Old hiking socks = mittens

[lumba]

This spring I discovered that my cheap, worn flip-top mittens don't work for hiking in sleet, and I ended up wearing my husband's socks over my hands for a morning. That got me thinking about how I could repurpose all those hiking socks around the house that are threadbare on the soles, but the cuffs and tops are still in great shape. I rounded up some basic sewing and crochet supplies and gave them a second life as mittens!

20170723_141000.jpg

20170723_135929.jpg

20170723_135953.jpg I put the sock hem up top on purpose. Since the fabric tends to splay where cut (like the unfinished seam on the bottom), putting the tight hem up top ensures my fingers have some protection when I have the mitten flipped open.

20170723_140628.jpg These are the old mittens and the basis for the design.


Ridiculous? Almost definitely. But they cost nothing and will serve their purpose on cold mornings during my Long Trail hike in September!

[u.w.]

Ridiculously excellent... thanks for sharing, and wish you the best on your LT hike in Sep

u.w.

[jimmyjam]

Excellent! Nice job of re-using something. I may have to copy and make some.

[Traffic Jam]

That's great, I love to recycle clothing.

[BuckeyeBill]

Nice job and a great idea.

[rocketsocks]

That hole necessity being the mother of invention thing comes to mind...good job!

[Dogwood]

Creative. Unfortunately, the first area to go in my socks which are largely merino is the Achilles heel which I would guess make for a hole in the palm or top of hand.

I thought it ingenious what Dutch came up with on a series of hikes where we would be going through deep snow and ice and possibly pushing through ice in water up to knee/waist deep. He cut up an old ragged 2 mm wet suit into shin sleeves that worked great to protect his legs as we went through Buckskin Gulch on Dec 31 breaking through and pushing through ice. This could work medically as pseudo elbow and knee compression sleeves too.

[lumba]

Cutting up a wet suit sounds really smart!

A hole in the heel wold probably be in the wrong place to use it as the thumbhole, but it could be sewn closed at a slight angle inwards and become a seam next to the pinky knuckle (mine juts out a little), with the sock hem on your arm and the cut side up your fingers. Or, you could keep the hem up top around your fingers and cut your wrist shaft shorter to get rid of the hole. There are ways!

[TTT]

I had a friend who made a jacket from an old wool blanket. Looked very warm and yuppy. I wonder what a sweater made from a collage of old socks would look like

[zelph]

Very nice work and warm idea.

Can use it to cool a bottle of water:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClmJlymg8eQ

[jeremywerlin]

love it! Great tip, thanks.

[zelph]

Might be able to use some of this stuff to add a little something extra to them: