Last night, Don said he had a “dangerous” question for me.

“Did you knit me another pair of black socks?” he asked.

I knew right away what had happened.  After all, there are only two pairs of hand-knit black socks in the house.  Yes, it was quickly confirmed that the black heavyweight socks I had made for me (Mission Falls 1824 wool) had ended up in his laundry pile, from there to his sock drawer, and from there onto his feet.

I gave him an exasperated look, because I already knew where this was going. I was pretty sure I had just lost a pair of black socks.

"I told you it was a dangerous question," he continued. “I didn’t recognize them, but I tried them on and they fit pretty well, so I wore them all day," he admitted, in a sort of sad, wistful, I-wish-they-were-my-socks voice.

(At this point, I looked sharply at his feet, because he had just come home from playing inline hockey.  At least he was not so foolish as to wear them for THAT.)

"I hope I didn’t ruin them,” he added, in a show of concern.

OK, I am thinking that last part was a BFL (= Big Fat Lie).

Unfortunately for Don, when it comes to hand-knit-socks-for-hubby, with me it’s a classic case of “the cobbler’s kids don’t have any shoes.”

Don loves his hand-knit socks, and he seems to want a few more pairs. Subtle hints have not worked; outright requests have not worked.  At one point, as I noticed these feeble attempts to communicate how much he yearned for more socks, I had even stated out loud that I would/should ALWAYS have a pair of socks for him in the works.  This hasn’t happened.  Apparently, I prefer knitting VK and Anny Blatt sweaters for me.

And apparently, desperate times call for desperate measures.  Now he must resort to "accidental" stealing.

So we all know that by this point in the conversation, Don has just scored himself another pair of hand-knit socks.  I admit, it was masterfully done.  And as I’ve said, I don’t really dig hand-knit socks for myself anyway.  I sighed, and officially granted him ownership of the black socks.

I wasn’t going to be a complete pushover, though.  I asked him if he would next like to try on the lace knee-highs.  He declined.

Hmmm, maybe I’ll even cast on another pair for him… I wonder how many pairs I can get done before Xmas?