I have found that the bottle green hose with 80% wool content aren't as "color-fast" as one might prefer. Thankfully, I figured that out when I was handwashing same, and not after having thrown them in with other washables on any kind of machine cycle. The cream hose, same wool content, just go into a wash cycle where I'm using either lukewarm or cold water. I have noticed a bit of shrinkage, even with those precautions, so the stretching/weighting while damp sounds like a good idea.

One of these days, I'm going to get around to purchasing more pairs of solid color hose, probably oatmeal, black and lovat blue, more or less in that order. Actually, a pair of custom-made tartan kilt hose is on the list ahead of all those, if I can locate someone who will knit me a pair for around $150 (am I dreaming, or is that a reasonable estimate on the low end of price range for quality custom-knits?)

Mac