John Anderson’s Kilt Hose on Ravelry here.

This  is the latest of three Kilt Hose attempts, with different gauges, yarn weights & blends, on different sized needles. I started with a very designer yarn shop wool/silk blend, but it was too big, too scratchy, too stiff, and too difficult to knit on the size #1 needles needed to achieve gauge. Then I tried KnitPicks ‘Swish’ which is 100% superwash wool, in DK weight, too big for the pattern stitches, not much better, though close. Very close, but still risking too big.

I’m just not in the mind space to rewrite the pattern, as when I get down to the foot part, I really don’t care to mess up a project I’ve never attempted before ~~~ socks ! So, I ordered 3 types of bare undyed wool & wool blend yarns from KnitPicks last week, knowing one of them would be right. ( I chose KnitPicks because I’m very accustomed to the yarn and I need yarn brand consistancy when guessing my way through something.) I am instinctively thinking the Sport Superwash Wool/Nylon yarn is going to be good for the gauge and size I need to make, but, it has some nylon (a slight disappointment, hopefully only for me) Actually, the nylon ingredient will no doubt achieve nice softness and stretch in the sock. A good ‘first sock’ project yarn.

There’s always the ‘next pair’ in nice all-natural blend, such as wool/alpaca or wool/silk (of another pattern, or altered pattern) with which I can try to make  Kilt Hose Finery . But that is another project, at another time. For this pair, I will just have to settle with some sort of compromise, and I’m hoping that wool/nylon blends are what most kilt hose is made from, and that it is acceptable for whom the hose are being knit for.  If the hose are too light, I will overdye with some tea I have in the cupboard,  Scottish Breakfast Tea to be specific, and that should leave them with a slight smokey scent for the finish.

I’d like these to be finished in time, as the kilt is being fitted soon and will be made and finished by end of August I believe, so it’s time to get crackin’  !