Zig Zag Socks : Blockers - 25 September 2024

As I’m giving these socks away as a present I thought it would be a good idea to display them in the best possible way. I thought of using sock blockers to help shape them nicely so they’re not creased and so on. I’ve seen on You Tube how people use sock blockers and also sometimes they try to make them. I even found this useful tutorial on how to go about it:

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In the video above the knitter has made her sock blockers out of stiff wire but I've seen other makers using clothes hangers; it all depends on the size of the blocker needed. Using wire is a very good idea provided the wire does not get rusty and it can be shaped safely into the correct shape. You can see in the video that the process is not that easy. You can see how she made her blockers from 4:11. Before that the You Tuber gives the background to the project.

Instead of making sock blockers using wire I could just buy a pair but the price is quite prohibitive at the moment. The prices range depending on the material. These cost around £17 or nearly 100 Steem here excluding the international postage. The blockers look very neat and smooth; they also look very safe as the tip of the hook is covered in some sort of rubber.

Another option I considered was using the 3D printer to make my own. There are many different types of free sock blocker patterns here. I’m definitely going to make these to test out. These would be made of plastic which means that the socks could be 'washed' as part of the blocking process and then let to dry safely.

A final option I found was size adjustable wooden sock blockers which would certainly be more versatile and perhaps more environment friendly as no plastic would be needed. One of the main authorities in sock making in the UK known as Winwick Mum, who’s written over 80 sock patterns, has a whole page devoted to the process of blocking socks and she uses this type of wooden size adjustable blocker. I found a similar type here at around £6 or about 18 Steem each, but I felt they looked rather flimsy.

I've opted for the cheapest possible option available : make my own out of waste cardboard.

This option was also fast and only needed waste cardboard, pen and scissors. All I needed to do was draw around the shape of the sock and cut it out.

I made one shape for each sock and then stuff them inside the new socks. After a few days I’ll see if they’ve had any effect. When you buy socks sometimes they have like a piece of cardboard to keep the shape but not usually the whole shape of the sock. I still have a month or so to decide what to do.

Thank you for reading !