Darn it anyway

Growing up, I watched my dad darn the toes and heels of his wool socks with bright orange acrylic yarn from one of my abandoned childhood knitting projects. As a kid who never fit in something long enough to wear it out, I couldn't understand why he didn't just throw away his old socks and buy new ones. Having been raised by depression era parents, he was the first to explain to me that we never throw away something that could be repaired. 

Ever since, I've taken some real satisfaction in repairing things rather than tossing them whenever I could, and now that I own clothes from high school that are sneaking up on old enough to drink, I see the value in a good repair. However, darning is a skill I never learned. 

So, a few years back when my favorite cashmere sweater got a moth hole, I decided to ignore it and hope no one noticed. However, as it's gotten a little tighter on me as a result of too much good food and a more sedentary work-from-home lifestyle, the little hole has gotten more and more noticeable. Finally, on Christmas Eve, my mother-in-law pointed it out to me and I realized it was time to either part with my favorite sweater, or figure out how to repair it. Luckily, the internet in 2024 can teach you how to do just about anything. 

After watching 4 or 5 different approaches to the repair on youtube, I decided that this approach from Nourish and Nestle was clearly the best strategy. Not only were her results the most convincing, but her video tutorial could not have been more clear. 

Because my sleeve had two holes in it, one larger and one much smaller, I decided to start with the big one for just in case I was so frustrated by the end that I decided the smaller one wasn't worth it. 

Emboldened by the tutorial in yellow, found the closest color thread I had in my collection and got started without buying any materials for the repair. 

I carefully began by running the needle carefully through the backs of stitches, running up and down the sleeve. The goal is to only pick up the back of the stitch so no thread shows on the front, and to run a thread for every row of stitches. It took me about 10 rows on for this hole. 

Then, without pulling tightly (although I think I could have pulled a bit more than I did), I started running the thread the other direction, again grabbing only the backs of stitches and weaving (over under) through the threads I'd just laid down. 

Once I'd formed the entire square with stitches running both ways, I tied off my work and assessed the back. It looked fine, but not convincing. The front, on the other hand, was looking pretty good. 

Even stretched out pretty tightly over my hand, I could see the hole a bit, but it was much smaller than before and no skin showed through it. I think I should have pulled the thread just a bit tighter in each direction to close up the hole a little more. But, not bad for a first attempt on a 10 year old sweater. 

I gave the smaller hole the same treatment and was so impressed with the result! It disappeared completely.  

Next time, I'll darn up a hole as soon as I spot it... before it gets big enough to be harder to repair and people start to comment. I guess, dad was right all along.