Kilt Hose

They're finished!  These socks were an odyssey, lasting nearly a year. Oh, how I labored. The wrenches are cabled, and of my own design. I designed these socks using these as a template and general sizing guide. There was much finagling and knitter's math involved. I'm thinking of writing it up and submitting it to one of the knitting journals. I'll need better pictures if I'm going to do that, so someone will have to volunteer to model! The Gentleman in Question dislikes having his picture taken. That is his leg, but that's the most you'll ever see of him.

The hose began their life as a flirtatious joke between myself and the Gentleman in Question. He arrived to the Fourth of July fireworks party wearing a Utilikilt. Now, I had seen such a thing before; I know several kilted men.  The gentleman, learning that I was a professional knitter at the time, commissioned a pair of kilt socks, as he was shortly moving to the cold and frozen north and wished to wear his kilt in the chillier weather. Being an engineer, he wanted wrenches instead of the traditional cabled panel.

So I researched. And discovered that no one had ever wanted to knit cabled wrenches before. Thus began a period of experimentation, whereupon I learned how to design a cable pattern. Much math and swatching latter, the socks were begun. There were snafus aplenty. And much anxiety! As previously mentioned, the Gentleman has skinny legs, whereas mine are more...generous.

There were holdups surrounding major life changes. I moved back to New Orleans, which was a production of its own, let me tell you. Then the holidays, plus housing drama. I worked slowly, but steadily. Finally, in March, they were finished! But tragically, they were not- the foot was too short! And so, feet reknit and lengthened, they were completed, and are in the hands of their rightful owner. Just in time for summer.

These socks mark major changes in my life. A new boyfriend, a major move, a career shift (if working in a yarn store and teaching can be considered a career), and all of the attendant drama. I'm still not settled, but with the completion of the socks, I feel that the next chapter is ready to begin.

So what should I make next?