How To: Darn a Sock You Love
Despite it only costing eight dollars, I have been pushing off buying myself a darning egg. But, now that I’ve taken the plunge, I figured it was time to put it to good use. So, without further ado, here is how to darn a sock by hand! Remember to share with me your reasons for darning your sock; is it expensive? Fun? Sentimental?
Tools and materials:
- Darning egg
- Thread
- Needle
Start your patch
Push the darning egg into the sock so that the hole is showing. Next, thread the needle through the sock, making horizontal lines that are going up and down. Start the patch about a centimeter away from your hole (so that you’re weaving your string through the fabric at first). This will reinforce the patch and keep it from unraveling later on.
Pro tip:
When your yarn runs out, simply finish the stitch, knot it, and start again.
Weave the string
Start your lines running in the other direction. This time, however, we are going to go over and under with the lines we already created. Start by going over the first line, under the second, over the third, and so on. The goal is to make a checkered box so you will be weaving. With both directions, make sure that when you are weaving you are inserting the needle on the outside of the sock and never weaving it from the inside out (it should always be from the outside through to the outside).
Finish the patch by securing the edges. The tension on the patch will be pretty tight (an advantage of using the darning sock). Darning is not as simple as it seems. It may be easy once you get the hang of it, but it can be really time-consuming to get right. I made the mistake of trying to darn a sock at night - never again. Do this during the daytime when you have the time and energy to invest in getting the perfect patch!
How to fold socks
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So glad to see that some people are still doing things like darning! I think I'm the only person I know that can do it. It's a very handy skill. Thanks for showing such a finely-done example!
Darning egg? Surely you jest. Duh, old light bulb, like my grandmother used. But who saves old socks these days