It's not the dryer!

I always blamed the dryer for eating socks but my washer was busted today! Caught in the act. I noticed something fabricky between the metal part and the rim...forgive my naivete of washer part names. I have a front loader. I pulled out little sock after little sock, even the missing argyle sock i loved of LD's that got lost as soon as i bought them. Loved those socks and now they are too small. I found fifteen small socks, a napkin, a sponge, a mitten and some foreign object that looks like a doily but is all mildewy and icky. I did a load after and boy were they wrung out better than normal. Drying time was cut in half. Duh moment here. I wonder how close i was to breaking my washer. But the dryer is off the hook.