How many times has this happened to you? You know for a fact that both socks went IN the washing machine, but somewhere between the migration from the washing machine, to the dryer, to the container in which the dryer items are placed before folding and sorting, one of your socks has gone AWOL. The above conclusion about dryer cremation is one of many that I have. Another one being that they bail somewhere into a single socks dimension for drinks and a one night stand with other single socks, but get stuck there, never to return.

Regardless of what happens to them, or even irregardless as Ex President Dubya coined, the fact is that you are now left with a single sock. You could of course, pick another single sock that looks similar to it and match those two up for life. Some may opt to throw them away. I say, don’t give up on the life of that single sock yet. Here’s three useful things you can make from one, previously useless sock.

Mr. P brought this guy to my attention today and asked if I knew where his partner was. Alas, I did not so he was about to throw it out. Then I remembered my brilliant ideas from last night’s insomnia session and much to his confusion, I very dramatically grabbed it from his hand. (I also imagine it to have been in slow motion as I screamed “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”)

Again, I need to point out that none of these ideas are groundbreaking discoveries. In fact, I most likely saw at least one of these ideas on Crawftgawker  or something, as I am obsessed equally with both that site, and Foodgawker. Anyway, here is my version of one sock, three DIY uses.

First, you want to cut your sock into three parts as shown below.

The top part where most of the elastic is, the middle part just below the heel, and the bottom part of the sock, are your three sections.

For the top part, cut different sized strips horizontally. You now have hair ties. These will not rip out your hair or tangle your hair. There is not real elastic to speak of so it will also not leave any indentations in your hair. Those of us who pay attention, know that hair ties without the metal fasteners are preferred as they don’t break your hair upon removal, and non-elastic type hair ties are better still. So instead of trashing that sock, make your own hair ties. You could even use the whole sock for this. Hell, if you love the design of the socks, cut the whole thing up and make bracelets. Hair ties are what I chose and here’s the results.

The middle part of the sock we will turn into an arm warmer . Obviously, you’ll eventually want to make two of these, unless you’re going for the MJ look. Now for this one, I would have preferred and over-the-knee sock, as I love the long arm warmers, and this one didn’t quite give me the coverage I was hoping for, but I’m also happy enough having a partner for all of my over-the-knee socks…at least until the next laundry day.

First, put the sock over your arm and stretch your thumb out through the heel part of the sock.

You’ll want to cut just the corner of the heel, where your thumb was poking through. Voila…. arm warmer. Again, for me, I’d prefer it a bit longer, but it works.

And now, for our third little project. I REALLY had to improvise with this one as I don’t have any of my normal arts and craft supplies here. The third part is going to be a pouch. A pouch for what? Whatever you want. We’ve all seen these iPod and iPhone socks, right? Why are you paying $20 for one of these? You have half a dozen pair-less socks in your drawer. Come on.. you know you do. There’s no shame. We all hope that one day, that lost single sock will find its way back.

But let’s say that it doesn’t. Give that sock new life. This third project is where your creative juices get to flow. This can be a gift bag, a phone holder, a coin purse, a pouch for your e-cigarette filters and extra e-cigarette so that you never run out and get tempted to buy a pack of cigarettes because quitting smoking is one of the hardest things you’ve ever had to do, hypothetically. The choices are endless!

What I did, was get a piece of twine. Now, had I been in current possession of my supplies, I would have used one of my big, thick sewing or yarn needles to weave in and out, creating a closure for the pouch. However, as mentioned, I had to improvise and headed towards Mr.P’s tool box. I found a small screwdriver, and used that to poke holes through the sock, using the conveniently placed polka dots as my guide, and weaved the twine in and out through the top of the sock.

You can get super creative with this part, using elastic for the enclosure, velcro, sewing some lace around, adding a button or two… go nuts! Your sock, your design. To be honest, I was rushing through this one a bit and, as mentioned, lacking many of my regular tools and supplies. I just used what was handy, which is also totally ok!

So whether one of your socks suffered the cremation fate that thousands of socks across the world suffer daily, or if demons of the netherworld managed to penetrate your laundry basket while you were at yoga last night…. now at least your remaining single sock can be reborn and continue to live a meaningful life.

Do you have any other ideas on what to do with single socks or theories on where they go? I’d love to hear them!