I darned the socks! Huzzah!
Thanks to everyone for their excellent tips, especially Jan for her very detailed instructions, and to StitchBliss for the link to this video tutorial (which has a most amusing serious voiceover but which has an excellent level of detail!). Oh, and to Gae for suggesting to put a rubber band around the base of the sock-covered mushroom - that does make it a lot easier, by holding the sock in place on the mushroom (because it's a slippery little sucker!)
When I stretched the sock over the mushroom, I noticed a lot of weak spots around the hole, so I didn't end up sewing around the hole, but just started weaving through the sock, starting in a strong point and working from right to left to cover the weak spots and the hole, and ending on the stronger point again.
Then I turned and wove the other way, including the actual weaving portion over the hole.
All covered up!
When I turned it right side out, I found I had some strands that were not quite woven in as well as I would have liked, but all in all I'm pretty happy with this darning business.
I still hate sewing, but ten minutes of it to save a week of knitting - it's totally worth it!
25 comments:
this is very helpful given I'm keen to work on my darning!
can't even see where you've darned, clever thing!!
You've made it look so easy! I will need to do the same thing for my blasted shredded Wollmeise sock, so you've given me the confidence!
Well done. Is this a one-off or the beginning of a 'make do and mend' era?
Well done and a great use for the bit left over when knitting them!
Great job, I am very impressed. And now I feel I must have a darning mushroom. I NEED one. Oh yes I do! Perhaps I should knit more socks first! ;)
Marvellous! Mum bought a darning mushroom recently and I've been very wickedly sending her hole-ridden socks!
Good on you and now you have joined in a long line of crafters over the centuries who have darned and re-used for whatever reason.I love historic connections like this. One more skill to pass on to someone else.
Thats brilliant. Must get one!
I think you did an amazingly great job!
Wow! You can't even see the fix! Great job!
Well done you!
I asked my dad to teach me to darn a few months ago - he refused! I can't remember why! Now I can have a stab at darning a commercially made Tigger sock which my husband bought me and which wore out in the toe when they were still quite new!
I am so glad you rescued the sock!!! You did a great job.
Bravo, you thrifty housewife! Way to repair and reuse! I don't know HOW the Harlot can bear to throw hand-knit socks away.
I'm in awe.
cool! more GAAK! and you made it look so easy. maybe i can be convinced to give it a try. i have one pair with a big toe hole that i love just a little too much to trash...
Great job! You don't have to knit a whole other sock when you have darning skills like that :-)
Oooh. So that's how you use the wooden mushroom!! That is indeed a magic mushroom!!! ^_^
Brilliant! I vaguely remember my father teaching me to darn but it's not something I've done for a very long time. Good to see some of the "old" make and do mend practices coming back.
I feel a little guilty that socks seem to last forever. I have at least one pair that I know I had in high school.
It's mitten thumbs I wear out!
that's a great way to do it. and you've come away with a really neat job. my darning looks um ... obvious.
In the olden days, women darned socks on a regular basis. Can you imagine a basket full of socks waiting to be darned? Only handknit socks are worth the effort in my very humble opinion.
Good work - I hereby promise that I will never allow a sock in my house to go undarned!
Yay for the sock saved from a terrible fate!
This post is just in time. My husband had made 2 big holes on his socks & I was thinking of throwing them away!
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