Who gives a darn about socks?

Jerry Barney

Published Thursday, September 11, 2008

It’s become a cliché. When a person doesn’t think something is really old at all, to say, “I’ve got socks older than that.”

Okay, that observation made, let me pose a question: How many of you have darned socks recently.

I didn’t think so.

Well, some time ago, down at the bottom of my sock drawer, I found a beautifully-darned pair of socks. Now, wife Lois doesn’t darn socks, and I don’t think ever has. But my mother did.

And being as how Lois and I have been married almost 45 years, I’m tempted to think Mom darned these docks before we were married — more than 45 years ago.

Let anybody who says, “I’ve got socks older than that” top that one!

I sat and admired the socks for a while. They’re a beautiful medium brown, pretty much the color my hair used to be before I lost most of it and the frost descended on it permanently. The several darned parts, however, are darker brown. It’s a nice contrast.

And Mom’s darning is beautiful — a real work of craftsmanship.

I’ve got a lot of friends who are into various skills they collectively call the “fiber arts.” I’ve done stories about several fiber arts people.

The fiber arts, as they define them, include weaving, spinning, tatting, bobbin lace, crocheting and more exotic skills, However, mending--including sock darning--never seems to get categorized as a fiber art.

Pity! I think any kind of mending, and certainly sock darning (if done well) is definitely art. Certainly, Mom’s sock darning was. It’s a useful art, too. I just wish there were more practitioners of it.

That said, I can understand why hardly anybody mends clothing or darns socks anymore. Most everyday clothing is relatively inexpensive in proportion to almost everything else. And in this time-is-money society, it’s probably a more economical use of one’s time to buy new socks than to spend valuable time darning them.

And for me and a lot of people, fixing things is no fun. In fact, it’s downright maddening. I’m probably worse than anybody in the fixing department. First, I lack repair skills, and second, I get enraged when something needs fixing that I become incoherent. I lose the little skill I might have had in the first place.

And mending, including darning socks, is a type of fixing. Knowing my own limitations and attitude, it does not surprise me a bit when people don’t want to darn socks.

Getting back to the fiber arts people, it’s generally more fun and provides a greater feeling of accomplishment to create something than to fix it. So I understand why those folks prefer to weave and knit rather than mend and darn.

Lois, like many others, has many demands on her time. In the rare times she has to relax, there are a lot of things she’s rather do. I don’t blame her a bit.

Secretly, however, I wish she’d find as much relaxation in darning as in her hand-held games. I also have a nostalgic wish that fiber arts people would rate mending and sock-darning up there with tatting and crocheting, and form organizations devoted to fixing clothing.

Dream on!

Anyhow, I wore that beautifully-darned brown pair of socks a couple time soon after I rediscovered it.

Then I thought, “Hey, wait a minute. These are cotton. They’ll get more holes in them with frequent wearing and washing, and they’ll never be darned again.”

So, like other articles of clothing I consider very special, I am now saving them and only wearing them on what I consider very special occasions (or when my sock drawer is otherwise empty.). I want those socks to last as long as possible. They’re among my fondest reminders of Mom.

Maybe some day, I’ll pass them down to a grandchild saying, “Once upon a time, people used to darn socks like this. Your great-grandmother did.”

But I’ll only do that if I get a strong indication that the grandchild will treasure those socks and take care of them like I do. If that’s not the case, I’ll donate them to a museum

---

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?

---

Jerry Barney is a Fergus Falls resident. He is a former Otter Tail County newspaper editor.