Wool socks are great for keeping you warm, even when wet. They’re a hiking staple.
But there are two issues:
- I'm sensitive to the itch and
- I don’t want to own/wash (and carefully air dry) a dozen pairs of wool socks
Turns out that you can get most of the benefit without actually having them directly on your feet, which solves both problems.
You can first put a pair of thin liners on if you’re on a hike (it’s nice to be able to wash and dry them easily), but for normal winter-wear, I just slip them on over my usual cotton socks.
The good news is that for this, you don't have to worry very much about brand or quality, as long as they're mostly wool. They won’t wear out as quickly and their amount of scratchiness becomes a minor point.
Essentially they're working more as an extra layer of insulation in your shoe or as a not-very-sophisticated slipper.