The Afterthought Everything Sock Recipe turns pre-knit stockinette tubes into made-to-measure socks. No complicated construction, no committing to a size before you start. Finish a pair in as little as a day. Contrast toes, heels, and cuffs are the perfect excuse to dig into your scrap bin, and once you’ve got the recipe down, those sections become your playground for ribbing variations, colorwork, lace, or new bind-offs.

My sock tubes are knit on a homemade 3D-printed sock machine. I made it myself with my blood/sweat/tears, my husband’s workshop, my husband’s tools, my husband’s advice, my husband’s troubleshooting, and almost all of his polycarbonate filament. The print file is free on Printables here.

Don’t have a homemade 3D-printed CSM? Store-bought’s fine:
Ritual Dyes offers a sock tube knitting service for sock yarn purchases here.
Farmer’s Daughter Fibers sells sock tubes ready to go here.
Or hand-knit your own tubes with 50g-75g of fingering-weight yarn.

What you’ll need:
A 24”–32” stockinette tube at 60-stitch circumference (compatible with 60-needle CSM), ~20g of contrast fingering-weight yarn, and US size 1 / 2.25mm needles.
Sizing: Women’s US 6.5–10.5 / EU 37–41
Techniques: Magic loop, afterthought toe, afterthought heel, kitchener stitch, Jeny’s stretchy bind-off

Create a stash of sock tubes, and you’ll have a box of socks in no time.