A Japanese factory where you can knit your own socks just by pedaling

Souki Socks, a small sock factory in Japan's Nara prefecture, has developed a device that allows a person to knit his own socks while pedaling on an exercise bike.

For those who are not fond of knitting, knitting socks is hardly a fun activity. This is a reality faced by the brilliant minds at Souki Socks when they decided to make sock knitting exciting for the masses.

They came up with an ingenious contraption that combines a mechanical knitting machine and a bicycle that allows almost anyone to knit their own socks by simply pedaling.

The knitting machine called "Charix", it has been a big hit with tourists since its launch in 2017.

Knitting machines were popular in Japan in the 1990s, but over time the factories stopped making them. The team at Souki Socks have been able to breathe new life into these machines by connecting exercise bikes to them and letting their visitors knit their own socks.

Before starting pedaling, the visitor chooses the size of the socks and the color of the threads. A factory employee connects the threads to the machine, after which you can start pedaling. It reportedly takes about 10 minutes to make one pair of socks. After the visitor finishes pedaling, the factory staff sews on the toe and irons the socks so that the visitor can take them with him.