I do have different types of socks, and I match them, and then I tie one around the other with a simple overhand knot before throwing them in the drawer. That way, I always get a pair that matches–when I only fold them, they wander. If they are long socks, I tie them both in the overhand knot.
Socks are one of my life’s great problems.
I have sheer stockings for wearing with my short Fall skirts.
I have black tights for wearing with my winter skirts.
I have black sock-weight tights that are warmer than the other black tights, but don’t fit as well.
I have knee socks in several colors, to look well under several skirts.
I have patterned knee socks, that were too fun to not buy, but I cannot wear with skirts. And I always wear skirts.
I have short white socks, to wear in the summer.
I have a lot of short black socks that are too short to stop my heels from chafing when I wear them over my black tights–so I never wear them.
I have toe-toppers that I wear with my tights and stockings, to pad out my shoes.
I have a large collection of angora-blend socks in Nordic patterns. I bought these when I used to wear jeans a lot. Now I just wear skirts, so I can’t wear my beloved angora socks. It makes me sad. They take up 80% of the space in my sock drawer.
It’s a problem.
I got tired of sorting socks so I buy large numbers of the same sock (15 pair). For work I have a dress dark gray sock that goes with everything. For jeans I buy a light gray sock to wear with sneakers.
DITTO, now, but I used to buy/wear different colored pairs and argyles. Back then I used to buy sock-keepers, or 1-inch-diameter plastic rings that had 4 pointed plastic teeth around the inside of their circumference, into which you slipped a pair of socks before either throwing them into the hamper or into the washer. That kept like socks together thru the wash/dry,storage cycle. Then the driers got too hot and the rings melted so I stopped using them.
Later, when I found me going to work with one green sock and one blue one, I stopped buying/wearing any but black or dark navy, except for low white anklets with my walking shos and shorts.
Recently, when I runout of clean pairs, I go buy another multi-pack. But I did do my (coin) laundry over the 4-day holiday weekend-43 pairs of socks and underwear, and more shirts than that, and some trousers/jeans. 2 hours and about $20. I’m good 'til the end of February (or longer if I cheat and turn the underwear inside out) (just kidding). And I don’t care any more if I wear a black sock and a navy blue one to work. I do have to be careful about the yellow, red, and green ones, though. And I haven’t folded socks or underwear since I got out of the navy, long ago.
I have two categories (no three). Work socks, “outfit” socks and nylons (stockings and knee highs).
The work socks are either white summer weight or dark winter weight socks, and are sorted according to color and weight, since there are only two, it’s easy. The “outfit” socks are all different colors and generally “go with” jeans and matching tops or shoes, (for shopping or going to the movies, that sort of thing). Since I rarely go anywhere but work these days, these usually don’t require a lot of sorting, since they haven’t been getting worn much lately.
Nylons are simply rolled up, or paired if they are knee highs, and thrown into a mesh bag.
You never have to “match up” socks again when you buy these little laundry clips:
Sock-Locks http://www.sock-locks.com/
They are cheap and last many years.
As for buying socks a lot, I am always on the lookout for slightly larger socks. I take an 11 shoe and the regular socks are too tight. “Fits sizes shoe 9-13” is just a marketing lie. They used to have a “King Size fits size 12-15” version at Macy’s and Target but no more. The strange size lie makes it sound like you need clown feet to buy them, so nobody does. If socks were sold by actual dimensions (length and circumference) like other clothing, then people would buy the right sizes and stores would stock the sizes people need.
I have found some larger socks at big and tall men’s stores but they go too far, bunching up in the shoe. So I keep looking.
I don’t consider myself a clotheshorse, but my collection of socks and hosery fill two-and-a-half bureau drawers – probably a hundred pairs in all. There’s hose, knee-hi hose, thin dressy nylon socks (both short and knee-high), thin casual and thick athletic cotton socks for summer, and thick wool-blend socks (both regular-length and knee-high) for winter. They’re gross-sorted by type and further arranged by color (there’s a full color spectrum with the cotton ones) and length. The summer casuals get the benefit of a sock drawer organizer thingy I bought a few years ago, so they’re a little more neatly arranged than the woolens.
When it comes to socks, I’m as prepared as Batman! 
I have to wear steel-toed boots at work, which causes sock wear more quickly. So, I’ve got one type of white socks for work, another type of white sock for home, shorty white socks for working out, and dress socks. All are loosely rolled, in pairs, and put in the organizers in the sock drawers, by color and function.
Because I’m a little bit compulsive about that sort of thing, I typically try to sort out the socks of each group that “look similar” – e.g., the two socks that never seem to crease on the proper fold to lay flat are sorted to be a pair. Which makes absolutely no difference in comfort or fit or appearance, but I know and so it must be done.
I also once spent 30 min. resorting my sock drawer after someone “helped” me do laundry, because they’d done it all wrong.
I think the kind of carelessness described in this thread calls out for legislation. What about the sock holders?
We could call the law SOCKS and everytime you needed a pair, you would need to fill out special forms and get them approved.
If I won the lottery, one of the things I’d consider doing is having a new pair of socks and drawers every day.
One of those little luxuries, I suppose.
As for my poor self and how I manage all of sockdom, I’ve got short socks and long socks. I match where appropriate. I do have a couple different kinds of long socks, though. I’m trying to purge the interlopers and simplify. I may just pass the lesser socks on to dad and buy more.
Yeah, that’s the ticket…
One drawer for white socks, most of which are one of two styles.
One drawer for all my *many * pairs of colored/patterned socks.
One drawer for trouser-socks, knee-highs, and pantyhose.
I try never to have to wear socks. The ones I have take up maybe 1/12 of a drawer, and I keep one pair in the trunk of the car with snow boots in case I go off the road.
Many colors, sorted out of the wash (really, folks, this is not that hard), rolled and put into one of two baskets: One for solid colors, one for patterns. Done.
I now wear exclusively white ankle-length running socks with jeans and sneakers. The socks sit in a column in my closet, clean ones come off the top in 2’s, and newly-washed ones go onto the bottom of the stack (FIFO). When these wear out, they’ll all go at once, and I’ll just get another 8 pair. 
I have a separate part of my drawer for mismatched socks.
After every laundry sorting, I make sock-rolls the Navy way. The socks that don’t have a match go in the single-sock-drawer. Every once in a while I try to make pairs out of the singles; surprisingly often, that doesn’t succeed.
I used to buy packages of assorted colors of socks but I got tired of always losing one sock and having no actual pairs. I started buying packages of white socks then discovered they were always different styles, ankle length, mid-calf, different ribbing, etc… I also realized that since regular women’s socks were really too big for me I could buy the middle size of girls socks and they fit perfectly. I also accidentally bought the smallest size of girls socks once and didn’t realize until it was too late to return them and I didn’t know anyone at the time with young girls to give them to, so I wore them when I ran out of other socks. 
Now I have all sorts of sizes and colors and styles, it’s crazy.
AND I STILL CAN’T FIND THE MATCHING SOCK!
BTW, I also stopped the folding method of rolling the cuff over the socks because it does stretch them out. Now if I can find matching socks I just roll them up together and I bought one of those honeycomb type organizers for my sock drawer.
My SO and I both wear ankle length white sports socks. Originally I had my supply and he had his, larger (size and number), supply. But doing laundry, all of the white socks would end up in his drawer, piled together. I’d usually find my socks by waiting until he tried to put them on, swore, and tossed them across the room at me. Now we buy one kind in bulk and both wear them. I can live with the heel of the sock coming halfway up to my ankle, I guess.
It amuses me that you’re running a dating service for socks. And are just about as successful as any other dating service.