The Alternate Stitch

People often ask me how I got my trail name, Sir Owen VanGrizzle, Duke of Beartown. It all happened at the Stratton Pond Shelter on the Appalachian Trail and Long Trail in southern Vermont, waaaay back when my best friend Ben and I hiked the Long Trail for our first time in 2010.

Inspired by the International Mountain Day theme, "Women Move Mountains," we proudly present the Darn Tough ‘Trailblazer’ sock. This design honors the incredible women who have played vital roles in the protection and stewardship of our mother earth, past and present.

We spoke to three long-time employees who’ve been with us for all 20+ years of Darn Tough’s history. We asked them what life was like before Darn Tough, what’s kept them here, and why they’ve always believed in the brand.

Hello — This is Kate Crocker, the Product Development Manager at Darn Tough Vermont. I have been working for this amazing brand for 5 years and counting, as of writing this. The story I’m about to tell you is not about how I started working for the company though, but about how I was first introduced to Darn Tough socks.

When we were first approached by the “nice Cabot Mills folks” to see if we would be willing to bring in a few pairs of their new brand of high-end Merino Wool socks, we did it more to support a local manufacturer than anything else.

This year marks our 20th anniversary of making socks right here in Vermont. Vermont has a rich history of sheep farming and wool textiles. From the textile mill history behind our Nantanna location, to our commitment to Merino Wool, to the community itself, we’d like to think we’re keeping a legacy alive.

Whether it’s getting stuck behind a tractor, seeing the beautiful red barns tucked into the green mountains, or the weekly farmer’s markets, it's hard to deny how farms have influenced Vermont culture. In our neck of the woods, if you don’t own a farm, chances are you know someone who does.

So, for this round of Staff Picks, we took to the knitting floor here in Waterbury to find out which new pairs (and colors) people are most excited about and why.

Sugaring. For those unfamiliar with the word, it is Vermont speak for making maple syrup. But for Vermonters, it is one word that conjures emotional memories of steam-filled cabins and, for those more romantically inclined, a horse towing a tank on a sleigh through a snow-covered forest. 

We still get people messaging us all the time asking: ‘Is it legit?’ and ‘Can I really send my socks back after 5 years and exchange them for a new pair?’ The short answer is, yes, of course you can. 

This holiday season as you peruse Darn Tough’s website, you'll see illustrations of our socks and iconic images of the holiday season arranged with the real life products which inspired them, all coalescing to help tell the story of a company that has warm and fuzzy feelings embedded in the strands of their DNA as much as they do the strands of the socks we knit.

As a family-owned company, we appreciate the things that bring families together. For these staff picks, we asked our employees to pick their favorite tradition and share how they celebrate the holidays — they did not disappoint. These traditions will warm your heart like our socks warm your feet.

You can find some fascinating oddities and legends under the green veneer of Vermont, the Green Mountain State. There are cursed statues, mythical pigmen, and a multitude of haunted places. The most famous mystery would have to be Champ or Champy, the Lake Champlain Monster.

We recently put together a gear checklist, we made sure to ask hikers about their gear – particularly which items have helped them the most and any they thought were unique or worth sharing.

Quality was a founding principle at Darn Tough, and we continue to pursue it to the highest degree at every step of the process. Being fully committed to excellence and high standards is how we can back our socks with an Unconditional Lifetime Guarantee.

The Long Trail (LT) of Vermont is a 272-mile hiking route that follows the main ridge of the Green Mountains from the Vermont-Massachusetts border all the way to Canada. Steeped in rich history, the Long Trail is America’s oldest long-distance hiking trail, conceived in 1910 by the Green Mountain Club.

It’s rare to get mail these days. Well, rare to get real mail that isn’t coupons for things you don’t want or offers to buy your home. Unless you work in the Darn Tough warranty department―then you’ll get a lot of mail. Mail like this. 

If you know, you know. And if you don’t, that’s okay. Because for this round of Staff Picks, we talked to a few people who know best. We reached out to Darn Tough employees who have at least 10 years of service with the company and asked them to talk about their favorite socks. This is what we learned.

When asked, if I would be interested in taking part in an art project to celebrate our Knit to Give program with local students, I was initially hesitant, only because I have had very little exposure around kids in my adult life. But then, I realized the students are the same age I was when I was introduced to art.

We take you on a closer look into how we design socks, from the research and development to knit-downs and fit testing. No worries, we’ll walk you those terms in a moment, but first let us show you.

A group of us at Darn Tough had the opportunity to participate in Trail Magic this July, and this is our story. But first, let’s pull back the curtain a bit to uncover what secrets aid in the pull of Trail Magic’s supernatural attraction.