Matching Socks

I hate matching up socks, because it seems to me inevitable that they are spread among various loads of laundry.  Then you get the issues where some socks are just similar enough to be confusing, but not so similar that you wouldn't know you were wearing mis-matched socks.  Or you sent your kids to school with mismatched socks.

So I usually throw all the socks in a big L.L. Bean Boat-and-Tote, and when I get to the point of desperation, I force Mick to dig through for matches.

As you know, CAM goes to private school, and that means knee socks.  Which means that phenomenon of almost-matches.

I'm over it.  Between her knee socks and my trouser socks, it has been a sock nightmare, especially in the dark early-morning hours up here in Maine where we get dressed and head to school in the dark.

But then, I determined a solution.

I took every single pair of socks we own that might be confusing (the ones with a pink or blue HANES stripe on the bottom, or with obvious-to-match ruffles not included), and flattened them out and painted patterns on the feet.

I started with a trip to our local craft store and picked up two of these.  

I folded all the socks over, and in the middles by the arch, I painted.

These are all my trouser socks.  I tried to make the designs less obtrusive, just in case I end up in my stocking feet at work one day.  God help us all if that happens, though!

This is a trial-run pair of CAM's socks.  You can see they are (a) clean-but-dirty, and (b) marked with a Sharpie.  That was my first attempt at sock-matching technique, but the sharpie both looked ugly and faded.  I switched to the paint with great success.

We have polka dots and squigglies and hearts and stars and stripes and zig-zags ... some socks are more like slippers with lots of grippies on the bottom, and others just have little designs for the sake of finding a match more easily.  Either way, now all I need to do to match socks is check that the patterns are the same color and design.

I can do it in poor lighting while I watch tv.  I can ask WHM to do it as a sorting/matching project.  It's mindless for me, but a fun game for the kids.

And now, we have sock-match assurance.

Who's brilliant*?  This kid, that's who!

--Jen

*Brilliant, anal, it's all the same

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