Holey Socks!

By Rachel Scarlett

If you're like me, you probably have some holey socks deep in your drawer. Nice socks that you wore down and wished were still whole. Those nice warm ones you got on vacation in Alaska with moose or the ones you got for Christmas with skating penguins. I've had certain socks sit in my drawer for years because I'm just too sentimental (and frugal) to get rid of them... that is until this last holiday season. Our little family got lots of glorious extended family time this last Christmas. Seriously, if you want attention... have a baby.

Amongst that family were both of my grandmas. They are both wonderful ladies and have taught me all kinds of skills that I still use today; and I was able to learn a new one! My Grandma Scarlett showed me how to make a sock rug. And I was also able to clean out my sock drawer with a clear conscious! (Normal people would probably be able to do this either way). Really we were making mini sock rugs; they work great for a seating pad on the fireplace hearth.

My wonderful grandmas with my daughter.

So if you crochet, then this will be easy for you to pick up; if not, the directions might be a little confusing- but it's worth it!

 First you grab all your holey socks! I asked everyone in my family for their's as well...
Tip: Your rug will turn out more even if you use socks of similar thicknesses.

Then you cut them all up into 1.25 in loops. This whole project is looping loops together!

To get started on all this looping, double over a loop 2 times as you would around a pony tail (bottom left) and stick 6 loops inside it, folding them in half with the ends together (bottom middle). Then taking both ends of two loops- one on each index finger - pull the two ends of the second loop through the two ends of the first loop. Once you've pulled the loops through, you will take the next two ends of a third loop and pull it through that second loop. This will continue around to all six loops until it looks like the bottom right picture. Confusing enough? The bottom right picture shows my index finger through the last set of ends, this will be the one that you will start finger crocheting the next round with. Putting a large safety pin in these ends works well for keeping your place.

The bottom left is an advanced picture but it shows how to put loops in the next round. You will be inserting 2 loops in one space and 1 loop in the next, alternating until you've gone all the way around. So the second round will take up 9 loops and will look like the lower left picture before the loops are crocheted. Remove the safety pin and start crocheting around the round. The next round you will insert loops alternating between 1 and 2 loops and the process repeats until you get your rug to a desired size. Tip: If you are planning on doing somewhat of a pattern, then make sure you plan it out with the socks you have.

Below shows the progress after all of the blue loops have been crochet. As you can see in the lower left, I chose gray loops for the third round. The middle picture shows the third round almost completed and the lower right picture shows me putting in the fourth round with green loops.

Four completed rounds.

Below shows the fifth round laid out. For this round I had to combine the loops from a plain gray sock and one with stripes. I laid them out in advance so each kind would be distributed evenly.

As you can see, each round leaves a cool pattern of colors.

Tada! A craft that uses up old socks and creates a unique new hearth rug/cushion! I donated this one to my parents' fireplace and it will provide a nice soft place to sit next to the warm fire!

Below are two more I made upon returning home. My husband had some old army socks and I was able to make one big enough for my cat to nap on by the fire (below on the right).

 

Below is one made by my sister-in-law, Emma. She thought of some long sleeve shirts she didn't need anymore and brilliantly used the sleeves (instead of socks) to make her loops. This one is a little uneven because the size of the sleeves change from shoulder to wrist. Instead of making a pattern of rings (like I did) she just alternated colors throughout the whole project. I thought that was quite creative and it's something I obviously never thought of! She made this one to try out as a stool cushion. I love how creativity shows up differently for each different person!

The army sock rug; it may look too small but when she's really curled up she fits!

 Thanks for reading! I hope this inspires you, and if it does be sure you show me!