They are called cadagh and there was a thread about making them not long ago in this section.

I suspect that they are not made so much now because they are cut on the bias, and so take up quite a lot of cloth, and the abilities of the domestic knitting machine rose to be able to knit the multicolour technique called intarsia - knitting machines have been around for over 400 years.

The bias cutting makes a more elastic tube than cutting them on the straight grain of the cloth.

I suspect that the use of a zip fastener, the sort which opens completely would make it easier to shape them to the leg more closely, so if they had hung on until that was invented they might possibly be more of them around.

Knitted hosen have the advantage that they can be repaired, even entire new feet put onto them, so as well as being more frugal with the coloured yarn they last longer.

Anne the Pleater :ootd: