Socks

Those darned socks!

/ edebock / 10 Comments

Logo by SamWe hadn’t been married very long when hubby was shocked to discover that I had no intention of darning his holey socks. He grew up in poverty and darning socks was something his mother did out of necessity. We were both teaching school, however, and could afford to buy new socks when our old ones wore out. After more than 46 years of marriage, however, I recently darned a pair of sock slippers that he uses when we travel. Not only did I want to extend the lifespan of something that he loves, but mending and darning, once second nature to homemakers, are making a comeback as a way to participate in sustainable fashion.

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I’ve done lots of sewing and needlecraft in the past, but since darning was something new for me, I first had to figure out how to do it. You can learn almost anything from YouTube, so I started by watching this very helpful video.

I don’t have a darning egg. In fact, until I decided to tackle this project, I didn’t even know that such a thing existed! Always one to improvise when necessary, I found that an empty olive jar did the trick. Next, I dug into my old crafting supplies and found some yarn. I would have used blue to match the soles of the socks, but I didn’t have any, so I made do with what I had.

After just one false start, I figured out what I was doing and the first part of the process went fairly smoothly. I was even beginning to think that this darning thing was pretty easy.

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The next part was more challenging though and I’m sure the end result isn’t as neat and tidy as it would have been if my late mother-in-law had done it. I’m satisfied though and so is hubby. I just hope he doesn’t think this means that I’m going to start darning all his holey socks because that’s definitely not going to happen!

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Crazy (old) sock lady

/ edebock / 2 Comments

LogoI’m a long-legged 5’8″ tall. For much of my life I worried about finding pants that were long enough to ensure that my socks didn’t show. Then along came ankle length cropped pants. Suddenly everyone’s ankles were showing. It took me awhile to warm up to the trend, but it really has made life easier for me.

I usually wear white sports socks with my jeans and other casual pants and black socks when I want a somewhat dressier look, but when I was cleaning out my drawers recently I realized that I’ve gradually accumulated a fairly sizeable collection of patterned socks. There are certainly much more colourful and fanciful pairs available, usually worn by gals who are several decades younger than me, but once in awhile it’s fun to look down and see something funkier than plain old black or white.

Some of my patterned socks, like these two weather themed pairs, are quite subtle. I’ve obviously worn the snowflake ones on the left a lot as they’re almost worn out. You can begin to see my gold toenail polish shining through!

These are definitely bolder! Both pairs were gifts from my daughter-in-law. There’s a story behind the zebra print pair on the left that make them very special to me. Robin is a long distance cyclist. She rides with a club that expects members to be able to ride at a minimum speed of 23 km/hr for at least 50 km and has taken part in many longer races and fundraising rides. If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know that I have neuroendocrine cancer (NETS) and that the zebra is our symbol. Robin wore the zebra socks for the first leg of a 2 day fundraising ride for cancer and then gave them to me (freshly washed, of course!)

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While zebra stripes hold special significance to me as a NETS patient, the giant panda is my favourite animal. Apparently Santa Claus knows that as this pair was in my Christmas stocking last year.

When we lived in Japan, I discovered that I love wearing toe socks which are very popular there. I brought several pairs home with me. I don’t wear them very often only because they’re a bit of a bother to put on, but once on they’re warm and comfortable. We were in Japan to teach English and I specifically bought this pair to wear to my Saturday morning preschool classes. Teachers and students alike take their shoes off before entering the classroom, so these were perfect for my little ones who were learning to count in English. They loved them!

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I didn’t realize until I started preparing for this post that almost all my patterned socks are in shades of black, white, and grey. Clearly, if I’m going to become a crazy (old) sock lady, I’ll have to invest in some coloured ones!

What about you? Do you wear patterned or brightly coloured socks? Would you?