The Sock Reckoning
I’ve been thinking about socks a lot over the last two weeks. The chiropodist told me that I shouldn’t go barefoot. I keep getting blisters when I wear shoes without hosiery. And like the cicadas that emerge from hibernation every 15 years, it seems like most of my socks are reaching the end of their life cycle at the same time.
I prefer a nice hand knit sock and will go to great lengths to earn and patch a good pair to prolong their life, but I also have a lot of cheap socks that are impossible to repair. So I put them in a rag bag to use in a future rug making project (material with a lot of elastic in them are bad for landfills).
I have a sufficient amount of thick wool socks so the next step was sourcing some summery socks. Lots of good options are out there but I choked before i could hit the “Buy It Now” button because the good, sustainable and interesting versions usually cost about $20 a pair.
So imagine my delight when I went to Michael’s on Tuesday (to buy some jewelry making findings) and saw this sock loom on sale for $16. I haven’t tried it out yet but making my own socks is so alluring!
On the way to Michael’s I found a mini fridge on the sidewalk. I’m reckoned I could use it to store medicine and things so I tossed it in my backpack— which I planned to use to carry groceries. Now the haversack was full of tiny refrigerator. I got a disposable bag to transport the sock loom but the packaging of the device tore through the cheap plastic which necessitated a stop at the Dollarama to get a new, sturdier carrier (I had spotted some woven nylon market bags in the roped off, non-essential aisle in the lockdown days. They bore a striking resemblance to offerings from Marni which were no doubt influenced by dollar store totes in the first place.
I am digressing all over the place now. Sorry. But while I was at the Dollarama, I spotted these cotton soled, embroidered mesh socks and realized that this was the kind of hosiery I could wear with heels and more formal attire. I bought two pairs just in case anything bad ever happened to them.
In short, I think I’ve got my sock situation all sorted out now.