Performance report, odds and ends

Well, I wore the heel patched socks, and here's my evaluation so far: In general the concept worked. I think I'll sew down the sides, after all, as they gapped when worn. I don't know if the extra thickness would be a problem when worn with regular shoes; I only wear clogs. At first, the extra thickness under the heel was noticeable (though not unpleasant). As the day went on I stopped noticing it. I think it was a combination of just getting used to it and the garter stitch mashing down with being walked on. Overall, would I use this approach again? So far, yes I think I would.

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Sunday afternoon was spent sorting through books, magazines, patterns and stash trying to reduce and organize.

Loose paper first: things I had printed off the internet got put into the 3-ring binders. Slow but not painful. (of course the binders themselves need to be better organized, but I'm leaving that for another day.)

Magazines next: I have stacks, and many of them have exactly one article or pattern I am really interested in. So I started copying the items of interest. To even get to this point I had to flip through the magazines to find what I wanted to copy. Then back to the binders to file the copies. As you can imagine this took some time.... In the end I actually eliminated only about ten issues. Still, that's a few inches on the bookshelf. OK, get real, that's a few inches of floor space because the shelves were full to start with.

Books: Give up any knitting books? You will have to pry them from my cold dead fingers, after driving a knitting needle through my heart. I'm a serious collector. OK, even the Met de-acquisitions. I found two I was willing to part with.

Stash: It was easiest to part with old swatches. These were either unsuccessful stitch combo experiments or made from yarns I hated. I used them as dust rags before I threw them away and thus discovered that a swatch of fun fur is very effective for dusting. This one was only about 1" x 5", so not worth saving, but what if I took some of that ugly Kelly green wool and some of the gigantic eyelash stash and made a bag/mitten thing and felted it? Effective dust mitt or total waste of time? I haven't decided yet.

Odd balls and leftovers... Aargh, every one of these might come in handy sometime. It might be just the thing I need for an accent, it might make a hat, or at the very least be used to tie up a package.... And I might live to be 105, but I don't think so. Just because I can think of a use for it doesn't mean I ever will use it. Two plastic grocery bags worth out the door (or at least in the thrift store box ready to go out the door).

Sock yarn - I'm sorry, can't give it up. Same for anything wool. Sigh, this is getting overwhelming...

At the end of the day I have to admit I didn't really get rid of that much. But I did get rid of some, and that's something, I guess.

To Mend or Not to Mend, (updated)

socks, that is.




In the far off days when I actually got my socks from a store, they always wore out first at the toe. Now that I can control the length of the foot, this is no longer a problem. Instead they always seem to give out right under the heel. (Do I grind my heels when I walk? Or is it just that the knitting is looser where I work back and forth for the heel turn? I suspect the latter.) So what are the options?

a) Retire the socks. Notice I do not say "throw away". There were a few early pairs that did end up as dust rags. But when I have put the time and effort into a nice pair; and more importantly have become attached to them through frequent, close contact; and when 90% of the knitting is still perfectly good; I am not going to throw them away. If they are truly beyond repair, or have been repaired and worn ragged again, I retire them to the "old socks home", which at this point is a nice wooden box my father made me. What my heirs do with this collection when I die is their problem.

b) Cut them off at the ankle, add ribbing to the bottom and turn them into legwarmers. I've done it with a pair of knee socks, and it worked nicely (I'm wearing them at the moment, as a matter of fact.) These are not "fashion statement" legwarmers. They go under my jeans to ward off drafts. The pair in question is shorter, though, and not really a candidate for this treatment.

c) Unravel from the toe and reknit the foot. Or just cut them off at the ankle and reknit the foot, assuming I have more of the same yarn (which I don't) or something reasonably coordinating. This is a lot of work for results that might or might not look like "I meant to do that." Wouldn't I rather just knit a new pair altogether?

d) Darn. Believe me, I've tried. I end up with a misshapen mess. Same goes for Swiss Darning a/k/a duplicate stitch. For smaller holes than this one, maybe, but not here.

e) Carefully cut out the entire heel, pick up stitches and reknit the heel. Are you kidding?

f) Knit patches, which is what I actually intend to do. This will probably offend purists of all stripes. It will transform the socks from modestly elegant to everyday somewhat broken down workhorses. But what the heck, it works for me.


Two little patches. (Hey, that second sock is going to go soon - might as well do both while I'm at it.) I used garter stitch to avoid fighting curly edges when I sew them on. I left long yarn tails for sewing.




First I sewed the shaped lower edge of the patch to the bottom of the heel flap, then I sewed the live stitches off the needle to the foot. I could have bound then off and then sewn them down, but this would have made a thicker and less elastic seam.



At this point there is a little unsewn gap at each side (pencil for demonstration purposes only). I am going to leave it unsewn on the theory that a little more elasticity here will encourage the patch not to rip out.




Final result, not pretty, but I hope servicable. And in our throwaway world, there is something endearing about that. How long will it last? Good question. I hope for a while. At any rate, this pair will know I did what I could to delay the trip to the old socks home.

The Law of Entropy and the First Noble Truth alike remind us that nothing is permanent, but I like to try to keep things going when I can.