...for my cream hose? To be fair, this project started as a way to evaluate this wool, and maybe to try dying the finished product. As it stands now, I haven't made up my mind regarding the wool and I may just leave these natural, since they look pretty darn good that colour. Ok, enough with that, on with the pics.















I have mixed feelings about this pair of hose. On one hand, without close scrutiny they look pretty good. On the other hand, there are a bunch of little things bugging me about them. First and foremost, they're too small. Those 2 big braids where a lot tighter than I thought they would be, and to look their best I think the ribs should do all the stretching, allowing the braids to retain their unstretched shape. Well, live and learn. I'll know next time that each of these braids needs another column of ribbing to be added to make up for their tension.

Another thing I tried that I didn't like was that I started my ribs as 2x1 in the back and 3x1 up front, and then increased them all to 4x1 up top. I did this to help keep the braids running straight up the sides of the legs. I achieved that goal, but at the expense of some messy looking ribs. Next time I'll just gradually add another rib where I need the increase. I also learned to end with a purl on the first needle and start with a knit on the next when deciding how to divvy up my stitches between needles. These pics are after blocking, which covered a multitude of sins...it was pretty grim for a while there.

Enough negativity. I'm really happy with the calf increases. I was undecided on the small braids running up the back of the leg and then off to either side of the increase, but they've become my favourite part of this design. This was also my first time doing travelling stitches (which I just worked out for myself when I made the tension swatch for this project) and the first time I've really planned a pattern in advance. I used a spreadsheet to plan out the travelling stitch pattern to make sure it fit well with the increases and it worked out really well. In fact, keep an eye out for variations on this calf increase in future projects, as I really like it.

I also like the all around basket-weave cuff. I'm using a variation of this for my next pair of knee-highs for my wife's best friend.

Thanks for reading!