Socks into Fingerless Gloves

I'm a big fan of fingerless gloves. I love the warmth along with the functionality, not to mention they look wicked cool! This is my first real instructable to please bear with me...

Materials needed:
•needle
•thread
•scissors
•ruler
•snazzy high socks
•basic knowledge of a blanket stitch

Step 1: Lay out the sock

Get your sock and lay it out. Smooth out any bumps to prevent an uneven cut

Comments

[tseemann]

I just finished mine! Thanks very much for this, they fit perfect! ^_^

[AmericanColleen]

Cool and not too hard! Mine turned out awesome and I used the spare below-the-heel bits to make an iPod case.

[Tamaresque]

What happens to the edge that you cut? How do you finish it off? Use a serger machine? If not, doesn't it fray / unravel?

Very cool, by the way!

[tarzioo]

i left the cut raw and so far it hasn't frayed. The edge does roll a bit which i think may help from keeping it from fraying. I tried hand sewing the edge but it ended up being too tight so i removed the stitches. I imagine a serger machine would work great but I haven't personally tried that.

[HEY YOU]

Nice Job tarzioo!!

You could use Fusible tape AKA Stitch Witchery on the cut edges to avoid sewing.

Cheers

[BtheBike]

Great I dea, I have some of that for hems .

A similar sock use is to just cut toes off . The Heal area goes near the elbow ,the elastic on the bicep . Its a great cycling warm warmer. Also for sun protection on hot or cool days. Considering cycling arm warmers are like $30 bucks plus ,this is a good use for old or dollar store socks . Add a pair of dollar store gloves ,one is set !

[Light_Lab]

Perhaps you don't need to seam the cut edges with most commercial socks; I have been making these for many years from my old "Explorer" socks. I invariably wear out the heels and the rest of the sock is still good. I don't even seam the thumb hole because my worn out sock supply is endless. Nevertheless mine have been through the wash dozens of times without fraying; I suspect commercial knitting is a different stitch from hand knitting (at least for "Explorer" socks).
These are known to us oldies as "Steptoes" after the old English sit. com. "Steptoe and Son" aired in the mid 60's. The elder Steptoe wore fingerless gloves that looked like they were cut from an old sock.
I wear my Steptoes in winter to use my computer in winter because my wife is a fresh air fanatic. They provide much more finger freedom than even commercial fingerless gloves. They are also excellent for any fine work in cold weather eg photography.
Two refinements:
(1) Make the thumb hole a very small slit parallel to or slightly angled away from the top of the sock. This keeps the bottom half of your thumb covered. (The hole always ends up bigger than you cut anyway.)
(2) Make the thumb hole further down the sock so that all of your fingers are covered. Then you can fold/roll the sock back to expose as much of your fingers as you need. When I am mousing I leave my left hand fully covered.

Cheers,

[HEY YOU]

Good Point

If you used 100% wool socks you could "felt" them by washing them in hot water and then they would not fray when you cut them.

Cheers

[Light_Lab]

Yes, if you are not allergic to wool like I am.
Silly idea using 'sheep wrapping' for clothes. Primitive man just did that because he couldn't make synthetics. {^_^}

[BtheBike]

yea. we have enough plastic floating around to suit us all in cool polyester gear for a few decades for sure.

[BtheBike]

Super interesting info Light Lab. I suppose one could make a quick pair o steptoes with an old sock and a stapler =) . I will certainly try steptoes since I like saving on electric bills .
Cut Poly socks seldom need stitching I've noticed . The pair I've worn on hikes and bikes haven't frayed either. The heal hole does indeed make a great thumb hole . Its in the perfect spot too =)

I plan to also try cut off old sock as Gaiters for hiking to keep dirt out of my low cut shoes , and leg warmers on cool rides.

[Light_Lab]

No need for stapling or stitching if cut right.

[IamTheMomo]

I have several pairs of knee socks I didn't want to throw away because I couldn't find any to buy here in Florida, but they are worn out on the toes. I will use them for fingerless gloves and throw away the worn foot area! (Yes, it does get very cold in this part of Florida!) I was able to get new knee socks in Texas, so I'll be good to go! Thanks!

[werekitty13]

I have a lot of worn out toe socks which made me sad because I love the stripes.
Now I can fix them ! Yay gloves!

[snake_ala]

Neat...
btw cool tattoo...
I thought it was in Arabic! But "taranah" is not an Arabic name. so after some googling it turned out to be farsi

keep the good work

[signalelektronik]

Cool

[PoisonedFrogs]

This is one of those instructibles where I roll my eyes and think :
"Now why didn't I think of that?" lol.
Love It, Great Job ^_^

[gigabad]

oH very cool

[merijnvw]

Where did you get those plastic legs? just joking, but you definately have barbie legs. The gloves look cute.

[Woglinde]

Yeah, I honestly couldn't figure out if her legs were plastic or not until I zoomed in. :P

[tarzioo]

haha, hands down, weirdest comment. thanks? lol

[BenBagheri]

Hi Taraneh! Love the Persian tatoo. :)

[tarzioo]

thank you =D

[3BEER]

SO cute *_^

Your name in farsi the same way of writing in Arabic :)

[tarzioo]

really? that's neat. I know that there are some different letters between our alphabets but I really don't know all of them.

[happyjo]

Wonderful job! here are mine:

[tarzioo]

awesome!! they look very cool =D

[happyjo]

Thanks! I love them!

[SewSassy1]

What about the ankle part that was left? I can't see if they roll as knits do when cut. So what if anything did you do to be able to wear the socks? Nice

[tarzioo]

the ankle part does roll a bit but I just wore mine with shoes and they didn't roll that much. If you wanted you could probably add a small 1/8" elastic to it? I haven't tried that yet since I didn't focus too much about the sock part.

[saied1347]

ghorbooneh saghe pat beram taraneh joon

[chibiusa]

so cool!! thanks for sharing \ ( ^ _ ^ ) /

[Fanny Fink]

very practical. I will try soon. thank you.

[sanazjun]

كارت عالي بود
good job taraneh!

[luiz94]

god job, and nice legs (respect from brazil!)

[tarzioo]

thanks, but they rarely see the light of day.

[luiz94]

wow! =D

[rammstein2]

OT: what's the meaning of the tattoo??

[tarzioo]

I'm half persian and it's just my name in farsi.

[aliyevzaur1989]

I thought that you are a Moslem.and i was thinking why she exposed her bare feet?? :)))