Two Ways of Mending Hand-Knit Socks

I started knitting socks after hearing one knitter say that she could easily knit a sock in an evening.

I had always thought that socks would take longer than that... After knitting a few pairs, I discovered that for me, it does take longer than that. After putting so much time into knitting them, I feel particularly sad when - a few years later - the socks develop holes. Usually I darn them and wear them like that for a while... But the darned areas often tear in exactly the same places again, even though the majority of the sock is still as good as new.

After watching the Elizabeth Zimmermann knitting DVD - where she showed no qualms about cutting into a sweater to add a pocket, I decided I had to get over my fear of cutting into knit socks as well.

After examining the holes in this well-worn pair, I decided to try two ways of fixing them.

First, by cutting out the weak area and knitting a new portion over it (grabbing stitches around it as I knit)...

Or second, by removing the whole toe of the sock and replacing that.

I'm not sure which method I prefer. Replacing the whole toe looks nicer but it takes more time.

The patch I knit over the hole - in garter stitch here - is less attractive but invisible, as it's on the sole. But both may be equally comfortable. The smaller patch took a lot less time.

After wearing both socks for while, I prefer the one where I re-knit the toe, maybe because of the bumpy-feel of the garter stitch on the other.

If I have a hole in the toe or ball of the foot, I'd probably cut that part off and knit it again, just as I did here.

But if the hole were in the heel, I'd probably knit over it, as I did above.

This whole exercise was useful because it helped me overcome my fear of cutting into a piece of knitting. I was afraid that the whole thing would unravel - but it didn't!