We have a washer and dryer at work (have to wear specialty clothing that cannot be washed with soap, softener, etc,). I use them to wash my work clothing (being the only female, the clothing contractor does not carry anything that fits a tallish woman-- it's all petite or "unisex", and men's jeans don't fit women's hips, even though they claim to). Anyway, a couple coworkers bring in their personal laundry on occasion. There is now a little pile of lost socks on a bucket of detergent. These socks can only belong to a couple people, but they've been sitting there forever.
A coworker, new to using the washer/dryer, pulled some more from behind the dryer and asked if they were mine. Nope... I've pretty much gone to wearing only hand knit socks (because I'm incredibly spoiled). I hate it when I'm missing a sock! I'll wear mismatched ones when I have enough of them, but I hate it more for the fact that I've misplaced something that has taken hours and hours (and $$) to create. Fortunately, my mom usually gives me more for my birthday and Christmas, but I did finally have her teach me to make some (I have one more step to learn-- finishing the toe-- before my first two pairs are completed).
And, you can bet I will darn the heck out of them when they get holes! I have a few pair that are going on two or three years now. I wear steel-toed shoes, and these hold up so much better than the socks I used to buy.
The only downside is I'm no longer willing to just save the socks with holes to travel with and throw them away. So, I'm bringing dirty socks home from vacation.