Ok I appreciate that this isn’t exactly a knit, but for the budget conscious amongst us, I thought sharing this sock blocker DIY would be invaluable.

The handsome pair of Sock Blockers you see in the photo were made from £1 Poundland (UK) self adhesive floor tiles. The tiles come in packs of three so two packs would be needed to make a pair of blockers (4 tiles). The tiles are a toughened vinyl with a nice woodgrain design on them. They are also layered with a heavy duty adhesive which will stay put and resist water so no need to faff about with glue for this project. They are flexible enough to resist breaking like some thinner wooden or plastic blockers, but still very rigid and block socks well.
The cutaway scraps can also be used to make glove or mitten blockers.

All you need is:

• Your Poundland floor tiles
• A pen
• A sharp and heavy pair of scissors (I use a pair of old dressmaking scissors)
• An existing sock blocker to trace around or a stencil like this great one by CyberSeams
• sandpaper or a nail file (pick an old disposable one that’s near the end of its life, no need to waste a new nail file on this).
• a single hole punch if you want to make a hole in the top for hanging (optional).

1. First print and cut out the template you’ll be using of you are using one or grab your blocker.

2. Lay your first floor tile right side down in front of you (so you should have the adhesive backing paper facing up at you).

3. Place down your template the best way it fits and draw around it.

4. Once drawn, draw a mark or circle for where your hanging hole will be in the top of the leg of your blocker. Make sure it’s close enough to the edge for your hole punch to reach it, but not so close that it might break off the corner of the blocker once the weight of a wet sock is hanging on it.

5. Carefully and slowly cut it out and hole punch through the hanging hole if you are opting to have one. Slower longer cuts with the scissors will give you a smoother finish on the edges. Try moving the tile rather than the scissors to better get around the corners of your shape when cutting.

6. Take a second floor tile and again place it wrong side down in front of you with the backing paper facing up at you. Place your newly cut out blocker from the first floor tile down on the backing paper of the second tile with the already cut out blocker’s right side facing up at you. Draw around this on the second floor tile and cut it out. Do not punch any holes through this second cut out. You should now have both sides of your sock blocker cut out. They should look like mirror images of each other and one should have a hanging hole punched through it while the other one doesn’t (yet).

7. Remove the backing paper of both sides and carefully line up the adhesive sides against each other from the top of the leg of your blocker, down to the toes, then press both of the adhesive sides together. Be careful here - there is heavy duty adhesive on these tiles and they are not likely to come apart again once they are stuck together.

8. Grab your scissors again and take some time to slowly go over the edges of your blocker where there might be any scraps of overlap, and trim off any overhanging bits that you can.

9. Grab your sandpaper or nail file and sand down the thin edge of the sock blocker until all of the edges are completely smooth. Take your time with this as its important that there are no rough edges to snag the yarn on your beautifully knitted or crocheted socks.

10. Grab your hole punch again and line it up with the first hole you punched through the first cut out half of your blocker, and punch through the second layer now that they are sandwiched together. (It would have been very hard to punch through two layers of tile with a regular handheld hole punch which is why we do it this way).

11. Repeat steps 1-10 to create your second blocker.

12. Wipe of any dust left over from sanding and enjoy your lovely new sock blockers!