Kilt Hose extravaganza

Julius wanted his hose by the Fair Hill Colonial Games on May 19th. I got them done in less than a week. His were easier than some of the others because his legs are still small and there is no reduction down the back of the leg. I was really well with how well the colors match his tartan. I also made a change to Sadie's socks and duplicated stitched over the black that ran through the purple and made it white. (Not that you can really tell in the picture above.)

The Purple Stewart hose that I made last month were in use on Saturday as well:


And, while I was at the festival I picked up a pound of lovely Romney/Mohair roving. The farmer had yarns and knitted items available, but way in the back were the bags of roving...and he said he almost didn't bring them!

Rocky's socks

The first pair of kilt hose are done for Rocky. His only complaint was that the feet were a little small. Yikes! I'm not sure how hard it would be at this point to try to take them apart and rip out the foot and redo it. He sounded as though he thought they would work but asked me to do the next ones bigger. So here are the pictures:

On the azalea:


Close-up:


In action - I caught one of Rocky while he was changing a sign during the Phoenixville Celtic Fest. Because of how the kilt is pleated, the white stripes are really highlighted in the sock:


Posed - he asked not to have red in the socks so that he could wear these socks could match other kilts:

Dress Purple Stewart Hose

They are finished!!! Hooray! I am really happy with how they turned out. They seem to fit well too. I deliver them tomorrow and hope to get a shot with the whole outfit on Saturday at the competition. There were some troubles with the gauge on the first pair. I actually ended up cutting (!) them down to size. The seam is a little bigger than usual on the inside, but that is the only evidence. I didn't notice it when I had them on and neither did the dancer. We'll see what she says after dancing in them for a day.

Here it is on the machine:


And finished!

Too long

It's not as though I haven't been busy, especially on the knitting end. I bought a knitting machine and have been figuring out how to use it. The sole purpose for which I bought it was to make those highland dancing socks for other people and make a little money at it. These competitions can get a little expensive and it would be nice to have some cash. A friend at the dance school asked me to make some for her daughter and that was the beginning of it all. So far, I've finished a pair for my youngest daughter.

I showed one of these to the great folks at USA Kilts and I have a commission to make two pair for him in exchange for something (to be negotiated) at the kilt shop. And another dancers grandma is also interested in a pair. Too bad I've got the flu right now or I'd be knitting.

The machine is a different animal than needles but the second sock was much faster than the first and I am hopeful that my speed will increase (and mistakes will decrease)!

Highland Dance Socks

I was meaning to post these at some point anyway, but here they are specifically for Karen at the dance.net forum. Erin's Highland Dance Hose. I used Jameison and Smith lace weight (2/14.5) the purple is L44 and was very hard to find the right color. It goes with her Dress Cunningham kilt. I used a one ply cobweb with the purple to make the marl and although slightly thicker than the solid color diamonds, it is really not distinguishable to someone unless they are a knitter. The stripes were duplicate stitched on top. And yes, if you look closely you can see that they aren't perfect and don't always cross exactly in the middle. All I can say is you try to knit these and see how you do!! Seriously, though, you can't tell once they are on and only a knitter would really look at that! I graphed the pattern taking reductions at the seam to get a fitted sock and figured the heel and instep from the Beehive pattern for Highland Dance Socks.

Oh, and I forgot to mention the reason they don't meet diamond tip to diamond tip at the top is that about an inch of growth is built in at the top. So, the cuff comes down over the first diamond to about the mid-point. Again, not noticeably obvious from the stage, but I won't have to be knitting new socks next year when she grows. i can rip out the toe and knit the foot longer if I have to as well. These were all tips I received from another sock knitter.

Here's a close-up to see the marl.