I'm impressed! I haven't heard of anyone darning socks in 60 or 70 years.

Good for you Steve!!!
I don't mind darning toes, but when we have holes in the heel, I throw them out. I don't want to walk on lumps. At least my darning can get lumpy!

Yikes... I imagine smell. LOL

I always wash my socks that need darning before I work on them. :)

Moni

lol OklaMoni. The socks I darned were cleaned, their mates were in the hamper.

Yep, I only darn the toes too jasdip. If I find one with a hole in the heel, it gets tossed.

Really grateful to my mom and the neighbor lady for teaching me that. I hate to throw things out that can be mended/fixed.

I am impressed, Steve. I never figured out how to darn socks without making a blister causing ridge around the darn. Never learned from my mother before she died, but I still remember seeing her sit down to darn at the end of the day. In fact, other than meal times, that is the only thing I remember her doing when she so rarely sat down. When I was in high school, all the girls had to take a semester of home ec as freshmen, and we had to learn to darn a sock. I couldn't avoid making that "darn" ridge. So I darned the hold, cut off the ridge (which means the stitches were ready to fall out), took it to the teacher for approval and earned a C, the highest grade in the class.

What's a darning ball? Is it a certain kind of yarn/thread?

Somewhere I have a black darning egg, I think it is made of wood.

Sue

I just spread my fingers and try to darn as best I could. I have darned the holes of my socks...........I didn't say it was a good job!! LOL

I've read that a light bulb works well.

I'm wearing slippers that were Mom's and the toe tips are a bright pink, yarn that she used to darn the holes.

I an impressed too, steve. Not many darners out there these days.

My husband wears support hose. The one for his right leg are custom made in Germany. Two of them cost $275. The left leg hose are just $50 for 2. Fortunately insurance covers them, but the 2 socks for each foot have to last for 6 months. So yes, I darn them when a hole shows up.

I don't have a darning egg, but a small glass paperweight works very well.

Nice to put things back in order isn't it steve?

I always find darning "curved" things by putting them over my knee. Weird, but it's free and handy. I darn all the time, but I never knew it was admirable, just cheap? I'm not interested in buying new clothes all the time. I find what I like and I want to keep in the best shape I can? I'm so bad about that, that I'll grab a stack of clothes needing repair, and then sit at the sewing machine with clear thread in it, zipping them through as fast as I can. I'm so lazy I don't even want to change out the thread is why I use clear thread!

I never learned to darn, my Mother was not a sewer at all. She did own an old darning egg, but it got lost along the way. I throw out "holy" socks or use them as dusters over my hands.

The darning ball I use is just that - a hard rubber ball. Any round hard object can be used.

My mom and the neighbor got the ones they used from the local fabric shop. Don't know what happened to mom's.

Round hard object. Check, check, and check. No wonder I use my knee!

I have my mother's darning egg (wood,) and it's very easy to darn with it. I love, love to darn socks! It's very easy to do, since there are no knots to deal with--satisfying too. :)

I also find mending stuff so satisfying, and have a little stack waiting. A few weeks ago I was waiting in the car for DH to take something back at Wallys.... there propped against the wall sat a nice looking guy with a split down the knee of his jeans.... at least 20 inches long (and it was cold). I kept wanting to take him home and stitch up his jeans. Somewhat compulsive, I think. (hummm, is it the young men, or the bare knees this GGM is attracted to?)

Lol, Nanny! I do understand the urge to want to stitch something up that's open. Right now dd's dog has ripped out the stitching in several of the toys I have for his visits. I should probably get to that before he pulls out even more of the stuffing.