You might want to do a search for "tartan hose" to get a variety of pictures of other folks tartan hose (argyle style) on the forum. Generally Argyle style hose are knit in the colors of the tartan they are to be worn with, with the large diamonds colored as the background dominant colors of the tartan (also known as the underchesk) and the narrow lines done in the colors of the thinner stripes of the tartan (known as the overcheck). Some tartans have more than two undercheck colors and they have to do what are called "split dice" to accomodate all the colors in the hose. But usually they are done in the various colors that are in teh tartan rather than in complementary ones. Dancers hose are usually done in a combination of white with the dominant color of the tartan, but dancers tartans are usually dress tartans that contain white anyway.

Nice that your mother is going to knit them for you, as they usually cost $150-200+US. Is she looking to adopt any part time sons, to allow her to expand her knitting opportunities?