Holey Moley

Monday again?!  Boy does time fly.  I’m in a bit of a project slump the last few weeks because I’ve got a bunch of mending projects piling up.  I started mending socks last summer, did I mention that?  It’s kind of fun.  My grandma used to mend socks, and my mom and uncles used to tease her that she was the only person they knew who still did that.  At some point in my teenage years, my grandparents gave me a little sewing chest and in it (among other things) was one of my grandma’s old darning mushrooms and some darning thread.

Last summer when I started flying places again I took a bunch of Will’s holey socks on the plane and darned a few of them.  I felt pretty accomplished and the patches looked pretty cool.  Will even said they were very comfy!  Win!  Unfortunately though, after only another couple months all of them ended up threadbare or with even more holes.  On top of that, other socks in the collection also ended up with holes. So now I have a basket full of around 24 socks that needs darning (at least one hole each).  I don’t think I will ever have time to darn 24 socks in this lifetime so I’m going to get higher quality socks for Will and see if they last longer.  I really hope they do.

I’m pretty proud of the patches, but this is what I’m working with…

Well I always save holey socks and I’ve made sock puppets, sock unicorns and other sock creations.  Unfortunately with the rate Will demolishes socks, and my slowness at sock darning, I have a plethora of holey socks just waiting for reuse.  Well…  when I was picking wool dryer balls (I love them) out of my sheets the other day I had a great idea… I would turn my socks into dryer balls!  I found with Will’s calf length ankle tube socks (he’s like a men’s large sock) I could use 3 socks to make a very dense and firm dryer ball!  (Some of my cheaper wool dryer balls started out thick, but disintegrated and turned into dryer puffs rather than balls….

DIY Sock Dryer Balls

What you’ll need:

• Old holey socks (cotton or wool, whatever you have will work great) – The equivalent of 3 Men’s L ankle socks per ball
• Needle and thread

1. Take first sock, and fold in half lengthwise from toe to heel. 
2. Start rolling from toe up towards the heel, pulling as you go to make a firm roll. 
3. Once you reach the heel start rolling ankle and calf portion around the roll you made. 
4. Take a second sock, and continue wrapping in the same direction, starting at the toe (but do not fold in half this time).
5. When you reach the heel, move the ankle 45 degrees towards the direction around the roll and start wrapping. 
6. Shift slowly 45 degrees again, so you shape the sock into a ball shape.   Pull very firmly throughout the process. 
7. Place your ball shape inside another sock, pushing it all the way down to the toe, and pulling and shaping to form a very firm ball. 
8. Twist the open end of the sock a quarter turn, then turn inside out and fold the ankle of the sock back over the twist (which should be holding the sock’s ball shape). 
9. Pull the middle part of the sock down over the sock ball, and again twist a quarter turn at the opposite side, turn inside out and fold the ankle of the sock back over the twist.  During this process reshape sock. Repeat one more time depending on sock side. 
   

   This is what the quarter twisted end looks like, once you have turned it inside out.

10. Using a ladder stitch, stitch the ends of the sock closed.  

Toss in the dryer with any clothes to reduce dry time!  Note – I personally don’t put essential oils in mine because essential oils are flammable.