick out the ends, frog them, and use the yarn for something else. Maybe a new pair of mitts. Surely my hands can handle 100% merino yarn.
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