Opening with a silly random fact - have you noticed that it's your non-dominant elbow that wears through the sleeve first?
This is a realization that struck me while repairing this green sweater - I was so lucky to score it from the thrift store WITH MENDING by the previous owner. The left elbow had the most work done, whereas mine (a lefty) usually wear on the right elbow first.
As you can see, left elbow, lots of green mending, right elbow (in the bubble) only a little mending. I have been confirming this with every mend and person I see since and it's quite...ridiculous, honestly, like one of those "well obviously" when you think about it things, and I don't know why I'm so obsessed.
I do know why I am obsessed with this sweater, though, just look at it, it's perfect.
I have two strategies for tackling elbow mends with my Swift Darning Loom at the moment. First, I'll show you the thing I don't do anymore...
I repaired this amazing sweater for my friend Lee Angold, a botanical illustrator. I used my XL Work Surface to make the biggest little statement patches I could.
And it was absolutely infuriating, frustrating, not fun. Why?
I found it extremely extremely difficult to get both patches the same size and position on the sleeve so that they match! And since I was doing this for someone else...well, cue perfectionism. Sigh.
Maybe this isn't something that's an issue for you, but when I want my elbow patches to be symmetrical, that's my final answer. This was the third time I'd encountered the same problem, and fool me three times...Game over. Time to actually problem solve. Wait, first, check out this other patch I did, which is similarly very cool and good but totally broke my brain trying to get them the same.
This one was fun because I used so many different weights and textures of yarn for the weft! And shh - there actually weren't holes under there, the patches are purely decorative.
(PS: I know I said there were three but I can't find photos of the last one right now! Boo! Moving on!)
Alrighty, so you're asking, Elysha, if you're fed up with darning directly on the sleeve, what's your solution for making elbow patches that match?
Elbow Patch Strategy 1: Pre-Woven.
If you have the XL Work Surface (available solo, with the XL Darning Bundle, or the Darning and Weaving Bundle), which you probably do if you're considering elbow patches, you can weave your patches first by setting up the same way we Weave a tiny tapestry.
Shockingly I don't have any photos of the process for this one, but I warped the loom as long and as wide as it will go (putting the Weft Pick in the bottom row, and using all 14 hooks across).
I wove relatively loosely which resulted in my goal of a fluffier, bigger patch. The downside of weaving loosely is that the resulting fabric won't be as strong, but I wasn't concerned. The sweater is wool but I used an acrylic yarn which I am assuming will be harder-wearing than the wool and last a long time!
Mending these elbows was one of the very first Swift Darning Loom tutorials I ever did, way back in 2020, and originally I did weave them right onto the sleeves so I guess that makes no less than four "failed" elbow patches? Oof. Here was my first attempt.
Side note: not sure why I photographed this with the small work surface, because I definitely used the long one! The reason I re-did them wasn't because they weren't even, because did I take the painstaking effort of making them match? Of course. The reason I felt they needed redone is because the yarn I used was far too thick for the delicate knit of this garment, which resulted in new holes popping up around the perimeter.
I used the same pre-weave strategy for the green sweater I opened this blog with, but this time weaving a lot tighter, and also making the strange choice to weave two separate pieces and then stitch them together with single crochet. Very fancy. Always experimenting. Always taking cute photos.
I love all three of these shots and will not be forced to choose, so here are two more.
This one's getting a bit long, so I'm going to save Part 2 for next time. Hold onto your hats, I think you're going to love it as I did some *seriously weird stuff* to create intentionally asymmetrical elbow patches!!
Ok one more moody sweater shot for good measure.
