Darn, double darn

During the "Wool House" exhibition at Somerset House, I attended a workshop on darning, given by tomofholland (read his take on the event here). First we learned Swiss darning - following along on top of knit stitches. This can be done following the pattern, or imposing a different pattern (or colour, as in his sample). The tricky bit is moving up to the next row -

After we'd mastered that, out came the darning eggs/mushrooms -

and those long darning needles. Note that this is being done on the wrong side of the "sock", and that the weakened area around the actual hole is also being strengthened -

 I'd pulled the fabric too tightly over the mushroom , so my darn bulged - but after a bit of steaming it lay more or less flat -

back and front of samples

Since then I've been "in the mood for mending" and started many a day by rescuing some sox and jumpers.