The kilt hose are 100% finished. Ends woven in, blocked…
And already worn for the first time:
TheEnabler says they are a completely different experience compared to wearing his commercially purchased ones, both because of nicer yarn and better fit.
A few words on this pattern:
These were no minor undertaking because of the garter, the complex cables, the need to fit them and just because knee high stockings are a fair bit of knitting. The initial garter is actually one of the most complex bits because of the combo of cables, grafting and applied picot edge. A bit of extra challenge was thrown in for the leg patterning due to a few errors in the book which I had to think through. For example – the left and right nupp charts aren’t mirrors of eachother. It’s clear one is wrong, but which? A careful study of one of the photographs in the book helped me sort it out. Obviously, these are as much the responsibility of the book’s editors as the designer.
I did the size large because that matched my husband’s calf size, and it’s easy to adjust the length of the sock and foot. The author notes that she designed these initially for her husband, and one place I think this shows is the calf shaping. The cable work on the back started decreasing way way too early for my husband’s leg shape, and it’s not because he’s tall (he’s not). Luckily, it wasn’t too hard for me to add in a couple repeats of the middle part of the back cable. Clearly lots of folks have made and worn them as written, but I wonder how many would have a bit better fit with a little more length in the main calf?
I also used less yarn than I’d expected and have over 100g of yarn left. I bought 300 expecting to use at least 200.
All in all, a successful and worthwhile knit. Especially since it’s pretty clear they will get plenty of wear!