In addition to the birthday provides I got from pals and circle of relatives this three hundred and sixty five days, I offered one little gift for myself. As I mentioned in closing Thursday's entry, I'd used a Visa pay as you go card that I'd gotten with survey points to treat myself to 2 new pairs of SmartWool socks. The pairs of socks, with shipping, used up maximum of the $25 card, but my preceding experiences with SmartWool satisfied me that it'd be money well spent. During the coldest days of the winter, my SmartWool socks are pretty an awful lot the best ones I placed on. Even though they will be machine cleanable, I've taken to washing them by means of hand and drying them on a rack in order that I can get them lower returned into movement faster, in area of having to watch for washing day. And despite this gambit, I every now and then run via the three pairs I actually have earlier than they've got time to dry. So I determined a pair pairs more, even at $12 each, will be a superb funding.
When the socks arrived, I began to impeach that view, because of the truth they appeared lots thinner than the heavy trekking socks I turned into used to. Would they simply be heat sufficient? I figured the best manner to test that question changed into with a facet-with the aid of using-side contrast. So I placed one of the new SmartWool socks on my left foot and one in every of my old wool-aggregate socks (no longer the SmartWool ones, however the lighter-weight ones I put on for milder days) on my proper. Since I knew there was a possibility I'd need to go back the ultra-modern socks, I put on a
It took less than half an hour of walking around with these mismatched socks to demonstrate that the new SmartWool ones were decidedly warmer than the light wool-blend ones. That was enough to convince me they were worth keeping, but I still didn't know how they would compare in warmth to my old SmartWool hiking socks. So I switched to one of those on my right foot (again, with the footie underneath) and walked around for another half hour.
I was guessing that the new socks would prove to be a good in-between weight—not as warm as the SmartWool hiking socks, but warmer than the blended ones. But to my surprise, I found the new, thinner SmartWool socks were every bit as warm as the heavy ones. They were also a lot less bulky and smoother-fitting (the heavy ones are a bit big and tend to slide around on my foot). So these new socks can take their place in the rotation alongside my three warmest pairs, and with their help, I should be able to make it through the whole winter in comfort.
The test was also helpful in one other way; it showed me just how much difference it made to wear those lightweight footies underneath my socks. The light sock with a thin footie underneath provided noticeably more warmth than I'm used to from the heavy socks worn by themselves. So I now have a secret weapon for the very coldest days; with a footie on under my SmartWool socks, old or new, I should be able to keep my feet warm no matter how frigid the weather. This will be helpful for walking around outdoors, of course, but also for lounging around the house in my stocking feet. I don't like to put my feet up on the couch with shoes on, but I often find they get too cold with just socks—so this added layer may be just the ticket.
