Birthday Sock Rug

I have fantasized for a long time that when we're established on the smallholding, we'll have the time to make each other birthday and Christmas presents instead of buying expensive tat. My mother's birthday was on the 30th May, and for the whole month I found myself sneaking away to secretly sew and get excited about making her a sock rug. A fair number of the (holey) socks which make up the rug came from her originally, so the idea was that the colour scheme would be to her liking.


I took about eight or nine pairs of old socks, and snipped them into one or two-inch wide rings (throwing away the heel and tips of toes), then played about with them for a bit to decide the order in which the colours would appear. Knee-length socks should generally come towards the end, as they are longer and provide more rings, which in turn makes a longer section (needed for the wider circumference). I looped the rings together to make a snake of some meters in length, before starting to sew the snake into an even spiral... There's something meditative about watching your mini rug slowly emerge. I must admit that I enjoyed the process, and not least because I was putting love into a handmade present which is so much more personal than a bought one.

The finished sock rug takes several hours, but provides a cosy and funky insulated layer to put between the cold chair and your bottom. It also makes an unusual hat, as my mother discovered, ha ha!