Tartan hose vs plain hose

[Jack Daw]

My personal preference is to save the tartan hose for evening attire, even if I am only wearing a black Argyll jacket. I do like to wear my various diced hose with daywear. I never wear tartan hose for piping, just diced, except when I'm dressed in black tie.

[orangehaggis]

I have reservations about investing in any pair of hose without at least 20% nylon content. Nylon adds to the abrasion resistance of the sock and helps stave off the felting that another XMarker mention a few days ago. In my experience, felting contributes to foot odour as the felted portion of the sock cannot be washed as thoroughly as the unfelted remainder of the sock. Even 80/20 wool/nylon mix socks will felt with extensive wear. Thankfully this has only occurred with my £13 solid colour hose - my diced hose (royal blue and black if you please!) don't get the wearing my solids get.

Perhaps others with 100% wool hose (solid or diced/tartan) could share experiences of sock wear.

Mark O - Ohio

[Pleater]

I have been making socks and hose for about 40 years - I found that the bar of stitching across the top of my toes on bought socks was just too uncomfortable after a couple of hours walking in boots, even the soft ones suitable for the English Pennines.

The trick is to use washable wool, wool that has been treated to prevent the scales of the fibres rising and interlocking.

Wool still in the natural state feels wonderful, but you are better off felting it from the beginning rather than trying to maintain it, as you might be able to keep it so as a jacket, hat or scarf, but socks - you really have no chance as the heat, humidity and friction socks experience are the requirements for felting par excellance.

Sock yarns available last century here in the UK, for everyday wear in shoes was a 90/10 mix of wool and Nylon, with the wool being quite high quality. Boot socks could be 20 to 60 percent Nylon, and the wool content of a tougher coarser kind.

Older washable yarns had a very strange feel, and even an odd smell when washed, and were not very nice to wear. Modern methods of treatment - I think it is a resin coating, are much better and far more like the natural feel of wool.

Hand knitted, or machine knitted with thick enough yarns, can be reworked to replace damaged feet, or have the foot part removed, the edge neatened and be worn with short socks - if worn with open shoes they can have a strip or band of knitting around the instep to fill in the gap and secure them in place, made from the unraveled part.

Anne the Pleater

[lickstone]

I have a knitting book of Scottish hose patterns by Veronica Gainford of Argyll, Scotland. As a schoolgirl in the 1914 war she made numerous khaki and grey. They were worn with knickerbockers.
She says that "shooting stockings are no longer called such but she reported that stockings must come over the knee. "hose". Never, never should they be called "socks", or worse still, "sox"! She also stated that they could be turned up over the knee for warmth or protectin as in deer stalking.
I, mysellf found it interesting that she was from Argyll, Scotland.

I have a question re tartan hose

After looking at some old prints of highlanders of various clans etc and seeing them all wearing tartan moggans ( moggans = footless hose tied up with a garter etc ) why is tartan hose, Argyle hose etc now considered only suitable for full dress ? . Why did this come about ?

Kilted Kiwi

[Friday]

"hose". Never, never should they be called "socks", or worse still, "sox"!

The difference between Hose and Sock, about $75 (US) and many hours knitting.

[Phil]

At £100+ a pair there's no way I'm wearing them day in day out. I can't think of any other reason not to wear them though.

[Phil]

You have the back seam twisted around to the inside of your leg..

Sorry but are you replying to my post?

[piperdbh]

If one really wanted "tartan" hose, he would have to make them form tartan, like Dr. Newsome's photo shows. As has been previoulsy posted, the pattern in knitted won't exactly match the sett of the tartan, although that can be done.
I would like to see Argyle/"tartan" hose with a solid color cuff instead of continuing the diamonds and rakers.

By the way, are "self-colored" and "solid-colored" the same thing?

[Phil]

By the way, are "self-colored" and "solid-colored" the same thing?

Yes - the same.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

If one really wanted "tartan" hose, he would have to make them form tartan, like Dr. Newsome's photo shows.

Thanks for the compliment, but I'm one degree shy of that appellation. :-)


Mr. Newsome.