Blocking Madness

Lest anyone out there think there is no reason to block...

I made the sock on the right a few months ago and blocked it then.
I made the sock on the left recently and here it is in its pre-blocked state.

This was a little disconcerting. I love this yarn, but I was not real happy to see all this dye coming out. It soaked in a bath of Euclan and tepid water.

Ok, this really worried me! Look how much bigger the sock on the left is! I was sure that I had taken careful notes and cast on the same number of stitches and knitted the same number of rows, measuring and re-measuring.
It is risky making socks two months apart. Maybe I shouldn't have done that...

And look how much more yellow the sock on the right is.
Everything was going wrong!
Could it be that when they dried, the sock on the left would shrink a bit
and return to its normal color? I didn't know that could happen.

It did. Phew!
By the way, the pattern is Monkey at Knitty.com
Very fun to knit. A little harrowing to block.