"Ooh, that's very rough"

I've been taking the Noro sock project(s) with me everywhere. Lots of KIPing ("knitting in public").

It's prompting some great reactions -- "lovely colours", of course. "Interesting project", of course.

But it's amazing how many people are telling me that they feel that the yarn is too rough.

Too rough?

I think I've said this before, but holy cow, how delicate are your feet? (These comments do not apply to diabetics.) Seriously -- the insides of shoes are a lot harder on your feet than a pair of socks.

That having been said, it is rougher to hand than a lot of sock yarn, and I'm going to be very interested in how it washes and wears. Initial reports are reasonably positive, and I've heard that people are successfully washing the yarn both by hand and machine.

More to come as the project proceeds.