Another Christmas gift finished and done! This is the regular old sock pattern I love from The Knitters Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd. The yarn is Shelridge Soft Touch Heather I bought in Rhinebeck. They went super fast with the magic loop method (yay!) I did something weird on the first sock where the toe came out a little crooked but I don't think it's anything someone on a galloping horse would notice as they rode by...
This on the other hand was kind of startling...
The first time I chose to wear handknit socks this season a couple of weeks ago I chose to wear the Waterfall Rib socks I finished during the summer. Somehow I got this blow out on their very first wear and it just broke my heart. Who knows, maybe I had something in my shoe, maybe it's because my foot is still swollen from the surgery (yes... still...) but I almost fainted when I saw that big ugly hole staring back at me. So what to do? Learn how to darn socks of course! I found a pretty good tutorial here. After I read it through, I was like, ok I can do this. But like a lot of things in knitting it's totally different once you sit down and actually try it in real life.
Here is my sock with it's Hannibal Lecter like sewing thread grid. And notice my light bulb held inside since I don't have a darning egg, it says try a light bulb which I think is kind of funny, but it works. Looks pretty neat, like this should be a straightforward endeavor at this point right?
Yep, about as straightforward as mud. At this point I'm really fudging it, each time I try to pick up a stitch I'm like "Is that the right loop, is that a yarn or a thread? Or a piece of fuzz? Do I go around 2 pieces of thread or one?" As descriptive as the tutorial is there is the part about 'faking' a stitch. I think about halfway through the hole I finally had my aha moment and my work started to match what I had read online. Unfortunately by this time the shape of the stitches was getting a little 'creative.'
Nonetheless, I'm pretty happy with it. It's a pretty thick patch and I think it should hold for a good long time. I know it's not perfect but it is my first darn job and I think things will only improve from here. I know a lot of people don't bother to darn socks, they'd just rather knit another pair but I really kind of enjoyed this. The alternative, to only have worn these socks once and call it a day? I just wasn't ready to go with that...
8 comments:
Hand knit socks are absolutely worth the time to darn. And my darning experience is that - like knitting - it generally isn't perfect, but always worth the time and effort!
Love the christmas gift socks!!
Great link! I bookmarked it because I will probably need it 'oh too soon'. I tend to wear out my heels first, so I've begun mixing cotton with my wool for the heel part.
How sad is this; I have my greatgrandmother's darning egg somewhere but never understood how to use it since you just stitch up the hole. Yeah, I had no idea it was so involved. Your patch looks great to me - yay for you learning yet another crafty skill!
wow! such a pro. the last hole i got was whipstitched. lolz.
Wow, I'm so impressed! I agree that only one day of wearing would have forced me to try the same thing.
That is quite the hole! Makes me want to check through my stash and use my sock yarn that has nylon first. Good job on the darning. I remember that my grandma had a special round wooden tool that she used while darning socks. I wonder what that's called?
The Christmas socks are great! I got me some Shelridge Farm Soft Touch DK at Rhinebeck, and though I haven't used it yet, I just love the yarn, so I imagine these socks feel wonderful!
I'm very impressed with your darning!
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