So the other day you met Alphonse.  He’s quite dapper, and makes a perfect house guest. Today I’m showing off some truly funky sock blockers.

Now you know we’ve got some big feet in this house.  I wear a ladies’ size 11, and The Boy wears a men’s size 13.  These are big feet.  I decline to feel bad about this, as the size of a person’s feet is more or less out of their control.  The only thing I felt bad about was the difficulty in vigorously blocking socks in these sizes.  I had a pair of wire blockers in what they called extra large.  They more or less worked for most of my socks, but they didn’t really make much of a dent in The Boy’s socks.  Enter these guys:

My parents found them at an antique store, so alas I can’t tell you where to find your own.  They are labeled with the number 11.  I have no idea how, or even if, this correlates with a current shoe size.  They are just a bit big for my socks and the perfect size for The Boy’s.  I’m completely taken with the pointy toes.

And yes, in case you’re wondering, this parade of tools is a way of hiding that my knitting isn’t terribly earth shattering at the moment.  The louche socks are taller.  The secret socks are taller.  The pile of swatches for cough book two cough is growing.  With any luck at all, the pattern for truckle should be out early next week.

Have any of you guys used ‘antique’ knitting tools or put non-knitting supplies to work for you on the dark woolly side?