Modifying kilt hose

**Katia** · 18th February 13, 08:09 PM

My dance outfit came to me secondhand, as I am not made of money.

The hose bugged me from the moment I first got them. There was no gray in them, even though there is a significant amount of gray in the tartan. If I were having my own hose made, there would definitely be gray in them. So I started pondering ways I could add it (it REALLY bugged me. In my mind, the hose did not really seem to go with the kilt).

I've always liked the look of split diamonds anyway. Someone suggested I use duplicate stitching to add them. A kindly parent of a fellow dancer that wears my same tartan, who also makes hose (Kathy, at Bonnie Toes: http://www.bonnietoes.com/), had some gray yarn left over from making her daughter's hose and very sweetly sent it on to me (note: if anyone needs Jaggerspun gray yarn, I have a fair amount left and promised Kathy I would send it on to someone who could use it. I can't recall exactly which gray as I believe they carry more than one, but I could try to look it up).

And I was off. Most split-diamond hose will split the colored diamond into quarters, of course. However, I've also seen, rarely, split-diamond hose where there is an additional diamond in the center of the white diamond. Because it's less-popular, and also, IMO, fits the tartan better (since the gray stripe falls in the "middle" of the white stripe), I decided to go this route.

It's been years since I did this, so not a new DIY by any means, but I thought it might be good to show that someone has modified argyle hose in this way, just in case anyone else has a secondhand pair that don't look quite the way they perhaps ought. It's not a difficult technique, merely time-consuming when done in large volumes like this. If I recall, each diamond took me perhaps 45 minutes? (if I were an actual knitter, probably would have been less.)

http://bellaknitting.typepad.com/bel...ate-stitc.html

http://knitting.about.com/od/knittin...cat_stitch.htm

http://www.purlbee.com/duplicate-stitch-tutorial/

Here are before-and-after pics. Much improved, don't you think?

Before:

Medals_zps6d68106c.jpg

And after:

**Grizzly** · 18th February 13, 08:35 PM

Very nice job and time well spent. Well done.

**neloon** · 19th February 13, 02:59 AM

Looking very good, Katia/345/269.
Great improvement.
Presumably helps you to dance even better as well?!

Alan

**Chas** · 19th February 13, 04:10 AM

Very smart looking - I am really impressed!

Regards

Chas

**tulloch** · 19th February 13, 06:11 AM

Very interesting! Great job and a new idea for me. Thanks.

**Pleater** · 19th February 13, 06:38 AM

That is a very good modification, it really makes the hose look custom made to go with the kilt.

The proportion of grey to white is - I think - spot on.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: