2torial #0632: Learn2 Darn a Sock (Continued) Fill the void, part 1 Locate the bottom left edge of the worn area of sock, and pick a spot just outside the marking stitches.   The patch, part one: Begin at the base of the hole and use the running stitch to make a series of horizontal lines of thread across the width of the hole. If the hole is simply a worn area with the cloth grid still intact, you'll weave the needle down into and back out the sock fabric, and you'll stop at a spot just beyond the marking stitches on the opposite side.   If you have a gaping hole with no cloth grid, your horizontal lines will just be the thread, laying straight across the opening.   Make sure you aren't sewing the stitches too tightly. You can prevent this by now and then tugging the sock apart a little bit, along the line of the stitches. Tugging pulls more thread into the stitch, which releases any tension in the thread. This allows the fabric to lie flat--not pinched or squeezed by a tight stitch. Western medical surgeons must be skillful needleworkers, and they practice these same techniques in medical school. Really, they do!   Continue weaving, up and back across the hole, keeping the stitches parallel.   Step 7