Incidentally, I spoke to my mother about sock-darning (well, she brought it up), and she said that "nowadays, it's more expensive to darn socks than to buy new", which may be true given the cheap-ass type of socks she favors.

But I thought that was an odd thing to say, since I think I know you well enough to know you wouldn't go on darning socks if it wasn't the cheaper option.