Sock knitters know the heart break of the worn out toe or the threadbare heel. You could darn them, but do you want to? When your socks reach the end of their days, why not turn them into something else? These socks are knit in a way that allows them to be quickly and easily converted into fingerless mitts when they wear out.

The socks are worked from the top down in the round on DPNs. Part way through the leg, you switch from working in the round to working back and forth to create a thumb hole. After the thumb hole is complete, you begin working in the round again, and then proceed as normal.

If you don’t want to later turn the socks into mitts, just ignore the instructions for the thumb hole and continue working in the round for the entire length of the leg. Instructions are also provided for making just the mitts in case you don’t want to wait for the socks to wear out.

Top down with heel flap.