The coworker who taught me to make socks asked me to maker her a sock-making accessory – sock blockers.

After knitting a sock, it does not have that sock-like shape to it. The process of wetting a sock, inserting a mold, and letting it dry is called ‘blocking,’ apparently.

She gave me the pattern she wanted to use, and after cutting out a template in some thin plywood, I then used that template to route out a couple of copies with a pattern bit. A roundover on all edges, some sanding, and several coats of polyurethane and there you have it – sock blockers.