Threads 106: Sock Drier/Hanging Device with Hooks

This sock drier was made originally by the settlers to hang their wet socks over the wood stove in their lumber camps each winter. 

To make a sock dryer 

Find a tree with branches that grow in a whorl. A whorl is an arrangement of branches that radiate from a single point around the trunk of a tree.* The tree should be fresh so that the bark can be removed from the trunk and the branches. 

To steam bend the branches they must be cut to size and placed over a steaming pot of water. When they are pliable they should be turned up in a graceful curve and trimmed. 

It was a clever and simple way of drying their soaking wet socks after a day of working in the snow in the forest. 

One museum visitor told me these were made on a larger scale for cheese making. It was used to stir the cheese by rubbing the stem between two hands to mix the curds.

I recognize this isn’t a basket but I find it interesting to make such a useful tool from local materials. 

*Each whorl represents one year of growth of the tree and therefore can be used to determine the age of the tree.