26 November 2011

Socks

I buy many pairs of black wool ribbed knee socks. Oh, I have other socks, sure, lots of whimsical stripes and mis-matched trios, but a nice black wool knee sock is often what I want to wear to work.

When I sort the laundry, I eyeball all of the very similar single black wool knee socks and pair them up. But then comes a Tuesday, and mis-matched whimsy won't do, and I put on what seems to be a pair of black wool ribbed knee socks, only to discover - halfway to the train station - that they are subtly different and one only comes halfway up my calf and is now collapsing towards my ankle while the other fits as it's supposed to and then I'm annoyed for the whole day.

I should probably throw out every single black wool ribbed knee sock that I own and start over again with a dozen pairs from the same company.

But I'll probably just keep being annoyed.

It's the human condition, with a smear of frugality on top, right?

5 comments:

Julia said...

I buy identical black socks in multiple dozens, once every couple of years. That way I never have to match socks, and they fade at about the same rate. Since all the females in our family wear the same size sock now, life is simple. But I do love those Little MisMatched socks.

Stimey said...

I threw out all my socks a couple of years ago and started fresh for this very reason. It makes life more boring, but I am infinitely happier.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

I am a fanatic about matching socks and my husband has as many black socks as you do; it's a chore, indeed.

snozma said...

I now have what seems to be hundreds and hundreds of pairs of nearly identical black--and yet subtly, oh so subtly--mismatched socks. No where in that near infinite drawer full of black socks are any that match, REALLY.

It's almost boot season so I guess I can live with it.

But yeah, human condition.

My husband says we should throw them all out and start over with identical ones but I know this won't work. Because you'd have to throw out the few pairs that are actual and I cannot bring myself to do that.

Someday, maybe. When I win the lottery. Or I change in some deep and lasting way.

You've touched something at my core here, with this post--can you tell?

V-Grrrl @ Compost Studios said...

We have two females who wear the same size socks. Two males who wear the same size as well. To further complicate things, there's not much of a size difference betweent the female socks and the male socks.

Every day socks are not too big a problem, but we have Rules for Athletic Socks, which work like this: son's athletic socks must all be gray, husband's are all white, mine are all black, and daughter's are white with a colored heel or toe.