Custom Hose Tops

[Scout]

Several years ago, we had a member/vendor who's wife would make spectacular, hand knit hose tops in a variety of patterns and attach them to quality hose. I have two pair she made for me, but they are unfortunately wearing out, and I cannot find her contact information, if she's even still in the business.

Any recommendations on sources for custom hose or hose tops will be appreciated!

[Troglodyte]

When you say hose-tops, do you mean the footless type used by the military and some pipebands, or do you mean the turn-over cuff that is at the top of the hose?

There seems to be an abundance of the footless type available as army-surplus, and on the likes of eBay, so you should have no trouble there.

If it is the turn-over cuff, to be worn in conjuction with, or attached to, what you might call ordinary long socks, there are several makers operating.

The Glenesk Folk Museum in Angus, Scotland, has a Flock-to-Sock project which uses the old patterns and styles (some of them that have never been commercially available, as they follow old family patterns originating in the glen) and include the popular Gairloch lattice design, and shepherd-check.

The yarn used is from Scottish breeds, and is sourced and produced in Scotland. They are making a stand against cheap foreign imports, from foreign breeds, and much of their yarn is hand-produced in the old way from rare old British breeds.

Some of their stock is ready-to-wear, but the project is essentially a custom-order service, that knits-up using tartan-matching yarns. I believe the shepherd-check (although available in tartan-matching colours if required) is produced from natural, undyed wool - almost black and off-white as the sheep grows the fleece.

See here - https://www.gleneskfolkmuseum.org/news

[bdkilted]

Trog;
I followed your link to check out the hose topper and there weren't any there.
The only thing under knitwear was bespoke kilt hose for 225 pounds.

[Scout]

Sorry for any confusion. This is what I am talking about. I can't remember who it was that made these. The top is hand knit and then attached to a good pair of hose. As you can see, they're wearing out, and I would love to find something comparable.

Thanks.

[Troglodyte]

Trog;
I followed your link to check out the hose topper and there weren't any there.
The only thing under knitwear was bespoke kilt hose for 225 pounds.

I understand they are in the process of replacing their online shop payment system - the one they were using has pulled out of supporting registered charities, which the museum is.

They have PayPal, but the 'cut' that takes in terms of various fees amounts to almost ten per cent, which seems like extortion to me - the museum is a not-for-profit organisation run by volunteers and is a recognised Scottish charity.

Consequently, much of their current stock is not visible, but a personal email enquiry will get a response.

I think the kilt-hose you saw are the bespoke hand-knits, made to match the colours in a customer's specified tartan.

[Tobus]

A simple cuff like your photo shows is an easy project for any knitter who can do stranded colourwork. I could knit a pair of those in a couple of days. I'm not offering to do that, as I don't take commissions, but my point is that it's not a difficult project. You could reach out to your local yarn/crafts store and ask for contact info for local knitters who do take commissions. There are probably more people than you'd think who do local home-based knitting gigs. Even if you don't find one locally, the yarn store staff could probably point you in the right direction to find someone. These hose tops are not something that require specialised knowledge of Highland wear. Any decent knitter could study your existing hose tops and duplicate the pattern, adjusting their gauge to fit your leg.

Are you set on the idea of just having hose cuffs that attach to premade commecial hose? In my opinion, it would be better to just have someone make the whole sock while they're at it, instead of trying to attach it to commercial hose (which will be a smaller yarn and gauge with different stretch, making it an awkward fitup).

As for your existing pair, is it truly wearing out? Or just wearing in? From what I see in your photo, there's just some fuzz on the surface that needs to be shaved off. Any knitted item develops this over time with regular use, and you can Google how to clean it up to get back to a fresher stitch pattern (they even make special shavers for this). If the yarn is not worn through or breaking, and the cuffs still fit decently, they should still have a long life ahead of them.