>>I am most impressed by freestyle knitting and crochet, where people make random blobs of stuff stuck together in glorious bohemian chaos.<<

That does sound impressive. I'm not such a fan of chaos myself, and so I have a harder time doing freestyle things like that; patterns are more comfortable and safer for me.

>> It occurs to me that this would be a fabulous way to make socks.<<

It does sound like a very good way to make socks, if it's a method that works for the crafter. I can see how knitting or crocheting to fit would be easier that way than when following a set pattern.

Those are some fabulous links with very pretty pieces. I will definitely be saving them for further perusal later. :)