Custom Socks
Custom Sock spots, when available, will be listed on HyenaCart in the Tiny Lady Cooperative congo!
Do you have too much sock yarn and no time to knit socks?
Maybe you just love the look and feel of hand painted yarn, but don’t knit.. that’s not a problem. For just $15 per pair, I can hand make you a fully ribbed pair of socks with a seamless toe, custom made from the yarn you send me to fit your foot on one of my antique circular sock machines. While I use a machine, making socks is not automatic, every part of the process is actually manipulated by hand – putting needles in and out of work for ribbing, turning the crank to knit, forming the heel and toe, and even finishing your socks (which happens off the machine). Apart from the beginning “selvage” edge of the sock, which is a technique that is not commonly used in hand knitting, every other aspect of the socks will look and feel just as if they were hand knit.
What do I need to make your socks?
I need “sock” yarn, and the length of your foot from heel to toe.. it’s really pretty simple. If the socks are to be a gift, and it’s not possible to measure the foot, a shoe size (or approximate size) can work too.
The only complicated part is what “sock” yarn is to me!
Really that isn’t too complicated – I typically consider sock yarn to be any fingering weight yarn, and usually superwash wool, or a wool blend. Nearly all commercial and most artisan “sock” yarns will work fine, and I’ve only found a few that are labeled for socks that really won’t work well (for example, anything more than 50% cellulose fiber may be tricky – cotton doesn’t knit as easily as bamboo for example). If your yarn is heavier than fingering weight, such as a sport weight or DK weight, it’s probably not what I’d call sock yarn, and I can’t knit it on my machine. If you aren’t sure about the yarn you have, just email me with the weight, yardage, and fiber content of the yarn in question, and I can confirm if it should work or not. Some yarns can be labeled funny, so it’s best to check if you are unsure. If your yarn is not superwash, that’s not a problem for me, but the finished socks will typically wear out faster, and will need more delicate care since they can felt if machine washed.
I usually need 3.5oz/100g of yarn to complete the average adult pair (there will usually be some extra yarn left over, which will be returned with your socks). Larger men’s socks will sometimes require more yarn – a 4oz skein is usually fine, but if I knit one sock of the pair, and realize I’ve used more than half the yarn available, I will give you the option that I may just re-knit the sock and make the leg portion shorter, or I can substitute a similar coordinating (or contrasting) yarn from my scrap box for the heels and toes to make the yarn you sent me go a little further.
If for some reason I can’t complete a pair of socks with the yarn you provided, and it does fall into what I would consider “sock” yarn, I will refund you fully and return the yarn to you at my cost. For yarn sent to me which is not what I consider sock yarn, I will return the yarn and refund all but the actual cost to ship the yarn back to you.
Other stuff worth mentioning…
My general sock pattern is for a mid-calf ribbed sock made to fit an adult foot, which fits nicely worn pulled up, folded over, or slouched. Because knitting is stretchy, these socks can easily accommodate a range of foot and ankle widths. I am able to make socks shorter or taller (with additional yarn) or even wider or narrower than average on request… just let me know if you have a preference or special need and I will do my best to make your socks fit perfectly.
I am able to do children’s socks as well, starting from about a toddler size 8. Sizes smaller than this are just not feasible on the machine. There is no discount on smaller sizes however, as the amount of work does not really change with size.
Occasionally hand painted yarns will ‘pool’ in repeating patterns when they aren’t meant to. This can be spiraling stripes or blocks of color as each row lines up with the color repeats in the previous row.. sometimes it looks nice, and other times, not so much… but unfortunately this is not something I can control, and not something that is fully predictable either – the yarn does what it does. Please be aware of this potential when you select your yarn.