Frequently Asked Questions


Create your Own Sockonaut

  • There are three different ways you can participate in the Sockonaut's project:

    1. Create and send your own Sockonaut -- simple and fun! You can find the creation tutorial here. Once your Sockonaut is created, visit the participate page to find out more about how to register and send it to your friends.
    2. Ask someone to send a Sockonaut to you -- visit our Facebook page or forum to find someone who is currently hosting a Sockonaut and needs a friend to send it to.
    3. Help out! -- Chat in the forums, follow us on Twitter, and help us come up with new ideas for the Sockonauts website and 'Naut themes. And spread the word! The more people who participate, the more fun it is. :)

  • A sort of Sockonaut-making tutorial can be found here. It covers pretty much everything you need to know about making the most basic of Sockonauts (as if they aren't all rather basic!) There are, however, loads of different shapes you can make with a sock and a pair of scissors, so please feel free to experiment.

  • When creating your Sockonaut, please keep in mind the following guidelines:

    1. Sockonauts don't have arms. One can't really explain why. They just don't.
    2. Sockonauts have buttons for eyes, but it doesn't particularly matter how many eyes they have.
    3. Sockonauts should remain small enough to fit in a standard padded C5 envelope (162 x 229 mm).

  • Once your Sockonaut is finished, send an email to sockonauts@gmail.com with the following information:

    1. The name of your Sockonaut
    2. Place of Birth (City, Country)
    3. Describe your Sockonaut's Personality
    4. Your Facebook ID (or Profile link -- Optional!)
    5. a good quality photo of your Sockonaut

    As soon as your submission has been processed, you will receive an email with a unique 4-digit key for your Sockonaut. This key enables every future host to login and edit the Sockonaut's travel log. Only you and the past and future Sockonaut hosts should have access to this key, so please do not post it publicly anywhere.

    Also, about your Facebook ID: You need to include this only if you want your Sockonaut to appear on your personal "My Sockonauts" page. It is also perfectly fine to remain anonymous. :)

  • 1. You've registered your Sockonaut by sending an email (with all the information needed) to sockonauts@gmail.com.
    2. You've received a confirmation email with the Sockonaut's 4-digit code.
    3. You've used the code to print out the Sockonaut welcome letter (located at the bottom of the page) with the 'Naut's name and code at the top.

    • Receiving a Sockonaut

    • Sockonauts want to travel -- but they can't do it without you. Once you receive a Sockonaut in the mail, you should enter its 4-digit code (found on the welcome letter) into the box at the top of the page. You'll be able to see your 'Nauts picture and view its travel log. Your job is to take a picture of your Sockonaut visiting your town or area. Sockonauts are tourists and want to see whatever makes where you live cool or special.

      Each Sockonaut also has a list of aspirations he or she wants to fulfil. Perhaps they desire to fly a kite, go to the movies, or spend the afternoon with a pot-bellied pig. All of these are also great photo opportunities for your Sockonaut -- but remember, you only get one picture!

    • Each Sockonaut has several aspirations it wants to fulfill - and would love having a picture as proof of its achievement. These are meant to be helpful suggestions for photo opportunities with your Sockonaut, but they certainly don't have to be followed! If your Sockonaut yearns to see the ocean and you happen to live on the coast - great! If not, where you take a picture of your Sockonaut is entirely up to you.

    • What about my best friend? My neighbour? My ex-boyfriend's sister?

      Absolutely! In fact, it's more fun that way. Just don't forget to include the Sockonaut. ;)

    • If it's broken and somewhat fixable, it would be awesome if you could get a needle and thread and patch it up...or find someone who can! No worries about how it looks in the end: Sockonauts are not vain creatures. If it's a lost cause (your dog got a hold of it, for example) please bury him or her under a tree somewhere and let me know that a Sockonaut has passed on to The Other Side Of The Dryer and I will make the appropriate arrangements.

      If you want to be extremely helpful and make all the effort, you can always send any broken Sockonauts to:

      Kelly Severs
      35353256
      Packstation 123
      55120 Mainz, Germany

      I realize this costs money and don't expect anyone to do this ... but the option is there. :)

    Sending a Sockonaut

  • This is 100% up to you. Anyone you think will be interested in participating, really: your best friend, Aunt Mildred who runs a dairy farm, a crazy penpal who lives in France, your orthodontist... you don't even have to send the Sockonaut by mail if you just want to pass it on (along with its welcome letter!). The person you send it to simply needs a digital camera (hey, even a cell phone works!) and access to the internet... plus a little imagination.

    If you check out your Sockonaut's profile, you'll see that he or she has a list of aspirations to fill. Maybe one of the Sockonaut's wishes will inspire you regarding its next destination.

    If you really can't think of anyone, you can perhaps find a willing recipient on our forum - but we definitely recommend only sending Sockonauts to people you know and trust. :)

  • We recommend using a standard C5 cushioned envelope as they are rather sturdy, but the size really doesn't matter as long as everything fits. It's best to send it as a regular letter to save postage. Most national mail services will accept letter postage as the total weight of the shipment should be well within letter-range. If you send it to an international destination you might be forced to apply a customs declaration sticker to the envelope. Declare it as a "toy" and "gift" with very low or no value to avoid that the recepient has to pay any type of fee (some countries have rather weird import tax laws).

  • Two things:

    1. The Sockonaut
    2. The welcome letter with the Sockonaut's name and key at the top.

  • If your Sockonaut letter has been lost or damaged, you can print out a new one simply by entering your Sockonaut's key in the form at the top of the page. The "generate welcome letter" option will be located at the bottom. :)

  • Sure -- as long as you write down your Sockonaut's name, you can find your Sockonaut's profile in the "Browse" section of the website where you can keep track of what he or she is up to. You can also always bookmark the profile page and check back later.

    • General Questions

    • Sockonauts does not have its own registration system, we do not collect any personally identifiable information that you are supposed to provide to this website by filling in a form or signing in to Sockonauts.com. We are using Facebook Connect for personalized content, however for almost all purposes you can visit the website anonymously.

      You should only login if you want to post on the forum (message boards), or if you want to access any of the personalized pages. A personalized page for you will only be generated if you have ever created or hosted a Sockonaut. Then you will be able to track the status and travel logs of your Sockonauts from your personal page on Sockonauts.com.

    • Once you've logged in, your personal page can be reached by either clicking "My Page" or "logged in as (your name here)" at the top of any page on the website. :)

    • That's just our way of having a bit of fun with the actual creation of the socks - they each have a little something added that makes them unique and related to a fandom. If you have any ideas for themes, send an email our way!

    • Coming Soon.