Darn It

NOTE: After I finished this project, I found  some great links (see below). That said, my results prove that even an improvising novice can do a darn good job!

It Started with Love
I loved these socks. I nearly loved them to death. They are my boot socks. I wear them over my other socks before I put on my boots. I like my toes and ankles toasty warm. Blast the wind chill!

Darning Egg

So, intead of kissing these socks good-bye, I  bought a darning egg at my local knit shop. Here it is online at another shop. (My shop does not list the darning eggs on their website.) You can buy darning eggs online for about half the price but I was in a hurry and I liked the flat end which allows it to stand it up, rather than having rolling around. The darning egg provides a work surface and prevents making stitches where you don't want them.

The job went faster than expected and I'm very pleaseed with the patches on these two socks. The darning egg helped a lot, but I never used the handle. Afterward, I learned about darning mushrooms and like that idea better since the handle is in the right place. Perhpas you could just as easily use a Silly Putty Egg. It's even possible that you could use a hard-boiled egg! I found two websites that suggest using a lightbulb. Sounds a little risky to me; I don't think I'd want to chance getting broken glass in my socks! Ewww!

Yarn
I used two yarns together: Patons Classic Wool in black and Fortissima Socka in heather gray. The former was the same weight as the sock yarn and the latter is 25% nylon to add strength. I like funky boot socks and nearly bought the Fortissima Socka in a vivid blue, however, it would have made little difference since it's a very fine yarn and barely shows.

Method
I basically devised my own technique, based on what I've heard over the years. I picked up any loose stitches while weaving a mesh that covered the hole and then filled in with extra stitching since this area of the sock obviously needs reinforcement. That made a minor lump in the sock. To even things out, I added stitching in a spiral that began in the center of the patch and extended beyond. For that step, I did a rocking motion with my needle to weave the yarns through the mesh and remaining sock.

I was not thinking about my blog when I started, so I have no photos of the socks before I did my repairs. I started with the sock with the smaller hole. My original plan was to rip out the other sock back to the hole and then reknit the sock from arch to toe; the hole was so large, I doubted I could darn it successfully. That was my plan, but things went so well with the first sock, I attempted to darn the second one, too, and it worked! I'm so pleased and the process is so satisfying. In an odd sort of way, I'm looking forward to my socks wearing out again. Who knows -- I might even tackle that commercial sock with a hole in the toe!

Darning Links

• Demonstration of the classic darning method. I've not found any other sites that suggest turning the sock inside out.
• Fascinating weaving method using a styrofoam block, straight pins, crochet hook, and a single knitting needle.