End of the Sock of Theseus

[u/TakeMeToTechNoir]

Alas, I think time has come to retire a pair of my Socks of Theseus as my toe keeps separating the fibres in my darn at the end. The plan is to use the sock fabric to patch holes in other socks, I think!

This pair has 14 darns between them (I think. Some of them blend together, it could be more!) of varying quality because some of my first ones were on this pair. I bought them some time around 2019 so they've lasted me alright for a cheap pair. And 14 darns means I've sorta avoided sending 14 pairs to the landfill. I am happy with that.

[u/ThatLastTurnHome]

I salute these socks.

A suggestion though: you might try using a finer thread and make a tighter weave through the fabric instead of surface darning it; your toe may be separating the threads because it is a looser weave with thick thread on the surface of the sock rather than woven into it (that is, you have been weaving between the other added threads rather than the original sock material). A honeycomb, Scotch, or Swiss darn might also work better.

[u/TakeMeToTechNoir → u/ThatLastTurnHome]

I don't really understand. How can I weave into the sock threads if there's a hole there?

[u/ThatLastTurnHome → u/TakeMeToTechNoir]

You can't weave into the sock exactly where the hole is (exactly where the hole is, it will be similar to what you have now), but you can weave into the sock all around it. In this video, you can see she is weaving more into the sock material surrounding the hole: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z45uE8HKniI&t=415s. She is using huge thread in this video, so it doesn't look that much tighter, but it actually matches the weight of the thread in the cloth; if you use thread of a similar weight to that in the original sock you are using, I think you will have a much tighter weave. If you can get your hands on the book Modern Mending by Erin Lewis-Fitzgerald, she has a very nice tutorial of this on pages 94-101. She also has nice step by step instructions on the other darning methods I mentioned.

I'm attaching photos of a mostly invisible sock darn I did using the method I described. It's not that different than what you did, except I used much finer thread and I wove into the sock in the areas where there was still material. That is, when I was putting in my rows of thread, I was essentially doing small running stitches where there was material and when I got to the hole I made the long stitch over it that you did, rather than just making a long stitch beginning way outside of the hole.

Let me know if this makes sense or if you still have questions (in which case I'll try to find another video or some other instructions accessible online). The way you did it looks really good and is probably much faster, so I'm not saying it's worth spending the time doing it the way I did it below with a finer thread, but just wanted to let you know about this option. (Also please excuse the photo of my dirt-stained gym sock!)

[u/ThatLastTurnHome → u/ThatLastTurnHome]

Here it is from the inside, which may be more helpful. I left little loops at the end when I was turning into a new row to allow for stretch and shrinkage of the cotton thread in the wash.