Tag Archives: knit repair

Sock repair options

Posted on January 28, 2021 | 19 comments

My friend’s brother lost his home in the Santiam Canyon wildfire last fall. He did save these socks, which his wife knit for him. She passed away earlier last year, I think. I want to mend these socks for him, so he can continue to wear them, as a remembrance.

I plan to use duplicate stitch to reinforce the intact heel on the left. My options for the blown out heel on the right? Either darning/weaving, or knitting a patch, per Google search. I’d much rather knit than weave, so a knitted patch will be my first attempt. I found instructions for duplicate stitch, darning/weaving, and a knitted patch on this website from the Woolery.

I found a reasonably good yarn match in my leftovers bin. Now I have to resolve to some knitting on tiny needles, which is not my favorite thing! But worth it for a mitzvah, right?

Have you repaired socks before? I’ve repaired socks using duplicate stitch before the yarn gave way, but not after as big a hole as this one. Any advice appreciated!

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Darn it!

Posted on January 31, 2010 | 19 comments

And I did. I went from this:

holey

To this:

darn

I just duplicate stitched over the existing bits of yarn, and it came out great. The only way I can tell is that the new yarn is whiter than the old yarn, because the red hasn’t run on it yet. Good as new!

sock

And here’s the repaired cuff of my sweater sleeve:

cuff2

The color is a pretty good match. I couldn’t quite get the new stitches to look exactly like the bound off edge, but I think this is good enough. Here’s the detail on the yoke. I really love this old sweater.

yoke

Back to your regularly scheduled knitting! Have you ever repaired your knits?

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Oh, noes!

Posted on January 28, 2010 | 10 comments

Things are wearing a little thin, here.

cuff

This is the cuff of my favorite sweater, Sky Lights. I knit it in 1993, right after the Teen was born. It was a kit from North Island Designs; I don’t think they exist under that name any more. I made it big and oversized, to wear over leggings (yes, we really did that back then). I’ve worn it a lot. The yarn is either BartlettYarns or Harrisville Tweed; I can’t remember. I’ve gotten a lot of wear from it. But this is what I saw when I last went to put it on.

cuff close

Oh, dear. I have a little job to do. And while I’m doing that, I have another, too.

holey

I made these socks last winter, when it looked like it would never stop snowing. It’s not really sock yarn; it’s KnitPicks Wool of the Andes Worsted that I had lying around. Every time I wash these, they shrink and felt a little bit more. But they’re still comfortable. My clogs must rub right here, though. There’s barely a thread holding it together.

I have more of this yarn, so I’m going to try darning it after dinner. Wish me luck!

Here’s what I made for dinner. I was quite happy with it, and so was the family. Perfect winter night supper!

Sausage/potato/kale soup
SERVES 6

Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb turkey hot Italian sausage (if you can only find mild, add 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes while browning)
3 large russet potatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)
3 14 ounce cans chicken broth
2 cups water
1 cup half and half
1 bunch kale (stems below leaf removed), cut in 1/2 inch ribbons crosswise

Directions
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a large pot (soup pot). Slit sausage casings, remove sausage. Brown sausage (and red pepper flakes, if desired) in oil. Remove sausage from pot. Add the other Tbsp olive oil to pot. Saute onions and garlic until onion is soft. Add chicken broth, water, sliced potatoes and smoked paprika. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer until potatoes are done, about 15 minutes. Add sausage , half and half, and kale; simmer for another 10 minutes. Enjoy!

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