Tenderfoot Socks

19/07/2026

Show season in full swing....this coming autumn winter season we have all our mid weight true intarsia merino wool socks available from our classic float stitched fair isles and herringbone through to stylish multi stripes and for those buying for now in the heat of high summer we have both finer and heavier cotton multi coloured patterned intarsia socks that's 21 different designs a total of 110 different colourways all from stock made by us direct to you and that's just the intarsia!....We also have true rib double cylinder socks in fine, medium and heavy weight and single cylinder Jacquard to match, spoilt for choice!!

19/07/2026

British made quality socks, straight out of our own factory

19/07/2026

Still made in Great Britain at one of the few remaining English sock factories in Leicestershire our fine gauge 176 needle true rib, double cylinder, combed cotton socks come in a choice of 24 colours from stock available from size 4 to 14UK, nylon reinforced throughout with a soft grip elasticated top and finished with our signature foot stamp and quality stitched label. The absolute original classic style made to the highest standard off British made sock machines delivered direct to customers in the UK with an ultra low carbon footprint 👣
No cheap imports, no nasty plastic tags, no dressing up synthetic fibres as 'sustainable' just good quality made in the UK delivered into the UK

11/07/2026

Summer is scorching in 2026 🥵, heat waves across Europe and with the summer holidays now underway ...so what better time than to trial wear some of our latest true intarsia developments for spring summer 2027, both knitted using pure 100% pure soft combed cotton our latest vertical stripe sock is designed with both narrow individual colour stripes separated by a broader wide stripe offering 9 total colours in the sock, the contrast 'rave' sock is a neat little 4 colour split striped ribbed top, heel and toe sock, it took me ages to get the joins right between colour transfers in the program but was worth it, each detail being equally separated by the main colour. It's difficult to decide between the two which I prefer as they are very different but intricately detailed....I've added both to my personal collection seeing as I have more than one sock draw!

13/06/2026

12/06/2026

Decades old machines made in Leicester by the Bentley Komet works still in daily use less than 10 miles from where they came off the assembly line over 50 years ago. A true testament to British engineering these things run all day everyday made from' steel, aluminium and precision engineered parts, low energy use and no need for compressed air, suction fans or electronics. We do own and run the modern Italian rib socks machine versions of these too but when it comes to true rib quality these are far and above anything else for stable stitching with or without nylon plating, so for traditional knitted socks these can't be beaten made on original traditional British made sock machines. Socks made in Great Britain off machines made in Great Britain, quality counts!

23/05/2026

Seeing as the sun was out today.... all-day I decided not to enjoy it and instead finish and complete our new and latest true intarsia vertical stripe sock range samples ready for hand linking, it's a modified version of our 12 colour version that's been reprogrammed and reduced to 6 colours altering the feeders and trapper timings paid off it runs non stop at higher rpm it also has a modified cushioning system for the sinker cap going from an old pneumatic system and now running a hydraulic one which was made from a chunk of solid brass bored out on the old lathe with a stainless steel piston, allows me to rack up the speed without it trying to destroying itself! Now I'll enjoy the rest of the bank holiday weekend

19/03/2026

A frequently asked question is "what are your machine limitations, how many colours can be in a sock" the beauty of intarsia machines are there aren't many limitations they can do either turned welts or ribbed tops, normal or reversed toe seams for that seam free look, elasticated or non elasticated tops and upto 18 colours in one sock each with it's own colour matching nylon that's an impressive 38 cones of yarn 18 cotton, 18 nylon an Elastane and one additional insert nylon for the ribbed top, all suspended up high above your heads so that no space is wasted around the machine making them surprisingly compact. We have 12 intarsia knitting machines both fine gauge and heavy. 🇬🇧

17/03/2026

What is true intarsia knitting....it's crisp, well defined colour transition's, each colour is individually knitted using it's own yarn feeder which in turn is feeding its own matching colour backing nylon....so it doesn't matter what the colour combinations are there is no 'grinning' showing through. Very few sock manufacturers use intarsia knitting due to its complex knitting techniques and slow process but quality counts! Here it's one of our sock manufacturing staples, made in our UK based factory on Italian/Japanese machines using English spun cotton from Manchester. We don't just design socks in the UK we make from start to finish in our own factory for 28 years since 1998