Custom

S1 and I have been doing more walking than ever recently, thanks to our Fit Bit goals (12,000 steps/day). On work days, a lot of that walking happens around campus - in work clothes. Recently, she said that she was on the verge of developing a blister on her toe because of the roughness in the yarn of a handknit sock. What?! I’ve never heard of this before.

The sock in question was this Monkey made in American B.R.A.N.D. yarn. I was eager to try this yarn because it is U.S.-made from start to finish. It is not super soft like superwash merino, but it’s durable and beautiful in its way.

S1 loves these socks, so I wanted to make them work. These were knit top down, so the fix was easy. I just picked up stitches (so easy to do in stockinette), cut off the toes, and reknit them in another yarn.

The bottom of the sock was felted a bit at the ball of the foot. I had to pierce the fabric there instead of just catching a loop, but it seemed to work out fine. These photos should have been color corrected. The real color is a yellowish beige like the top photo.

The yarn is super ramen-y after being knit for many months!New toe, old toe: What’s the point of knitting by hand if you can’t customize? No one but S1 (and all of you) will ever know she’s sporting orange toes on her yellow socks. But her toes will be happy.

Do you have any socks that rub you wrong? If I walk too much in this pair, I feel the purl nubs rubbing against my feet. My solution is to wear a thin pair of cotton socks as a liner.