I haven´t bought socks in probably 4 years (these kind of normal everyday socks anyway) I've bought and been gifted the short ones you wear running, and the little shoe liners that don't stick out so you don´t see them when you are wearing bare legs, but these ordinary socks come from Penneys circa 2013 collection (or may even be older). I had built up so many socks that I haven't needed to since, they weren't even included in my panic buys of my pre buy nothing new year. For the last 4 years, I have been gradually reducing the number of pairs I have, as the heels wore out sending them to the clothes bank, having briefly toyed with the idea of using a pair as a cosy for jars used for take-away coffee....but as it turned out I don't really get take away coffees so there was no need for this. |
The short term future that is. My ideal socks would be made from post consumer cotton yarn, and be plain black or a neutral colour. Searching the internet has not yielded much of this prized combination.
The main hits are for a company that specialises in mismatched quirky designs...not a minimalists dream!
Any while I once found a collection made from old jeans, it has not appeared in more recent searches, with the only company that has socks meeting my criteria making them in Guatemala and shipping only to the US.
So for the moment the key is to keep the socks I have, 3 pairs of which are not showing any sign of wearing, but the other 3 were until recently at the 'removal of shoes may cause embarrassment' stage. While I am all for wearing things out, I also feel that you should look well at all times, so thinning sock heels is not a look I would go for.
Luckily a friend happened to mention that her grandmother had taught her how to darn, and also luckily (when we did actually manage to schedule her coming over to teach me) it turned out to be very easy!
While my stitching could probably do with being neater, and my choice of yarn (what I happened to have) could have been more subtle, I am happy that I have extended the life of my socks and learned a skill that will help me extend the life of future socks...so even if I can´t find ones that meet my sustainability standards, I can make the most out of their life....and buy some extra time to continue my searching!