A very cool kilt hose idea from Big Mikey!

[Panache]

Just a little while back The Flame-Haired Celtic Amazon Goddess and I had the pleasure of having Big Mikey and his wonderful wife Shelley come stay with us.

Mikey has gotten into knitting and had this clever idea. Fancy kilt hose with nice patterned tops, though wonderful looking, have a few disadvantages.

The first is that they are very expensive (he certainly didn't say that they aren't worth it, just that the average person may not want to spend $100+ on a single pair of hose)

The second is that one must be fairly careful as if the bottom of the hose wear out then the hose are ruined and all the fancy knit work at the top is then wasted.

The third was that these hose tend only to go well with one specific tartan.

So he has started making for himself Hose Toppers. They are a knitted cuff that one wears at the top of the hose. They offer a custom look for regular hose, can be mixed with the base hose for different color combinations, and can outlast multiple pairs of basic kilt hose.

He showed me several of the ones he had made for himself and asked if I wanted a pair. I thought about it and asked for ones that would match my Stillwater Heavyweight weathered Lamont variant kilt. He refused payment but liked the idea of a trade so I offered to make him a sgian don't for one.

He whipped out his knitting equipment and got to work:




He finished one of them before the Nor Cal Rabble showed up for food and drink



He gave me the other at our monthly Kilt Night a couple of days later.

I didn't think that the white hose were the best match so I went looking for some stone / oatmeal ones at the Pleasanton Games

Here is the final result





I think that they look really nice.

There are slightly bulky, but this could be easily fixed by using slightly finer yarn.


If people are interested in making their own I'm sure Mikey wouldn't mind posting an explanation on how to make these, or shoot him a PM and offer him a trade.

Mikey, I really like these and thank you for making them for me. I spent the better part of Sunday cleaning and organizing my workshop. With something like 20 ft of workspace and all my power tools set up and in running I'd better well be able to make you a sgian don't!

Cheers

Jamie

[sydnie7]

[snip]If people are interested in making their own I'm sure Mikey wouldn't mind posting an explanation on how to make these. . .[snip]

Oo! Oo! Oo! And he's using one of those knitting cheaters, not needles!

Please -- teach us how to fish!

My "trade" will be the pledge to contribute to the "RK Addendum" to the X-Kilt manual currently being discussed in another thread. . . passing it forward.

[McMurdo]

Very nice Jamie, and Mike, those are really sharp and just the thing for the kilt wearer who has everything. Thanks for the photos, I'm sure you will enjoy them for years to come. I have been talking with Matt about getting a pair to match my upcoming Carolina Kilt.

[Nick the DSM]

whoa, thats cool! so its like interchangeable?

[Panache]

whoa, thats cool! so its like interchangeable?

Right, the top cuff isn't attached to the hose, it is just a short knitted tube worn over the top of them . I could wear them with any pair of kilt hose I have.

Cheers

Jamie

[Sheep In Wolf's Clothing]

That's a very good idea and they look great! Good Job Big Mikey!
Wear in good health,
Sara

[thistlelass]

It is a great idea! It lends itself to literally hundreds, if not thousands, of patterns one could use, especially if you used a slightly thinner weight yarn, such as sock yarn, with the thinner weight of store bought kilt hose. I've knit something similar to this for boot toppers in Fair Isle patterns as well as chunky solid color knit ribs.

[Freelancer]

Very cool idea...looks fantastic!

[bigdad1]

Oo! Oo! Oo! And he's using one of those knitting cheaters, not needles!

Please -- teach us how to fish!

My "trade" will be the pledge to contribute to the "RK Addendum" to the X-Kilt manual currently being discussed in another thread. . . passing it forward.

If I had only known that kilt hose got that kind of reaction from her I would have worn them more often. The topper is a great idea. It opens so many avenues for fashion. Great idea!!

[Retro Red]

Sock it to me, baby!

Those are tops!

Like, totally tubular, dude!

But seriously, that's a great idea. I agree with you Panache that they look a little bulky with the socks you're wearing, but not bad by any means.

Seems like Big Mikey could make some good "knit" profit off this idea.

.