Sock repair...

[Catrin]

I love my wool socks in the winter - won't wear anything else! I love my THIN Smartwool socks in the summer - though I will wear other types when the weather is warm.

My problem with this lovely warm, and expensive, Smartwool socks is that I destroy them in a couple of wearings. I keep my nails clipped but, regardless how careful I am. my toes are peeking through after no more than 4-6 wearings. It gets expensive to replace them all the time...and nothing else keeps my feet warm. They work very well with my PI Barrier shoe covers - and my Mavic shoes fit snugly enough that I must have thin socks. It is possible that I've been purchasing too small a size, though they never feel that way.

Has anyone tried to repair them and if so, how well did it work out? My only concern is that the place where it is repaired may rub & cause a blister, and feet take longer to heal than other parts of the body. I am going to attempt it, my most recent pair only lasted 3 wearings....arghhhhhhhh!

[OakLeaf]

At the risk of asking the obvious ... are they big enough for you?

I would also hesitate to darn socks that I intended to put any significant mileage on afterward. Never done it, but I would be afraid of chafing/blisters too. But all my SW socks have been plenty durable - though I don't have the lightest weight ones, the elastic has been wearing out long before the wool fiber.

You might darn them and use them for daily wear/sleeping, anyway...

[indysteel]

Why style of Smartwool sock are you wearing? I have numerous pairs of Run and Outdoor Ultra Light Minis and have never had them wear that quickly.

[Catrin]

It is possible that they have been too small, but they never seemed to feel that way Oakleaf. That being said, I KNOW my Mavic shoes are just a little snug, and I suppose it is possible that they are just small enough to put pressure on that area and make my socks more likely to wear. Most of my Smartwool socks have been either the Smartwool or Sugoui brand.

Indy, thanks for the brand suggestions, it seems that it is time for me to try something else.

I know my Mavic shoes are a bit too tight - I can only barely close the straps to avoid numb feet when I ride. I've adjusted to them, but am considering starting to save for a new pair of shoes next year. I love the shoes, outside of the white color, I just need a size larger.

[pll]

I find my smartwool socks suffer from the same problem, but I use them for walking quite a bit. The Defeet Woolie Boolies do not have that issue and neither does a pair of wool Castelli socks I bought last year. I never put them in the drier, just hang to dry. The Defeet ones I use for running and cycling; the Castelli only for cycling.

[Catrin]

Let me expand OakLeaf's question: Are your shoes big enough for you?

We were posting at about the same time - and the answer to your question is no...not really. I am so accustomed to making them work that I never really think of them as being too small though. This was my second full year for them. I need to start saving so I can have a pair that actually fits by spring.

I find my smartwool socks suffer from the same problem, but I use them for walking quite a bit. The Defeet Woolie Boolies do not have that issue and neither does a pair of wool Castelli socks I bought last year. I never put them in the drier, just hang to dry. The Defeet ones I use for running and cycling; the Castelli only for cycling.

Pll - thanks for this, it is good to know that I am not the only one with this problem. I've seen the Defeet socks and they are too thick for my current shoes...though these may be different from the other Defeet socks I've seen. My LBS is a Castelli dealer so I will see if they have this - I do like to get my hands on cycling socks before buying them. I never dry my wool socks either, and they get washed on cold with all of my other cycling and fitness wear.

[indysteel]

Indy, thanks for the brand suggestions, it seems that it is time for me to try something else.

Those weren't different brands of wool socks. They're styles within Smartwool's line of products. I was curious as to which style of Smartwool sock you're wearing, as mine (various types of Ultra Lites) have never worn prematurely.

But if you want to try different brands, I'd suggest Swiftwick and Darn Tough as alternatives to Smartwool.

[Catrin]

Those weren't different brands of wool socks. They're styles within Smartwool's line of products. I was curious as to which style of Smartwool sock you're wearing, as mine (various types of Ultra Lites) have never worn prematurely.

But if you want to try different brands, I'd suggest Swiftwick and Darn Tough as alternatives to Smartwool.

Silly me, I didn't realize that, thanks for the clarification! I've looked them up now and those are not what I have. I have the PhD Smartwool socks. It does help to know the specific line, especially where wool socks are concerned. I think I will try and darn the ones I have for around the house use, but will likely be asking for trouble if I try to wear darned socks with my current shoes.

[laura*]

At the risk of asking the obvious ... are they big enough for you?

Let me expand OakLeaf's question: Are your shoes big enough for you?

[EMoonTX]

Catrin, when socks wear out that fast usually two things are involved. 1) the socks are too small, and thus stretched too snugly. This exposes individual strands of yarn to abrasion. What protects knitwear from abrasion is sharing the abrasion between yarn strands, if the strands are separated (as they are when knits are stretched over a larger surface) individual strands are at risk. Particularly with wool, which reacts to abrasion by fraying when unprotected. 2) the shoes don't fit in some way. Because you're having holes in the toes, it's likely that either the shoes are too short (forcing the toe ends to contact the shoe) or the toe box isn't tall enough for your toes. My toes turn up and I always used to get holes in the toes of my socks (any socks--or pantyhose back when I wore those.) So in a "flat" toed shoe, the cut end of my toenail would contact the shoe's toe box, and any sock or stocking in between was going to be rubbed into oblivion. It doesn't matter how short you cut your toenail, because the top of the toenail will press on the inside of the shoe if the toe box isn't big enough.

When you have both snugly stretched socks AND a toe-box that ensures rubbing, socks are doomed quickly. Modern commercial socks are made with quite a bit of elastic, so that sock makers don't have to make socks for every shoe size--and that means that if you have feet at the high end of a sock range (medium, say) the knitting is stretched more than if you wear a larger sock. Ideally, you want a lot of sock-fabric between your foot and the shoe--both for comfort and for resistance to abrasion. Even so, if the toe-box doesn't fit your foot, socks will fail at the toe. I had to change the kinds of shoes I bought, and make it clear to shoe salespersons that it's not all about length. (I also have permanent nerve damage in one big toe from wearing too-flat-toebox dress shoes too often, finally on a several mile trek on pavement and cobbles one night...so it's not just a sock issue.)

For maximum sock wear, you need a toe box that allows your toes space in all 3 dimensions, and then socks that are not stretched tight at the toes. I have large feet, for a woman, and with deconditioning over a period of years and weight gain, also developed swollen ankles. The elastic in commercial socks--and the tight top row--cut into my leg painfully and unhealthily. If you have such problems--or just can't find socks that fit you without being too stretched out to be durable--there's another way. Knitting.

I now knit my own socks (just learned this year.) The difference in how my feet feel is amazing. Those of you who have knit only "flat things" before (like me--scarf after scarf after scarf) would find sock-knitting much easier than you thought. Those who don't knit might have a friend who could be persuaded to knit a pair or two for you so you could see if they worked for you. These socks fit my feet without stretching--the natural stretchiness of knitted fabrics mean they stretch enough to go on and off easily, but otherwise they just rest on the skin, so the full thickness of the fabric can resist abrasion (and I thicken around the back of the heel, because I have narrow heels and most shoes slip up and down...no slippage, much less abrasion.) Combined with shoes with an adequately tall toe-box, I'm getting no signs of wear on the toes, even on the first pair I finished (back in March, and worn at least once--often twice or three times a week since then.) I wear trail shoes most of the time, and walk out on the land where I ride (and wear them riding as well), and on a trip to NYC walked miles every day in them. If I could buy comfortable wool socks that fit me, I probably would--but since I can't, I am very glad that knitting them turned out to be feasible. (And I can have any color the yarn manufacturer makes! So far I have bright red, bright green, deep teal, medium-denim blue, a different green, and turquoise. Purple is coming up.) Most current sock-knitters use thinner yarn than I do because they like thinner socks--but I want cushioning (and also--I can't see the stitches in fine yarn--can't use the tiny skinny needles.)