Correctly Darn Those Socks

     After darning my socks incorrectly, I wanted to show you all how to correctly darn your socks. For teaching purposes I am using a contrasting colored yarn and larger stitches than I normally would.

In our family we call these socks 'Kansas Socks', because Topeka (Toe-Peek-A).

1.

When darning a sock, the first thing to do is to find an object you can place inside that will keep the area you are working on somewhat taut.  

This could be anything from an actual darning egg, to a light bulb, the end of a baseball bat, an old yeast container, etc.

2.

Next, sew all the way around the hole in a square, making sure your knot is on the inside of the sock.  

My square didn't turn out great because of the way the sock stretched, but it worked fine, so don't worry if your square is a little lopsided.

3.

Then, staying inside of the square you have just outlined, sew back and forth with a normal straight stitch.  When you get to your hole, just make a really long stitch there.  When you are done, you will have multiple strands covering the hole, all going the same direction.

For this demonstration, I made my strands fairly far apart, but in actuality you should make your rows of stitches much closer together.

4.

Now, sew back and forth, using the same straight stitches as the last step.  When you come to the hole this time, weave your thread over and under the long strands already covering the hole.

When you come back across, make sure that you are going over the strands that you just went under in the last row, and under the next strand that you previously went over.

5.

When you have come to the end of the square you first outlined, tie off your thread on the inside and admire your work.

As you can see, I made these rows too far apart, leaving a darned hole that I can see through.

I went back and darned my husband's sock with matching thread and smaller stitches, and you can barely see it.