Grain or Shine: A Knit to Give Design Story

We have fantastic, world class sock designers here at Darn Tough. But once a year they open it up to the rest of the Darn Tough team to dream up designs for a limited edition Knit to Give sock.

Submissions come in from all our Mills and offices in Vermont, some meticulously hand-drawn with markers and colored pencils, and some digitally designed. Then the whole company votes on their favorites, and one (or sometimes two) designs get to make it out into the world.

My name is Sarah, and this year, I’m excited to introduce my Grain or Shine sock, the inspiration behind my design, and my personal favorite part: that 5% of proceeds from this sock go to the Vermont Foodbank, providing meals to neighbors in need. 

The Design

The Grain or Shine sock features a field of golden grain, nestled into a very Vermont-like landscape. There’s symmetry between the windy mountains on the horizon and the rivers that snake in between.

Heart-shaped seeds, that represent kindness, blow in the wind above the field and flow along the river beneath it. With so much kindness in the air, there's no doubt that the harvest will be plenty for all.

Neighbors Helping Neighbors 

When I designed this sock, I had just finished reading a book about the Folly Cove Designers, a women-led group of printmakers in the mid-20th century on the North Shore of Massachusetts.

The group was started by Virginia Lee Burton, a well-known children’s book illustrator and author (Mike Mulligan, The Little House, etc.). She offered her neighbor design lessons in exchange for violin lessons for her son. Gradually more neighbors joined these design lessons, and the group grew to include many community members.

Learning and developing their skills together, the Folly Cove Designers went on to land lucrative design deals. Textiles with their lino-cut designs were sold in some of the biggest department stores in the country. I especially love their intricate landscapes and how they captured so many details within a scene that was so familiar for them.

Not only did the art of the Folly Cove Designers influence my design, but their legacy, built upon a community of neighbors, inspires me still to celebrate and participate in my own Vermont community. 

Vermont Kindness 

When you live in Vermont, it’s easy to be inspired by the beauty of nature. Most seasons here are incredibly picturesque, and the not-so-nice ones help you appreciate the good ones even more. But another inspiring aspect of Vermont is the tight knit communities and neighborly kindness.

Through long, cold winters, and recent catastrophic flooding, Vermonters know the importance of being a good neighbor. And more often, it’s the little things, like shoveling a walkway or haring extra garden harvest. We all love to benefit from a kind community, but it’s a much richer and fulfilling experience when you’re contributing too.

Robert Louis Stevenson wrote, “Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds that you plant." Kindness is most powerful and infectious when it has become a way of life, engrained in you and your community.

Knit to Give

While we don’t always see it, food insecurity is all around us – in every community in America. According to Feeding America, one in eight Vermonters (and one in seven Vermont children) face hunger.

Since 2020, our Knit to Give socks have helped us donate over 1.5 million meals to Vermonters in need through the Vermont Foodbank. And we’re far from finished.

If you want to help, consider buying a Knit to Give sock (or a few!), and learn more about the Vermont Foodbank and similar organizations in your area at Feeding America.

About the Author

Sarah Dowey is not a sock designer (except for this one time). But she takes her crafting very seriously and can be found knitting, upcycling garments, and repairing outdoor gear in her spare time.