Got the kilthose finished at last. How many months have I been struggling? Basis was Cat Bordhi's Personal Footprints, working from the toe up. DId a bit on one, then a bit on the other, so they grew together.
They were a bit tight round Grant's ankles getting them on. The extra length was no problem for this tall chappie, but I had to put quite a lot of extra stitches in for his 17 inch calves (mine are 14 inches). Only just found out he swims 50 lengths every monring before going to work, which explains a lot! I took the calf shaping in a bit before starting the hidden rib.
Then I spent a couple of days deciding on the cable pattern for the turnovers. I ended up with woven lattice. I knew that most cables needed an extra 10% of stiches, but a sample showed it drew in rather a lot, so I added about 20% and forged ahead. I finished with four rows of rib and tow rows of tubular rib to do a Kitchener bind-off - quite pleased with this. But when I tried the first one on my own leg, the lattice was horribly tight. I am now waiting with heart in mouth for Grant to come round and try them on, with not much hope of them being right.
They definitely look better on a leg than off, as they don't want to lie flat on a sock blocker.
I had been wanting to make mittens on the CSM. In stocking stich they came out far too wide, and the sides of the gusset were very difficult to pick up. I considered a 1x3 rib and them closing it up with smocking, like Jenny Deters socks. However, I got a pleasant surpirse that 1x3 rib on its own closes up considerably. The top edge is backstich bind off, much neater and stretchier than I though it was going to be (so I am quite addicted to it now! Needs to be done in a good light though). For the thumb, I used EZ's "afterthought" principle, snipping a stich and unravelling to give 20 all round. Hand knit rib for 8 rows, and there you go. Thumb generally starts at the half way point, it's just slightly off in the stripey colour ones.
