New Life for White Socks

[The Wizard of BC]

I'm really sorry but my hand-crafted "Heritage" kilt hose are not on my website. These are custom made and fit to each individual customers measurements.

They are made on a circular sock knitting machine.





This something I got into a few years ago. I am now fully engrossed in these fantastic machines.

I have 11 different colors of yarn and many different cylinders and ribbers. Changing out between cylinders allow more or less needles to be used.
With these I can custom fit from very narrow to very very wide calves and can create different types and styles of ribbing down the leg.

I have one of these machines set up to make argyle hose but I'm still perfecting my technique. I have only made two pair of Argyles and they were not 100% perfect.

It is my hope that I can begin to offer hose for guys with really large legs or for guys who need something not available anywhere else such as one shorter foot. (I have one customer who lost the toes on one foot to diabetes)

It takes about four hours to make a pair of hose. Quite a bit more to make Argyles or to do cables down the leg. It is still far faster than hand knitting.

And I'm sorry but due to the cost of high quality sock yarns I'm not able to compete with the prices of mass produced hose. One pair of kilt hose has almost $50.00 worth of yarn.

[GrainReaper]

I'm really sorry but my hand-crafted "Heritage" kilt hose are not on my website. These are custom made and fit to each individual customers measurements.

They are made on a circular sock knitting machine.





This something I got into a few years ago. I am now fully engrossed in these fantastic machines.

I have 11 different colors of yarn and many different cylinders and ribbers. Changing out between cylinders allow more or less needles to be used.
With these I can custom fit from very narrow to very very wide calves and can create different types and styles of ribbing down the leg.

I have one of these machines set up to make argyle hose but I'm still perfecting my technique. I have only made two pair of Argyles and they were not 100% perfect.

It is my hope that I can begin to offer hose for guys with really large legs or for guys who need something not available anywhere else such as one shorter foot. (I have one customer who lost the toes on one foot to diabetes)

It takes about four hours to make a pair of hose. Quite a bit more to make Argyles or to do cables down the leg. It is still far faster than hand knitting.

And I'm sorry but due to the cost of high quality sock yarns I'm not able to compete with the prices of mass produced hose. One pair of kilt hose has almost $50.00 worth of yarn.

I looked into a circular sock machine, a "some-work-needed" machine will nickel and dime you into the poor house it seems before it ever really works right, or at all.... I recall you had a thread on these machines, that's when I was inspired to try my hand at.... Buying hose from others.

[Green Dragon]

In response to the questions, I did dye in hot wated but rinsed in cold. I put them in the dryer for 10 minutes with an old towel then finshed by air drying.

They did not appear to shrink much at all. I will find out if my legs turn colors when I get a chance to wear them. Hopefully the dye stays put.

For my first time trying to dye something, I think it came out okay. I got the idea from my kid dying a lactosse head.

[OC Richard]

They look great, a big improvement over the white.

I have some white hose sitting in a drawer, waiting for them to become "the thing" again!

Once in a while I have to haul them out due to having to do a matchy gig with another piper, and the other guy only having white

[Voussoir]

RIT dye is a "union" dye. It works well for all fibers, but requires 2 or 3 dips to get an even color.
Your socks are acrylic, so they will not shrink on you. As long as the dye was heat set, which sounds like it was, then you just need to rinse until no further color comes out of the fabric and you'll be fine. It won't come off on your legs. Any application of heat is fine: steam, microwave, oven, dryer...just be mindful of matching heat temperature to fiber tolerance.

To dye wool, soak the wool in a water/vinegar mix (acidic) to open the protein fibers to accept dye.
To dye cotton, soak in water/washing soda mix (alkali) for opening bast fibers before dying.

Creative dyers have posted that they mix prepared dye with gelatin to thicken it so that they can paint it on in specific areas, then heat set, and wash out the gelatin. Just more ideas;-)

[Tobus]

RIT dye is a "union" dye. It works well for all fibers, but requires 2 or 3 dips to get an even color.
Your socks are acrylic, so they will not shrink on you. As long as the dye was heat set, which sounds like it was, then you just need to rinse until no further color comes out of the fabric and you'll be fine. It won't come off on your legs. Any application of heat is fine: steam, microwave, oven, dryer...just be mindful of matching heat temperature to fiber tolerance.

To dye wool, soak the wool in a water/vinegar mix (acidic) to open the protein fibers to accept dye.
To dye cotton, soak in water/washing soda mix (alkali) for opening bast fibers before dying.

Creative dyers have posted that they mix prepared dye with gelatin to thicken it so that they can paint it on in specific areas, then heat set, and wash out the gelatin. Just more ideas;-)

I dyed some ecru hose back in 2010 using Rit dye. Results were fair. The hose I used were on the inexpensive side, meaning they had little-to-no actual wool content. They were mostly man-made fibers that didn't want to truly accept the dye. I posted about it here, although my photos are no longer active in that thread, thanks to Photobucket's recent change. I have long lost the photos of the dyeing process, but here's how they turned out in the long run. The dye was supposed to be dark green, but the synthetic fiber just never would hold fast the colour. In the end, I kind of like the "Lovat Green" effect that I was left with. It will turn the bottoms of my feet slightly green on hot summer days when my feet sweat in them. But other than that, the dye stays fairly consistently light green over time.

[MacGumerait]

Steve ,

You must have the patience of a priest .

Even though my background is in mechanical engineering and construction engineering .... I can still see myself sitting down in front of this sock knitting machine and saying ...

" Okay mechanical beastie ... you and me are gonna have problems . "

Cheers , Mike

[The Wizard of BC]

Well, I will admit that the learning curve on these machines is huge. I spent the first 6 weeks cranking every day before I got my first good sock. Then another three tries before I had a mate to that first one.

There are a lot of people who like to tell you how historically important these machines were and how many socks were made with them. In reality I suspect that the vast majority of the machines you can find on Ebay, even thought they are approaching 100 years old, have never successfully made a sock. That is why you can find them at farm auctions and in barns and attics all over N. America. They were put there after the frustration of not being able to make it work and forgotten.

Now however I can crank a pair of socks in just under 4 hours. I then spend another hour and a half closing the toes because that must be done manually.

But hey, a pair of kilt hose will send a hand knitter into fits. A full weeks worth of knitting at about 4 hours per day for hand knit socks.

Now, I find cranking to be very restful and soothing. I'll go down into the basement, put an old movie into the player and have a sock done before the movie ends.

But oh boy, in the beginning there were times when I was ready to toss that hunk of metal into the street and drive over it with a steam roller.

Now I am invited to teach others how to set up their machine and how to get it to make a good looking sock. We are even going to host what we call a "Crank-in" next year. We will invite anyone who found one of these machines in the back of grandma's closet to come and learn how to make a sock on it. We are going to bring in the representative of the company who made my machines in Cape Girardeau, MO. to come to Victoria and help out.
If you ever really wanted to know more about these incredible machines this would be a great time.

[MacGumerait]

There are a lot of people who like to tell you how historically important these machines were and how many socks were made with them. In reality I suspect that the vast majority of the machines you can find on Ebay, even thought they are approaching 100 years old, have never successfully made a sock. That is why you can find them at farm auctions and in barns and attics all over N. America. They were put there after the frustration of not being able to make it work and forgotten.

You have my greatest respect for mastering this device .

It conjures up memories of the old " Addressograph Machine " used to stamp out nameplates and dog tags .

I'm guessing that when one finds them in a barn or attic .... they are laying next to the old hand crank corn shellers and apple peelers .

[LKM]

A great improvement over the white. The picture with the bucket remind me of tie-dying t-shirts. I hope the dye you used will stay when the socks are washed better they the color did on the shirts I tie-dyed. Those shirts are almost white again but my life likes one of them.