Darn it.

I put on a pair of long black socks today to find a hole with an accompanying ladder that had started creeping up from my big toe. I'm a big (and vocal) advocate for make-do and mend (Cultivating an appreciation and awareness for the lifecycles of goods, and not taking things for granted). The environmental impacts of a disposable culture terrify me and I attempt to live my values as much as is feasible. Having said that, I've not done a vast amount of darning in my life and never achieved anything that looked vaguely neat or matched the fabric around it. Until today.

I located an old incandescent light bulb, long ago changed over to an energy saving one - and stuffed it down into the toe. I stupidly made a start with some black sewing cotton, creating some warp threads where the hole was before I remembered I was lucky enough to get given, through freecycle, a load of vintage darning wools all coiled onto beautiful cardboard bobbins. Sure enough I came across a black spool and loaded up my needle.

I can't say my technique had any finesse but the result is indistinguishable from the rest of the fabric as far as my toes are concerned and I got a wonderful sense of satisfaction from the endeavour.

I should probably mention that I have a mending pile full of little jobs that could have been done in half the time so I'm in no way an exemplar of fastidious care - But I do feel a little smug.