Posted on 12/01/2021 6:42:31 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin
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Rarely 100% serious. ;)
That is hysterical, and I already sent it to my 3 sisters, daughter, and daughter-in-law. THANKS
Switching to the winter clothes and I noticed some of my favorite socks are wearing thin in the heel.
My wife and kids gifted me several pairs of Smartwool over the calf socks and most of the heels are wearing thin after only a couple of winters.
I have some Thorlo brand and others are still OK after many years?
I shudder to think what they paid for them.
In years past when the heel wore out, I’d make them in to mittens for ice climbing, the textured ice ax handles wore them quickly. Shorten the foot to finger length and use the for the thumb attaching at the worn heel location.
My fellow climbers laughed but asked for them after quickly trashing a pair of Dachstein ($$$) mitts and covers.
Using my thinnest free arm machine would be a stretch for this repair, plus I like the socks.
NEEDLE FELTING!!! That should work.
First-round I used cut-offs from a felted plush wool blanket. Worked well and wears well!
Second-round, polyester batting, works surprisingly well for needle felting! worked but a bit too much loft and need to be compressed by a few passes of the sewing machine. Wears well!
Three is the charm. I had some dense 3” diameter polyester cutouts from a local junk/fun store: https://www.sciplus.com/
Slide a scrub brush in the sock for the needle to penetrate, lay the circle over the wear spot’ a minute or two with a medium felting needle on each sock.
EASY PEASY!
Works best before an actual hole develops.
Like this only easier.
PS: I tend to be cheap, thrifty, miserly, parsimonious, and dare I say it, niggardly. AND PROUD OF IT.
I used to be a devotee of SmartWool....but I like Darn Tough better, w/ their Unconditional Guarantee for Life, made right here in Northfield, Vermont.
https://darntough.com/pages/darn-tough-vermont-community
I have a too large selection of socks including some Darn Tough, they and many other brands have yet to wear out?
I have different smartwool and they are also doing well.
For some reason, the over-the-calf smart wool is not very good.
Mostly I wear wool socks year-round of differing weights.
Including some Throlo running socks (not wool) that I completed a few marathons in, back in the 1970-80s, still wear them!
The heels must be made from kryptonite?
Cotton can be comfortable but I sweat and it turns to mush in the shoe.
'Gold Toe' is my everyday sock of choice, but I will check out 'Darn Tough.' :)
If you want to confuse a youngster, ask them what THIS is used for.
I haven’t seen one of those in years.
I’m now into quilting mode.
I’m working on a stained glass window quilt. I had a lot of trouble getting the black for a while but it seems to be back in stock now.
Thanks for new source, I love trying out USA businesses.
I have picked back up as of yesterday the Christmas stocking project for my great-nephew. I'm at the point of working the deer head(s) - there is one on each side so it can hang either way. The deer heads, per the pattern, are supposed to be knit using the "intarsia" method; however, some of the stitches are singles & you should have at least 2 for intarsia to work, plus you have to twist yarn when you add a new color to prevent holes. That just seemed too hard and if I have to work a few "duplicate" stitches (recommended in pattern for those 'single' stitches), why not do the whole thing in duplicate stitch? The charts are like 'counted cross stitch'.
So that's what I'm doing - 100% duplicate stitch for the deer heads. It's not easy - new technique for me, but as I go, I can see improvement. It's a slow go. I think it's going to take a minimum of 3-4 days per head - I should have started a month or two ago. I worked yesterday afternoon/evening and had to stop at 9 pm ... headache & my eyes were starting to cross. I'm back at it today & it's going pretty well with fresh eyes ... for example, a part that looked almost impossibly hard last night happened with a minimum of problems this morning.
Here it is so far ....
I still have the horse blankets to work on. I had a talk with "mom" to see what the girls (3 & 5) could handle as far as 'closures' for the front of the blankets & for the surcingles-like straps around the belly. The horses are slick & I have determined a surcingle is necessary to keep the blankets mostly in place. She tells me the 3 year old can handle large buttons, so buttons it will be. I looked through my button stash ... some that would work, but I think I can find something better, so I'll have to take a trip to the store in the near future. I should be ok on getting the horses/blankets finished in time for Christmas.
Found these today as I was rummaging around my Mom used to make them about 50+ years ago, cute ice skate pins with paper clips for the skates. They make a nice attachment to a gift. And look cute wearing as a pin. I don't know if she got the idea from someone but my Mom could make something out of nearly nothing.
I have switched from gardening to crafts mostly crochet and some sewing, I make dollhouse real patchwork quilts among other things and can sell them on ebay.
NEEDLE FELTING!!! That should work.
_____________________________________
Have you washed them yet? Results? Does the felting hold w/use?
I did the first two pairs, washing and wearing for a week, and zero problems.
The polyester batting even felts naturally when wearing.
Similar to picking up dog fur from the floor and having it felt with the socks when wearing, without the pilling stays flat, so far.
I have some jeans I’m thinking about repairing that way. I just don’t want to rip a seam to get to the below-the-knee hole.
I can see it surviving a cold water wash, but the dryer would shrink wool. Maybe if I needle on some polyfil and surface design with a synthetic fiber... I have some cellulose.....it could work.....
A piece of thick foam would give a firmer patch than a brush, tho. I use a brush only for thin, delicate forms, like ears.
Now, if one of my larger, sturdier needles could handle the denim....
It may be a while (other projects), but I’ll report back if I get to it, either way.
Thanx for the post. You always come up with great solutions!
It’s called a ‘darning egg’ and you stick it inside a sock, or whatever else you’re darning (like the elbow of a sweater), so you have a hard surface to work against.
I remember your mini-quilts! They are adorable! Make sure to post some pictures.
LOVED the ice skate ornaments! I was ‘Thrifting’ today and they had Christmas stuff out, of course (only bought ONE Christmas CD - a joke for my Sister who is obsessed with accordion music, LOL!) and they had a whole TABLE full of ice skates. (Not hockey skates, but your basic, white girly skates.)
Do kids STILL ice skate? We always did. Dad would actually flood a portion of the back yard for us, so all the neighborhood kids could skate there, and Grandpa used to shovel off the frozen lake and make us a rink to use when we visited him & Grandma at our cottage. Grandpa skated AND roller skated (competitive dancing on skates, really) back in the day. Wish I still had his awards and trophies and ribbons for those!
—”I have some jeans I’m thinking about repairing that way.”
One of the many wonders of wool is the micro scales on the hair fibers. This makes for easy spinning and felting.
If you have ever had the misfortune to untangle a bag of springs, similar. And adding warm water and something to make the fibers slippery like soap and massaging them they work tighter and tighter together. Also called shrinking.
All wool is not the same and some wool is treated to shorten the scales for less itch.
The problem is cotton has no scales.
Yes, you can add an under layer for applique, but I’d be careful about a structural repair.
—”It’s called a ‘darning egg’”
Saw the photo and thought it was a lace bobbin!
And I don’t even know any that does that type of work!
Not even my crafty cousin the sewing advisor and she does everything but clothing. Or my fiber arts sister that does tapestry on a loom...
On second look I see it lacks the shoulders for the bobbin.
A trick question.
Accordion music, I love polka music - get me some Frankie Yankovic - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCqZQUhBBHw
Growing up in Chicago I never skated. Trued once as a young adult. Disasterous. Weak ankles and a line of people grabbed me and pulled me around. Terrifying!
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