How to darn your socks.

 I have learned that knowing how to darn a pair of socks actually isn't common knowledge.

It was passed on to me by my grandmothers 

I don't think they learn it at school anymore. Here in Norway it's red listed as a skill that is in danger of disappearing 

In hop that some of you might want to learn this skill I have made a little tutorial. 

Here is what you need. 

A blend yarn with nylon or darning thread. 

Why you want to use a blend yarn is because pure wool is not so strong and will tear faster than a blended yarn. Socks 🧦 get a lot of wear especially on the heels and toes. 

If you don't have a blended yarn you can use a sewing thread 🧵 together with your wool yarn. This is also a good tip when you are knitting socks to put in a sewing thread together with your sockyarn when knitting the heel. 

You also will need a needle if you have home knitted socks use a darning needle. I didn't and used a longer and smaller needle. 

It's helpful with a darning mushroom 🍄 but you don't need one. There are a lot of other things you can use instead 

I like the orange as you can eat it when you are done 👍 🔝 

You start with creating a base with running stitches. If you don't know running stitch it's just up and down 

Here I have come all the way to the hole. 

There you need to just make the stitch all the way over the hole to the other side and stitch on the other side of the hole. 

Now I have covered the whole thing and the base is ready. If you like you can continue with the same colour thread. I used to diffent as it will be easier for you to see. 

Now it's time to work the other way. Still the same stitching up and down. When you get to the long threads covering the whole, you must weave up and down on thead over the needle on under all the way. Make sure you do opposite one your way back, under the thread you weaved over last row and over the thread you went under 

And you keep going until you have covered the entire hole and the rest of the stitches 

Congratulations you have managed to darn your socks 🧦 

Want to learn more about darning? 

You can listen to the Podcast from Seworganisedstyle

There I'm talking about darning and mending with Maria  

Want more mending inspiration follow our mending community Mendingmayhem

Speed weave / darning loom

 A while back I bought a little speed weave  Here

But I have been to busy to play with it until now. It's a very cool 😎 gadget don't you think 😁  If you never heard of a speed weave, it's a tiny loom for darning.

I had a really good time trying it out. 

This was my first attempt of darning with it 

Not to bad for a first attempt. 

My second attempt turned out a little better 

I don't think it was very fast, and I would have done it much faster using a darning mushroom 🍄 

The end result however was much better and it is a fun way to darn socks 🧦 

I'm of course joining Evelyn  for some Mondaymending over at Instagram.

If you haven't listened to the interview with me and  Suzie over at Sew organized style hurry up and listen as there will be a new episode on Friday 😁

I am also making a slow progress on my mother's sweater. It is a lot of work, but it will be worth it in the end 🔚 

I have enjoyed late summer and spent much time outside. Today it is more autumn weather and rain ☔ 

Wishing you a wonderful new week ahead 

Katrine 🌼 

Sew Organised Style podcast

 I have had a long summer break from my blog.

Hope you all have had a lovely summer.

I have not had a break from mending and this sweater is what I have been working on lately 

This woolen sweater was was full of pills and had a few holes and stains. I actually said it was beyond saving... 🙊🙉🙈 Magic words... I obviously had to give it a try 😉

First I gave it a good shaving 

It's very worn and I did make a few extra holes while shaving it, not to mention the job was much bigger than I expected 😝😝😝

It made quite a difference though 😁😁😁

It's still a wip as I am planning to hide all the darns with flowers and beads

And now I'm sitting outside enjoying the last bits of summer and mending 

Today Suzie and I am Guesting over at  Sew Organised Style podcast

Talking  about our mending community Mendingmayhem and mending

We had great fun making this podcast and hope you enjoy listening 

Thanks to Maria and Sew Organised Style for inviting us 

A little bit of this and that

Believe it or not I took this picture this morning. 

I can't remember having this much snow in May ever. 

Yesterday I was a bit feed up with all the snow and wanted to cheer myself up with buying some craft supplies. But then I remembered I have restricted my self from buying new stuff until I have used more of my stash. 

So I went to the second hand store instead. 

I found a lovely floral jacket. But it was not my size. Some how it seems to have found it's way into my bag anyway. 

It just needed a little alternation to fit. 

Unpicking the seams in the side and most of the waist  band and cuffs. 

Adding a side panel from a xxl t-shirt i bought earlier to use for some thing else. 

While I was in a good flow I did the same to another jacket. 

I'm notorious buying clothes that I plan on alter just because I love the fabric. 

When I finished the socks 🧦 I was knitting for my son I realised I was out of knitting and crochet projects. I'm not sure how that is possible. 🙊I always have several projects going on. 

Luckily my hubby reminded me I had promised to make him another pair of felted slippers 👌

I need to find some inspiration so I don't run out of projects. 

I have not done so much mending lately but I did mend some trainers. They was very worn and had spots that I wasn't able to get off. 

I used some cotton thread and wove it in the mesh fabric. 

I think they turned out pretty well 

This is what the shoes looked like before 

I also machine darned a few socks 🧦 

Some with previous darns. I really do prefer to darn by hand 🖐️ 

Snow on apple flowers does look nice 

More snow pictures 

Not really looks like spring 

We are hoping for better weather soon 🔜 

In the mean time I will be busy crafting. 

Thanks for stopping by 🌷

Stay safe and well ❤️ 

Wishing you a lovely weekend 💐

Katrine 🌼 

Heart with beads

I have a lot of beads as I used to make jewellery.  

But they don’t do any good in a box, don't you agree?  

I have spent some time thinking what to do whit all of them, the small once I use to decorate clothes when mending. It's the bigger once I didn’t know how to use. 

I needed a birthday gift for a friend and I didn’t know what to give.  

But then I remembered I had some wire clothes hangers and thought they make good hearts.  

I found some metal wire that was not to thick and started. 

I made 2 large hearts  

Then I thought I would like smaller hearts too. 

And found a thicker wire and made hearts out of it.  

So far, I have made 4 smaller hearts. 

I’m putting them up in my Shop if you like to buy one  

I don’t have a real shop, so you still need to email me or dm me on Instagram   

Prices include free worldwide shipping.  

If you want to try make your own heart, I have made a little tutorial. 

You need thick wire or wire clothes hanger  

Thinner wire, you don’t need any fancy expensive one. I got mine at the florist. (we don’t have any craft stores here )  

Pliers for cutting and bending. I used my jewellery pliers, but you can use regular once. 

Beads with a large enough hole for the wire you don’t need fancy beads. A old necklace or two can be cut and you will have a lot to play with.  

The bigger hearts need a lot of beads. 

Start with shaping your thick wire to a heart.  try to find the middle and make a v shape  

I used my nose pliers. Then you need to make the half circles. 

I used an old bottle and stretched the wire around it  

Then you will need to take one end and twist it around the other  

And you should have a wire that looks like a heart. 

Then it’s time for the thinner wire. 

Cut a long piece and twist the end around the heart, then twist it around the thin wire to secure the end thread bead on and pull it over the twisted part. Make a bend on the wire so the bead stays in place.

 Keep on adding beads and make twist or bends as you like. It’s smart not to have too long span before you get to a side and twist your wire around the heart. 

Keep on adding beads. When you see your wire is running out, make sure you will have enough to reach the heart wire. End the wire opposite from the start.  Add a bead, twist a few times around the heart wire, then twist the thinner wire around itself. Push the bead over the end and make a bend under it to keep it in place . 

When you have filled the entire heart. Add a twine to hang it in your window 

Have fun making hearts . If you make a heart with my tutorial I would like to see your work . If you are on instagram  you can tag me @trollkjerringa1 or use the #2020heartsforhope
Thanks for reading 
Wishing you a great weekend 
Katrine 💗🌷🌷💗🙋