Kilt Hose I've Knit

[thistlelass]

Thanks for the links...have seen those and have them bookmarked.

I think the diamonds and rakers are the same size top to bottom. Looking at the Three-hundred-dollar-plus examples available on the web at various sites, they seem to be. It makes sense...to me at any rate--it's what makes the argyll so hard to do as an over-the-calf hose. It makes sense because you want to match your tartan as close as possible and the sett of the tartan doesn't change size top to bottom.

Of course finding marled yarn...fingering weight with perhaps some nylon mixed in and in the colour you want...is another whole ball of wax.

Increasing needle size was my wife's solution as well.

You can increase the size of the needle, but, I would be careful there in terms of keeping gauge and the overall look of your stitches when switching to another sized needle-you wouldn't want to go significantly larger or you'd have stitches that would appear more open-correct me if I am thinking in error on that point fellow knitters.

Jaggerspun has a very nice tweedy yarn that could be mixed with another yarn to make marled,but then you'd have to realize you're making a heavier weight yarn and that might not be the greatest way to go for Argyle. I really have never seen a commercial marled sock yarn that would be good for kilt hose. I've personally spun my own marled yarn and if I were going to make Argyle Hose for Tom, I'd consider spinning the yarn as a laceweight and plying it to make a marled yarn. Still, if you're having someone knit for you there is where the expense comes in. It would take quite some time to spin enough of each color needed for a pair of kilt hose, not to mention the time it would take to knit! Yeeeeow! It boggles the mind-At least $400 is what I'd charge-if not more. It's the lucky fellow who has a pair of handknit Argyles.~

Just found this link to Jamison&Smith Spindrift yarns from UK-this is Shetland 2ply which would work for kilt hose I think. Looks like some nice marled yarns in there, plus just about any solid you could ever want.
http://www.camillavalleyfarm.com/kni...iftcolours.htm