Dr Sockyll and Mr Hide

Plain vanilla socks from the toe up are my go-to project to cast on whenever I'm in need of a simple, mindless knitting that can be worked without looking or even in the dark. This pair saw a few car rides, movies, and at least a couple of knitting retreats before finally getting finished during the Knit Fest Winter 2020 weekend.

And this pair is also a great example of the fun but sometimes unpredictable nature of hand-dyed yarn that you'd never be able to tell just by looking at the skein. These socks clearly have a light side that comes out in the daytime and a brooding, dark side that hides in the shadows. The socks were knit from the same yarn but from both ends of the same skein.

One sock is lighter, with a few specks of black, fuchsia, and orange popping up here and there on a blush pink background.

The other one is a mad scientist with the speckles thrown all over it! Even though the colors and saturation are the same in both socks, this one looks much more intense and vibrant. It's all in the balance of background color vs. the amount of speckles.

The lesson to be learned here is if you're working on a larger project in hand-dyed yarn, like a sweater for example, alternate your skeins to even out the color differences. If you don't want to do it for the entire project — let's face it, it can be a little tedious — alternate skeins for a couple of inches at least when changing skeins.

But with socks it just adds to the charm.

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