The pandemic really has thrown me back in time.
First, it was the bread baking. Remember when we all thought we were going to STARVE and there WOULDN’T BE ANY BREAD?
(I never did get a sourdough starter going, I just stuck to the NYT no-knead bread recipe. I’m lazy.)
Then it was the knitting.
I was already on board with the knitting trend, but it would seem that many others (Michelle Obama, included!) joined me.
Then there were all the things that I started doing again that I hadn’t done in a long time: tennis lessons, playing piano, writing on the blog…
But this latest development has taken me so far back into the past that I could almost feel at home in one of the Barbara Pym novels I wrote about last week.
Sock Darning.
Yup. It’s true.
I have taken to darning socks.
Not just any old socks, mind you. I’ve darned some fancy Smartwool socks. The kind that you’re not supposed to need to darn. DARN THEM!
Mindful Mending
The act of threading the needle in and out, back and forth, focusing on keeping my shoulders relaxed and my back straight… It’s meditative.
The pandemic has been anxiety-provoking for most everyone. For me, stitching helps to calm my mind and soothe some of that anxiety.
Honestly, it also helps to stave off feelings of boredom, uselessness and inactivity.
Loved Clothes Last: Added Bonus
I haven’t been shopping much during this pandemic. I’ve avoided my bi-annual clothes shopping excursions. I’ve tried ordering some clothes online, but the waste of having to mail so many of them back is frustrating.
I’ve participated peripherally in the slow fashion movement by making myself some sweaters. These I wear all the time.
(I’ve practically lived in my Weekender sweater this winter!)
But with the pandemic, and with being unable (or unwilling) to do much clothes shopping, I’ve found myself slowly embracing the mending movement.
First it was the socks. Then, this cardigan that was my mother’s. These aren’t fancy clothes, and you could argue that they’re hardly worth mending.
But they’re clothes I like to wear. They’ve been in steady rotation since the colder weather set in, and I’d like to keep them that way.
If You’ve Any Mending…
Don’t throw away something you like to wear just because it’s got a little hole in it.
Pick up your needle and thread and set to it! You could try doing some visible mending to make a fashion statement.
(Or, like me, you could attempt to make your mending invisible and fail entirely.)
After all, there’s a pandemic on. It’s not like we’ve got a whole lot else to do.
