I absolutely agree with everyone who recommends an older machine and a good service centre. But I’ve gone against that advice for myself and have a newer computerised machine for myself, simply because it has a needle threader and my eyesight is not great these days - I was starting to struggle to thread the needle on the older machine.

Anything that’s not the cheapest machine will generally be ok. Most of the fancy options that make machines expensive are not really necessary, as long as the machine can sew straight and zig-zag you have nearly everything covered.

I’d mostly like to keep them to a few posts so the actual discussion posts won’t get lost. At the moment the idea is people can post that sort of thing in the pinned introduction post, but I am thinking of something along the lines of themed picture posts in the future.

There are plenty of groups which have primarily photos, you are free to join those if that is what you are after. This group is for discussions, if that is not what you are after feel free not to join.

Thank you. I definitely need to keep the work more centred - even without subtitles I was moving out of frame a bit on a few occassions. It’s unfortunate that the default subtitle locations don’t seem to be changeable, but if you are on a computer (not on mobile) you can drag them to a different position.

I expect it varies depending on the store, but a place near me has things like remnants and ends of rolls, upholstery fabric sample books, offcuts of things like leather (the bits left around the edges after the pieces are cut out) and the ends of elastic and lace rolls that are too small for manufacturers to be bothered with but perfect for home use.

I have put together a video showing how I do my darning, the post is here if you are interested.

I was worried about a lump too, but I was not able to feel anything. It might vary depending on where it is though - my socks wear in one spot at the end of the big toe.

I think it is worth doing a netting stitch, and I have found it easier to do than straight once I worked it out. The wear spots happen where the sock is stretched, so I think that reducing the amount of stretch in that area would cause the darned area to wear out again more quickly.

I am hoping to get the time soon to make a short video showing the method I use, as I made it up based on a snippet in a book I can’t find again and have not seen anywhere else that does the same.

I’m not sure what type of jam, I made quite a few this year! Most likely a strawberry (maybe strawberry & apple) and a mix I did with plum, peach, apricot and grape.

That looks like a really intersting project. Is the cork an inner sole, or is the sole entirely of cork?

I’d probably try a heavy cotton underneath as a patch and glue to that. If you could find a decorative braid or something that looks ok in a complimentary colour you could glue that around the cuff where it has torn for further reinforcement.

Possibly a strip of perforated leather or vinyl would work.

I’ve not used a ladder darner. Most of the socks I have darned are quite thin dress socks, would a ladder darner work with those, or only for heavier knits?

I would love to see what you do - that’s one of the projects I would like to do if I can get the time.

You can also do the patch before the hole actually wears through - even just stitching over the top of the thinning area is probably enough to provide extra reinforcement to stop the hole forming, although the extra fabric provides a more stable base for the new stitching.

Thanks! I was really pleased with how it worked out.