I’m five-foot-eleven but I have really small feet — they’re about a size six and a half, give or take — which means I tend to fall over a lot. But it’s also difficult finding socks that fit right; most often, the heel part scoots right up near my ankle and starts bulging out the back of my shoe.
This also means that the area where my actual heel lands gets threadbare pretty quickly. However, purchasing socks is one of my least favourite activities, so I usually wear holey ones until it’s embarrassing enough that I’m forced to buy a new pair (speaking of which, does anyone know where to get any made from organic cotton?).
And yet even if they’re dirty, unravelling and full of holes, old socks can still serve a purpose before heading to the landfill — as a few readers have pointed out to me this week, as well as these guys, they make perfect rags and polishing cloths. So my Simple Saturday move today will be to give all my socks a second chance and use them until stuff other than my feet is making them really stinky.
Photo courtesy of Catherine Reyes on Flickr
I don’t know if you did this in the summer time or not, but a good way to cut down on your laundry pile (which I know is your thing), don’t wear socks unless you really really have to (like when you go jogging or something). During the summer time, you cannot get me into a pair of socks. I really tend to notice it come laundry day. Of course, this little tidbit might have been better saved for the warm weather of july and not so much now that it’s cold.
BTW, if you have a dog, they make great tug-o-war toys for them
smartwool and maggie’s organics make amazing socks! pretty ones in my house spend time as arm or wristwarmers before becoming rags….
Try on the largest kids’ size of socks — boys or girls, I think the sock size will be marked 5-8 or 5-8.5, while women’s socks are usually marked 9-11 — they might fit your feet better. Even though I’m a size 9, I have gotten some great buys in boys’ socks.
Blah: my concern with letting the dog tug on old socks is that he can’t distinguish between old and new!
My mother always used old socks for dusting – just slip them over your hand and go to town. Of course, she also used old underwear for scrubbing things too…so embarrassing!
My husband and I are in the process of moving… We now have a rather large pile of socks that need a second life. These are all great tips and since we have many things that need cleaning before being packed-up this will be perfect. We also have dogs too. Thanks.
Can you sew? Put your socks on inside out, tug down so that the heel of the sock is in the correct spot, and then mark a line where the toe-overhang is. Then sew along the line, trim away the excess, and voila.
Ok admittedly I’ve never tried this, myself. But I visualized it while reading your post, and am going to head to the sewing room to try it, today. I also have pathetically small feet, and consequently, a good collection of thread-bare socks. I really need to learn how to darn.
http://www.bamboosa.com has bamboo socks. They’re supposed to have antimicrobial properties.
I love using socks as rags. Especially my husband’s larger (size 9 shoe) socks.
How is it that I am 4 feet 10 inches and take a size 7 in shoe and you’re over a foot taller than I and take a smaller size?
Wonders never cease.
I have taken on the Freeze Your Buns Off Challenge at Crunchy Chicken. I haven’t used my heater yet this fall. The other night it was really chilly and my right hand, my ‘mouse’ hand was so cold. I took a sock and cut a small hole in the underside of the toe area. I was able to use my mouse with my hand covered and only my index finger uncovered to navigate. This will do until I can find a better solution. Ideas?
I hate you. I’m the same height and have twice the shoe size. Oh well, you know what they say…. big feet, ummm, big balance? I’m not sure what it is for women and I’m afraid to ask.
Katecontinued — if you’re actually freezin’ yer buns off with my challenge, then you might want to check out sitting with a rice bag or a cherry pit bag I recently wrote about.
Crunchy, this sounds like a good test. I did somethinig similar to this when I was young, broke and had my first apartment. I did pretty well too. I was too cheap / poor to crank up the heat whenever I wanted it, so I relied totally on an itty bitty space heater and lots of sweats (with occasional spirts of heater usage).
I think I’m going to try and do this again just to see if I can outdo myself this year.
Vanessa, maybe you could find socks on Etsy? Handmade, perhaps even handspun, and could be from local creatures (the wool/fiber-producing animals, not the knitter). If you forged a great relationship, you could probably get a knitter to knit you custom small socks! Or learn to do it yourself.
I wear only socks I have knitted myself from yarn I have spun. Therefore, there is too much work in them to toss them or use them as dust rags when I get a hole. I do what Grandma did– I darn my socks. You can find instructions on eHow.com. Back in the day when socks wore out, people were not near stores or did not have the money to toss ‘em and so, they darned them. The holes usually come at the heels so no one sees the mend. I have some pair that are over five years old. I’ve had to replace the heels but the other parts of the socks are perfect. I just re-darn the heels.
I like the dusting opiton for socks that aren’s as special as mne *s*… or like another poster says, cut off the toes and cut a hole in them and use them for mitts. I work in a very cold air conditioned area and mitts are essential to keep me from moaning and whining about how cold I am. *s*
Note to Susanna– handspun socks are great– but the amount of time and effort that goes into making them means that to buy them, they’d run about $75 to $100 a pair! Best bet is to befriend a knitter or spinner and hope they give you a nice and cozy holiday gift!
I collected luscious fur from my angora cat and spun it… knitted socks and used his fur for the stripes. My best friend had a dog that was dying so she saved the dog’s fur… I spun it and knitted her a nice alpaca winter cap with a band of her now-deceased dog’s fur. She always has Panda with her. *s*
Funny, just yesterday I mentioned your itty bitty feet. Maybe we need to get you some super gripper shoes.
You could also buy a bunch of the same pair of socks, so that way when one gets a hole you don’t have to throw 2 socks out – just wait for another to get a hole too. Plus it wouldn’t really matter if the dryer ate one.