OT - or at least I do not know how to relate this to quilting

[Brian]

I buy cheap socks. I think they amount to about $1 to $2 at mainly
either Ross Dress for Less or that evil place whose name begins with "W."

They develop holes in the toes rather easily, and there are 3 basic ways
to fix them.

1. Darn then. I have gotten pretty good at it, and unless the small
ball of yarn and the darning needles I purchased cost a whole lot more
than I remember, it is probably costing pennies to darn a sock.

2. Cut of the part with the hole, and then zig-zag the end of the sock.
This costs probably about a penny as well, even perhaps with fairly
expensive thread. The problem is that it makes the sock shorter.

3. Relegate the socks to file 13 and just buy a new pair. This would
cost $1-2 a pair, not really very much, but still quite a bit more than
the other 2 methods.

There is also the environmental issue of sending stuff to the landfill
that can be easily reused.

I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?

Brian Christiansen

[Julia in MN]

I mend my hand-knit socks by knitting a patch on to them. I toss
purchased socks that have holes. I don't buy super-cheap socks and they
seem to wear for a long time. The elastic in the top often wears out
before the socks get holes.

If you are concerned with keeping stuff out of the landfill, you could
try buying more expensive socks to see if they wear longer. They might
actually be less expensive in the long run.

I think Goodwill accepts clean rags for recycling.

One more thing: keep your toenails trimmed & file off sharp corners. :-)

Julia in MN

Post by Brian
I buy cheap socks. I think they amount to about $1 to $2 at mainly
either Ross Dress for Less or that evil place whose name begins with "W."
They develop holes in the toes rather easily, and there are 3 basic ways
to fix them.
1. Darn then. I have gotten pretty good at it, and unless the small
ball of yarn and the darning needles I purchased cost a whole lot more
than I remember, it is probably costing pennies to darn a sock.
2. Cut of the part with the hole, and then zig-zag the end of the sock.
This costs probably about a penny as well, even perhaps with fairly
expensive thread. The problem is that it makes the sock shorter.
3. Relegate the socks to file 13 and just buy a new pair. This would
cost $1-2 a pair, not really very much, but still quite a bit more than
the other 2 methods.
There is also the environmental issue of sending stuff to the landfill
that can be easily reused.
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?
Brian Christiansen

[Bobbie Sews More]

"Brian" wrote in message news:n024uo$6on$***@dont-email.me...

(clip)
I
There is also the environmental issue of sending stuff to the landfill
that can be easily reused.

I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?

Brian Christiansen

In the winter we go to Florida and live next to the Flea Market and can buy
Name Brand socks cheaper than at the Big Name dept. store---W---, We get
the cotton socks and wear mostly athletic shoes such as Dr. Scholes,
cost --$35---less than the BIG name shoes---$75--- but the sole dose not
last quite as long.) When socks get holes I use them to clean the
house----dusting, or spraying on a cleaner for the windows or furniture, or
cleaning up the car. I try to keep them out of the landfill as long as
possible.
Barbara in FL---I consider myself somewhat of a cheap-skate and recycle
holey towels into washcloths or cleaning rags


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If they are wool, you can always sleeve a small pistol in them.
Of tools that might get rusty. The lanolin in the wool will keep both happy...

Ginger in CA

Post by Brian
I buy cheap socks. I think they amount to about $1 to $2 at mainly
either Ross Dress for Less or that evil place whose name begins with "W."
They develop holes in the toes rather easily, and there are 3 basic ways
to fix them.
1. Darn then. I have gotten pretty good at it, and unless the small
ball of yarn and the darning needles I purchased cost a whole lot more
than I remember, it is probably costing pennies to darn a sock.
2. Cut of the part with the hole, and then zig-zag the end of the sock.
This costs probably about a penny as well, even perhaps with fairly
expensive thread. The problem is that it makes the sock shorter.
3. Relegate the socks to file 13 and just buy a new pair. This would
cost $1-2 a pair, not really very much, but still quite a bit more than
the other 2 methods.
There is also the environmental issue of sending stuff to the landfill
that can be easily reused.
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?
Brian Christiansen

[Brian]

On Mon, 19 Oct 2015 07:09:12 +0000, Brian wrote:
A few things I have to say:

1. The socks I wear are cotton, not wool.

2. I don't know how to knit, and even if I did, making socks is about at
the bottom of the list of what I would use that skill for.

3. I do keep my tonails trimmed, and though that certainly seems to
help, that does not seem to stop holes from developing.

4. The only words I can think of at the insinuation that I some kind of
slob that doesn't clip his tonails is "highly insulting." Actually, I
can think of other words, just none I would use in a somewhat public
forum such as a newsgroup.

5. I have tried more expensive socks, such as the Hanes with the
reinforced heel/toe, that doesn't seem to make much difference.

Brian Christiansen

[Julia in MN]

Sorry, Brian! I did not mean to be insulting add I did not mean to imply
that you are a slob. I know how easy it is to let toenails get a bit too
long or have sharp corners, so maybe I'm the slob. :-)

Julia in MN

Post by Brian
1. The socks I wear are cotton, not wool.
2. I don't know how to knit, and even if I did, making socks is about at
the bottom of the list of what I would use that skill for.
3. I do keep my tonails trimmed, and though that certainly seems to
help, that does not seem to stop holes from developing.
4. The only words I can think of at the insinuation that I some kind of
slob that doesn't clip his tonails is "highly insulting." Actually, I
can think of other words, just none I would use in a somewhat public
forum such as a newsgroup.
5. I have tried more expensive socks, such as the Hanes with the
reinforced heel/toe, that doesn't seem to make much difference.
Brian Christiansen

[Nann]

Some people just have sharp toes, I think.

But, FWIW, my husband wears athletic socks from Norm Thompson all the time (except for Sundays when he wears Gold Toe dress socks). He buys the NTs a dozen pairs at a time (about every year and a half), thus ensuring that we receive a NT catalog once a week. <g> However, he is retired so white socks and sneakers are his footwear.

The best socks I've had are Cabot Socks, made in Vermont.

Nann

[Nann]

P.S. No-longer wearable socks can be used as dust cloths (easy to slip hands into), or car washing rags, or for clever crafts.

P.S. 2 Our church has an agreement with a textile recycler. We bring old clothes, household linens, and scraps (at least, I do) -- all the stuff that may be too worn out to donate to a thrift shop -- and the recycler pays the church. (Not a lot, but enough to be worth it for the recycler.)

Nann

[Night Mist]

Post by Brian
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?

As some here may recall, I have bemoaned the damage my DH's sharp and pointy feet do to quilts.
You cannot begin to imagine what they do to socks!

I have had some success increasing the longevity of socks destined for male feet in my house.
The best success has been had with the method that takes the most work (how else?). That being to reinforce the knit fabric by mending it before he even puts them on. I use the instructions found the the "Encyclopedia of Needlecraft" (de Dillmont) for repairing knit fabric, except I stitch right over the existing stitches, I run lines of thread as if there was a hole, though obviously I skip the trimming up.
This is time intensive, so I only do it heel and toe on dress socks or the more expensive heavy winter socks. Thus you will find me "mending" brand new thermal socks in July.

I use the same instructions for mending holes in socks when I need to. It is a little fussier and it takes longer, but it lasts longer and is more comfortable. I generally use size 20 or 30 crochet cotton.

More usually though shredded socks get tossed. They are most often in heinous condition by that point. I swear the man oozes some noxious chemical through his feet, because after a few months of regular wear the bottoms of socks are discolored and brittle. I get him your usual nylon reinforced cotton for regular socks, as any degree of polycotton disintegrates much more rapidly than plain cotton.

If the ribbing of discarded socks is in a fit state, I will cut it off, fold it over itself lengthwise (like cuffing bobby socks), and zig zag around joining the two edges. Then I set them aside for dying to match the next sweatshirt where the cuffs have blown out. These improvised cuffs almost never match the bottom ribbing of the shirt, but they keep a it in service. If they are in very good shape they can go onto a shirt you make fresh. you can of course modify the folding to fit if the sock owner has particularly fat or skinny ankles, or the shirt owner has particularly skinny wrists.

When I knit him socks I use the Italian method as per the same book as the mending instructions, as that makes socks that are made to have removable bottoms so you only have to knit a replacement for that part instead of a whole new sock. It is worth noting that a wool nylon blend sock lasts him longer than the cotton nylon ones. I know, it seems counter intuitive. You would expect a soft spun yarn to go to bits faster than the hard spun. It seems his body chemistry is not as hard on wool as it is on cotton. Makes me tempted to get some sock weight noil yarn and see how that holds up.
BTW number 10 crochet cotton is so close in size to sock weight yarn as to make no never mind. Someone somewhere may find that useful to know.

NightMist

[Jack Campin]

Post by Brian
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?

William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg's "The Yage Letters" describes
a trip they made to Amazonia in the Fifties in search of the ultimate
hallucinogenic high. Burroughs has a page or two describing the socks
he wore for weeks or months of slogging through tropical jungle, off
his face on drugs, without washing his feet: they were pure nylon, they
rapidly got to look and smell disgusting but they NEVER WORE OUT. He
mentions in the book that he couldn't get them any more, and attributed
this to a conspiracy by the global capitalist sock monopoly elite to
enforce planned obsolescence.

I read that book around 1970 and instantly recognized what he was on
about. I wore the same kind of socks when I was a student; I don't
recall the original colour, but they went snot-green like something
out of Fungus the Bogeyman, shrank a bit, but remained unchanged for
years. (I think I washed them a bit more often than Burroughs did).
They were getting rare when I bought them.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Jack Campin, 11 Third Street, Newtongrange, Midlothian EH22 4PU, Scotland
mobile [phone] <http://www.campin.me.uk> Twitter: JackCampin

[Bobbie Sews More]

"Brian" wrote in message news:n024uo$6on$***@dont-email.me...

I buy cheap socks. I think they amount to about $1 to $2 at mainly
either Ross Dress for Less or that evil place whose name begins with "W."

(CLIP)
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?

Brian Christiansen

Brian, Ii live next door to a flea market and I found 100% Nylon men's dress
socks for a good price.
They are a pack of 6 solid colors, while, gray, black. I have a good friend
who loves these socks so I am always looking for them.
E-mail me privately and I will be happy to get you some and mail them to
you!
Barbara in FL, just trying to help


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Sorry that this is a little late for sock repair. If you "keep" your toenails clipped really short all the time, then you should not get holes in your socks, at least not until they are really old and worn thin. Nothing lasts forever. Smiling.
Sandy$

[Jane]

I recycle some old socks by zigzagging around the ribbed area where it joins
the foot of the sock, then cutting off the ribbing, folding it back on
itself wrong sides together, and using it as ribbing for wrist & ankle cuffs
on PJs.

Post by Brian
I buy cheap socks. I think they amount to about $1 to $2 at mainly
either Ross Dress for Less or that evil place whose name begins with "W."
They develop holes in the toes rather easily, and there are 3 basic ways
to fix them.
1. Darn then. I have gotten pretty good at it, and unless the small
ball of yarn and the darning needles I purchased cost a whole lot more
than I remember, it is probably costing pennies to darn a sock.
2. Cut of the part with the hole, and then zig-zag the end of the sock.
This costs probably about a penny as well, even perhaps with fairly
expensive thread. The problem is that it makes the sock shorter.
3. Relegate the socks to file 13 and just buy a new pair. This would
cost $1-2 a pair, not really very much, but still quite a bit more than
the other 2 methods.
There is also the environmental issue of sending stuff to the landfill
that can be easily reused.
I suppose I could ask, what do you do with socks that have developed
holes. Fix them or toss them?
Brian Christiansen