Kilt hose on a CSM

[Truitt]

And here is a photo of me wearing the kilt hose from Steve's photo above.



But I am wearing them with my new X-Marks kilt, not the Scottish Wildcat. The socks fit perfectly and are very comfortable.

Thanks, Steve, for doing such a wonderful job on both the socks and the kilt.

[The Wizard of BC]

Wow, Truitt, both the socks, and the kilt fit. Amazing. We must have been having a good day.

[McMurdo]

Those hose look great Truitt, as does the kilt, well done Steve. I'm interested in seeing the hose with the Scottish Wildcat Tartan.

[T90]

I like old machinery, and I had never heard of a sock machine until this post. I am impressed! Very nice work, both with the socks as well as keeping the machinery operating.

[The Wizard of BC]

You have to remember that 2 of my 3 machines are new. They just use old technology. So I am not fighting worn parts or parts like in many of the antiques or parts which no long fit due to intergranular corrosion.

It's actually amazing to me how bad the condition of some of the antiques are in. And they are still commanding premium prices. Replacement parts are getting harder and harder to find. Not because they are no longer made but because these machines have found a following and people are buying up every one they can find and hording the parts. There are machines currently on Ebay that I would not buy if they were giving them away.

So I went with new machines. I have come to know the people from the company and they are still making every part so if you break something like I did a replacement is just a phone call away. And the precision of the new machines is so much higher than the antiques. Remember, the antiques were sold door to door to farm ladies as a side business to make stuff for their famlies and perhaps a little money on the side. They were not the highest quality machines in the first place.
I often wonder if some of these machines ever made even one pair of socks. Everyone who is in this small world likes to pass on the stories of making sock for he war effort but now that I know how hard it is to make a good looking sock I doubt many ladies could spent the time and effort to lean how to use them.
I suspect that many ended up in the barn as a bad investment.

The first sock I actually completed I still have. I call it my $3000.00 sock. It took me 6 months and a lot of yarn to get there so after buying the machine, the time and wasted yarn - yep, about a 3 grand investment. I'm going to have to sell a lot of socks just to get my investment back.

[Steve Ashton]

Thousands of people have become interested in these machines over the past 10 or 15 years. But few have actually seen on working.
here is a machine making 6x2 ribbing. This is the same style of ribbing I did for Truitt's hose.

https://youtu.be/Qn9om_mqKP8

I have also begun to do some video tutorials to help others learn to use their machine. Here is just one.

https://youtu.be/6vGsFHWHqNo