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I've been darning socks lately. I have always liked the idea of making do and mending. For a long time in my life it was because I had no other choice; now it is because I just feel it's the right thing to do. We live in a disposable culture, and one way to fight against that is to fix things instead of just dumping and buying again.
Also, I am now totally addicted to SmartWool, which I think can be explained by the fact that I live in a place where it is winter 5 to 7 months a year. Dropping $22 on a pair of socks means I want them to last more than 2 seasons. It's frustrating when 95% of the sock is in perfect condition but a small hole makes it unwearable. I love pretty! shiny! new! as much as everyone else, but it feels so wasteful just to throw it away.
Anyway, I think I have successfully learned to darn. Here are some things I learned:
Use a darning egg. You can keep your hand inside instead, but it's much harder. Some people suggest putting a light bulb inside, but I can't imagine how freaked I would be if it broke and tiny glass shards went showering everywhere. I got my egg from Knit Picks.
While buying my egg, I watched a few darning videos at the Knit Picks website. I think what they show is not what I would call darning, because it’s re-knitting over the hole. What they show looks like the best method for hand-knitted socks, where you’re dealing with about 6-10 stitches per inch. A machine-knitted sock has more like 20 sts/ inch, and would be really hard to pick up on knitting needles, even if you could get yarn fine enough. Since I don’t knit socks, this was not for me.
I used the method shown here, which I would think of as darning in the traditional sense (as opposed to re-knitting). In that video, they are using a really coarse yarn, but the idea is the same.
I used a sharp needle instead of a blunt one because I needed to pierce the tight, intact sock fabric at the edges of the hole, but while doing the weaving part, I turned the needle around and led with the eye end so I wouldn’t split the yarn.
I used “heel and toe” yarn from the Yarnery. It’s a fine, machine washable, wool/nylon sock yarn sold in small quantities on spools.
When I finished, I tried the sock on and I couldn’t even feel the darn. Success! At first I thought I’d better keep my shoes on while wearing the darned sock, but then I realized I really can’t wait to show off my thriftiness and ingenuity to someone.
Also, I am now totally addicted to SmartWool, which I think can be explained by the fact that I live in a place where it is winter 5 to 7 months a year. Dropping $22 on a pair of socks means I want them to last more than 2 seasons. It's frustrating when 95% of the sock is in perfect condition but a small hole makes it unwearable. I love pretty! shiny! new! as much as everyone else, but it feels so wasteful just to throw it away.
Anyway, I think I have successfully learned to darn. Here are some things I learned:
Use a darning egg. You can keep your hand inside instead, but it's much harder. Some people suggest putting a light bulb inside, but I can't imagine how freaked I would be if it broke and tiny glass shards went showering everywhere. I got my egg from Knit Picks.
While buying my egg, I watched a few darning videos at the Knit Picks website. I think what they show is not what I would call darning, because it’s re-knitting over the hole. What they show looks like the best method for hand-knitted socks, where you’re dealing with about 6-10 stitches per inch. A machine-knitted sock has more like 20 sts/ inch, and would be really hard to pick up on knitting needles, even if you could get yarn fine enough. Since I don’t knit socks, this was not for me.
I used the method shown here, which I would think of as darning in the traditional sense (as opposed to re-knitting). In that video, they are using a really coarse yarn, but the idea is the same.
I used a sharp needle instead of a blunt one because I needed to pierce the tight, intact sock fabric at the edges of the hole, but while doing the weaving part, I turned the needle around and led with the eye end so I wouldn’t split the yarn.
I used “heel and toe” yarn from the Yarnery. It’s a fine, machine washable, wool/nylon sock yarn sold in small quantities on spools.
When I finished, I tried the sock on and I couldn’t even feel the darn. Success! At first I thought I’d better keep my shoes on while wearing the darned sock, but then I realized I really can’t wait to show off my thriftiness and ingenuity to someone.
