Socks Socks Socks!! Is there such a thing as Permies socks?

In any case, the aforementioned book gives a pattern for making socks with replaceable heels and toes.  That is, you can unravel and then re-knit heels, toes or both, while the basic structure of the foot and cuff remains stable.  This allows you to replace (rather than just darn) the entire heel or toe of a sock, which tend to be the high wear areas.  I usually wear out heels, but other people, with different bone structure and footwear, may wear out toes first.  This is not to denigrate a proper darning job (look up Swiss darning on YouTube for instructions, if unacquainted), but there is only so much you can do, at some point.  Knitting socks which are suited to an in-frame overhaul from the outset is an interesting idea.  

I knit socks to last, such as this.  A sock is just a long tube with a toe at one end, a cuff at the other, and a heel in the middle.  There are a lot of tutorials online for making an "afterthought heel" in socks, which is where you knit your tube first, then pick up stitches for a heel after the rest of the sock is finished.  This heel is basically the same as knitting a toe:  just round and round, decreasing as you go.

I like to knit my heels and toes in a contrasting color so I can easily see where to unpick/unravel and reknit them when they wear out, though I generally darn first where needed.  Once they wear too thin for darning, it's time to replace.  And usually when I replace a heel, the bottom of the foot (sole) is also wearing thin;  however there is still plenty of wear on the top of the foot, so what do I do?  I flip the sock over and put the new heel on the top, and join the rows together where the old heel used to be.  It's a tube after all, and it doesn't matter which is the top or bottom.  You can see on my pair of dark gray socks where I rejoined the old heel, there is a new pink/red heel and just one row of blue stitches where I grafted the place where the old heel was.

And I go even further!  When the whole foot has been flipped and both sides are wearing out, I can flip the sock the other way, unravelling the cuff to turn into a new toe, and the leg into a new foot!  I can either join two worn out pairs of socks this way:  cut off the feet entirely and join two leg pieces together, adding a heel in the middle and a toe at one end;  or I can join on a new yarn knit a new foot/heel/toe from scratch.  On my drying rack below there are several socks that have had this treatment.

My socks last!  I have about a dozen pairs, and the oldest is probably about ten years old (they have been made over as described several times);  I wear them every day in the winter, about six months of the year.  These are all made from commercial wool/nylon sock yarn (75%/25%)--it's possible to get 100% wool sock yarn too.  

G Freden wrote:

And I go even further!  When the whole foot has been flipped and both sides are wearing out, I can flip the sock the other way, unravelling the cuff to turn into a new toe, and the leg into a new foot!  I can either join two worn out pairs of socks this way:  cut off the feet entirely and join two leg pieces together, adding a heel in the middle and a toe at one end;  or I can join on a new yarn knit a new foot/heel/toe from scratch.  On my drying rack below there are several socks that have had this treatment.

My socks last!  I have about a dozen pairs, and the oldest is probably about ten years old (they have been made over as described several times);  I wear them every day in the winter, about six months of the year.  These are all made from commercial wool/nylon sock yarn (75%/25%)--it's possible to get 100% wool sock yarn too.  

I love Darn Tough socks, I have heard the casual lifestyle models don't last very well, but I have the hiking and work socks and they last 5+ years of grueling abuse before they need to be warranteed for replacement. Darn Tough hits a couple of the requirements for Permie-wear, but definitely not 100% permie. G Freden's method is definitely the way, and just reading it has put the bug back in my ear that I need to learn to hand-knit socks!

I read somewhere that 93 percent of the socks produced in the world today comes out of one city in China. That is pretty crazy considering I guess we are all going barefoot if a meteor falls from earth and hits the part of China.

Myself I feel your pain Mr Hanson.

I am my own worst enemy though. Even with half a million pairs of socks in front of me, I am very sock~picky. I have just changed from crew socks to ankle socks and been experimenting with Timberlands Pro series ankle socks. They are great so far…

My only beef so far? They put plastic darts through the socks for packaging purposes. It’s impossible to pull the middle most socks without physically pulling out the dart by hand. That puts a small hole, but hole in the heel of your sock. Just exactly where you don’t want a hole. Kind of fell down on that but the socks seem robust otherwise.

Here is the SKIP badge for knitting a pair of socks. Synthetics are not allowed. I wonder how those socks are holding up? Maybe some of the people who have earned the badge would be interested in making socks as a cottage industry?

Jeremy VanGelder wrote:Here is the SKIP badge for knitting a pair of socks. Synthetics are not allowed. I wonder how those socks are holding up? Maybe some of the people who have earned the badge would be interested in making socks as a cottage industry?

If they're using a silk blend, they should hold up fairly well (I'd recommend a 10% minimum, for that). Even if they're not using silk, at least those can be reinforced & darned, quite effectively.

Carla, I am curious, does the silk help to give the sock any elasticity so that it clings to the ankle/leg and therefore stays up/on?  I am a fan of silk for a natural insulation layer, but I have always thought of silk as being so terribly delicate that it would be unlikely to stand up to being used on a foot ( especially as cotton has a hard enough time).  I am just curious as to what properties the silk adds to the sock.

Eric

G Freden wrote:There are a lot of tutorials online for making an "afterthought heel" in socks, which is where you knit your tube first, then pick up stitches for a heel after the rest of the sock is finished.  This heel is basically the same as knitting a toe:  just round and round, decreasing as you go.

The book I mentioned advocates for "short row" shaping.  That is, the rows for the heels and toes are worked with increases and decreases, rather than around and around.  Short row shaping is pretty common for the loom style of knitting.  There are also mitten patterns at the back of the book, similarly shaped.  As the author says, mittens are socks with thumbs.  I am not knocking your method -it clearly works, and works well.  I am just drawing the distinction..  I think my grandmother made mittens and socks the same way you do.  We wore a lot of them, when I was a kid.  She favored acrylic yarn, but I've learned to love natural fibers, most especially wool.

I do agree that anything I've put time into to make or improve, I value more highly than something I've only put money into.  Perhaps that's because we each only get 24 hours in a day.  Investing time is investing a scarce resource.

Thanks for sharing your sock expertise with us.

Eric Hanson wrote:Carla, I am curious, does the silk help to give the sock any elasticity so that it clings to the ankle/leg and therefore stays up/on?  I am a fan of silk for a natural insulation layer, but I have always thought of silk as being so terribly delicate that it would be unlikely to stand up to being used on a foot ( especially as cotton has a hard enough time).  I am just curious as to what properties the silk adds to the sock.

Eric

Hi, Eric! Silk is an amazing, versatile fiber. It's one of the strongest natural fibers, and it does have elasticity, though not as much as the stretchy synthetics. But, the strength and resilience it brings is pretty surprising. Yes, it's incredibly soft - but not nearly so delicate as one might think, and it's often used as a base for needle felting, a process where it is stabbed repeatedly with a barbed needle, yet it doesn't fall apart, instead offering a strong base for the final product. In socks, it is breathable, helps the shock hold its shape, and actually adds strength.

To give you an idea, I'm learning to spin silk hankies, a lightly stretched stack of the cocoons. To start the process, you gently peel a layer off the stack, poke a hole in the middle, then begin very gently stretching that layer as far as you can. Very gently. But, I found out, the hard way, the gentleness is not for the protection of the silk, but for the hands stretching it. I've sliced my hand open, doing this. Silk doesn't really even have to be spun, but can be knitted or crocheted straight from the stretching stage.

I gave thumbs up to both Shawn and G for the Knit it Yourself tips--but I am not going to take up knitting because I have macular degeneration, am already somewhat visually challenged. So I also appreciate the tip to Darn Tough socks--I too have been looking for knit wool sox. Normally I buy all my clothes used but if I find socks at all, they are not wool socks.

John F Dean wrote:Hi Eric,

I often wonder what the operational definition if 100% is in the clothing industry.  I have repeatedly seen 100% cotton shirts with plastic buttons.

Not the buttons!!!

I think it might be like organic labeling -- better chance that it's good, but these days made in / product of designation for whichever country is often missing too