Mending

April 12, 2022

My very first blog post was an ode to sock knitting, explaining why socks are the perfect project. That was back in June of 2009 and socks continue to be one of my favorite projects to knit. Aside from being a useful wardrobe staple that can be worn year round, I always keep a pair on my needles because of the portability and ease with which you can pick up your knitting, anytime, anywhere!

I've knit many pairs of Climb Socks over the years and my very first pair were beginning to wear thin at the heels. I've not mended socks before so went on the hunt to find tutorials. I took the opportunity to try several methods to see which one I preferred.

Everyone wears through their socks differently. For me, my socks seem to wear out slowly at the heel leaving that area thread bare before actually springing holes. For that reason I chose to reinforce the heels of my oldest pair before I'd actually worn through them.

{ sock repaired with patch }

On the first sock I used the patch method (from this video). I like how tidy it looks and the patch certainly feels firm and the heel well reinforced, however this method I found to be more visible, which might not always be desirable depending on where the patch is located. For me, because it's on the bottom of the foot, I don't mind it.

{ sock repaired with duplicate stitch }

On the second sock I used the duplicate stitch method (from this post). I found it to be less visible and I enjoyed the process a little more than the knitted patch. I also like how the duplicate stitches are interwoven into the original stitches of the sock, unlike the patch that sits on top of the existing fabric.

Darning a sock using the woven method didn't appeal to me as much but I would like to try it on my next repair job to compare it to the first two methods. I liked the look of this video.

I've also knit pairs of Climb Socks using the after thought heel (details here). I love this method for the way it fits my foot and high arch, but also how easily the sock knits up — after the toe, the body of the sock is just a knit tube. In terms of mending, this method seems perfect for those who tend to wear through their heels first, when it comes time for repair, the entire afterthought heel can be replaced to extend the life of your hand knit socks.