You were one of the first bloggers I followed. Then, I stopped all crafts. Then got back into knitting 1 years ago. I'm so glad you came back on YT and I found you!

To reinforce the toe and heel, I add a wool reinforcement thread with my working yarn.  Works beautifully and adds a pop of color.

I am in love with socks and have dozens of pairs, each one a little more improved than the last. I feel as if I could spend a lifetime knitting them.  Thanks for these helpful ideas about how to extend the life of our socks.

All good points!
I’ve had socks from 2000-ish, Regia sock yarn. They’re wearing out - but only just a teeny bit - at the toe decreases spots. They’ve pilled a bit, but…they’re in my shoe & I’m not worried about that.
In 2018-ish, after wanting to jump on the Sock Bandwagon, I found that sock yarn (fingering weight) runs from 400 to 463 yards per 100 grams. Meaning a very thin yarn to a “heftier” yarn. The 463y/100g socks= US#0 needle, 72-80 sts, 10-11 sts/inch…for a much denser fabric, less likely to wear out. A 400y/100g yarn, US# 1.5, 64 sts, 9-10 sts/inch gives me a nice dense fabric.
Of COURSE I had to change toe box length & heel flap length (higher) for each.
I find it sad when I see someone with a close-up pic of their socks & the fabric (gauge) are very open/not dense. For a fine-gauge sweater that would be perfect.
And of course I had to get more needles! Slowly building up my “collection”. My fave is 9” circs, DPs for toe decs, worked in tandem (no Second Sock Syndrome!), making (new) adjustments on the first, breezing thru the second!
I now have quite a few (umm, a LOT of) socks now, so they should ALL last longer if I rotate thru said Collection, right?!?!
It’s so much fun to change up the patterns, use scraps!
My next try: shorties (-ish) with the new-to-me heel tab (doubled fabric sitting higher on back ankle)…
Yes to custom socks! The best!
Thank you extolling the “virtues” of hand knit socks!

I chuckled listening to your sock geek talk.  I am considering them.  That's how I landed on your channel.  Subscribed

the first thing i ever knit was a pair of socks ...from drops air. i also knit a second pair for my partner. never again. but time spent on learning to make something is never truly wasted, making those socks taught me a lot of techniques! just wish i hadn't gone such a long time thinking sock yarn was just a weight category haha

my father runs through his socks fast mainly because if he gets a new pair, he just won't take them off. When they have to be washed, he will take them off, wash them, dry them and put them on as soon as possible again. For him, socks last roughly 2 months. Which is roughly the time needed for a new pair of well constructed socks made in between all the other work of the household :)

Super wash yarn is not all created equally.  Some have a chemical used to smooth the scales, which can wash away.  Some have had the scales burned away, which makes them super wash forever.  I put all of my handknit socks in a pile and have a handknit sock wash day.

why they fall apart?... yarn failure when the spun yarn has weak points, when i have accidently split the yarn and it  causes a weakness. I  use all natural  fiber yarns, the ones with more than 30% acrylic tend to fail more.
I use moreno superwash,  put them in a delicates bag, wash on delicate with cold water, and lay out to dry. I have some socks still going 7 years later.

Just wearing socks, no shoes, in the house wears the heels out pronto for me.  I’ve started making afterthought heels to save my work, and I’m back to wearing shoes or slippers.

It's been two years and im finally inspired to finish the socks i started from Nimble Needles tutorial. I've started on my first heel flap (and still worried about picking up stitches in the right spots lol)
Does anyone have advice for the sl1 k1 / sl1 p1 on the heel flap? It's killing my wrists n hand muscles, and im only ~2 centimeters in :,)

So, if one was to always reinforce the heel and toe of hand-knit socks, that might solve most issues?