And in Ma Kettle's words, it's "real quietin' work".
http://www.ehow.com/how_648_darn-sock.html has a short description of how to darn. I'll add that before I had handspun readily available, I used baby yarn for its fine weight. The lightbulb is also the most convenient to find for your first attempt, but you can indeed buy specialized "darning eggs" or "mushrooms" (http://www.halcyonyarn.com/knitandcrochet.html ) to make things easier.
One rare refinement my antique darning spindle (from my grandmother) has is a metal collar to hold your sock taut while you darn. If you use a lightbulb, you can put a rubber band around the neck of the bulb to hold the fabric.
Darning socks is easy-peasy.
http://www.ehow.com/how_648_darn-sock.html has a short description of how to darn. I'll add that before I had handspun readily available, I used baby yarn for its fine weight. The lightbulb is also the most convenient to find for your first attempt, but you can indeed buy specialized "darning eggs" or "mushrooms" (http://www.halcyonyarn.com/knitandcrochet.html ) to make things easier.
One rare refinement my antique darning spindle (from my grandmother) has is a metal collar to hold your sock taut while you darn. If you use a lightbulb, you can put a rubber band around the neck of the bulb to hold the fabric.