Cosy feet come back to Clunes

CLUNES’ own hand-cranked, foot-hugging small business, The Odd Sockery, has moved to a new location.

Located at 23 Fraser Street, Janine Wilson and Leanne Wills have returned the almost lost trade back to the town, which was the home of knitting mill, Interknit.

“A friend of Leanne’s was having a garage sale and sent her a photo of a sock machine. Leanne jokingly said to me, ‘let’s bring sock making back to Clunes’,” Ms Wilson said.

“From that, our business idea took flight, but unfortunately, that sock machine was unavailable.”

Over a coffee, the pair trawled eBay, found a little machine in the United States, hit the ‘buy now’ button, and secured a 116-year-old Gearhart.

“She’s our first little antique machine, and it knits absolutely beautifully,” Ms Wilson said.

To envisage their sock-making process, Ms Wills encourages adults to think back to the cotton reel knitting Nancies of their childhoods.

“It’s the same principal as French knitting. Standard, commercial industrial knitting needles are set in a circular fashion, into a cylinder, with yarn fed from above,” she said.

“You’ve got a circular crank, turned by a handle. Every row is turned by you, the operator, using the handle, so it’s a totally manual operation.”

Ms Wills has a “great love” for the old-world engineering.

“Janine and I, with our background in textiles, have enormous respect for the antiquity, and the age of the machines, their history and the way they’ve changed lives.

“You don’t get that level of manufacturing these days,” she said.

Previously factory floor technology, lines of these machines were predominantly hand-cranked by women 100 years ago. It’s a contrast to the scene in Clunes, 2020.

“We make the socks, dye our own yarn before we make the socks, or after they’re made. Their toes are sewn by hand, they’re given a wash, blocked on foot-shaped wood to be stretched, labelled and then they’re good to go,” Ms Wilson said.

The Odd Sockery have an 80 per cent merino wool range, and smaller pure wool range.

“Our main line is bright and colourful, and we can do any size, so they make nice gifts, especially for newborns. We also do custom socks for people with unique needs,” Ms Wilson said.

They also make “head socks, coin socks, and hand socks.”

“We don’t need electricity. When the zombie apocalypse hits, we’ll be at 23 Fraser Street making socks. At least everyone can have warm feet,” she laughed.

Visit theoddsockery.com, or the shopfront, Friday to Sunday.