Russet Lodge Custom Knits

Due to requests for more specifics than I gave in my last post, here are my prices for hand-made, custom-sized kilt hose. Standard kilt hose: ribbed cuff and knit body in any single color - $65 Cabled hose: ribbed cuff and cable work in any single color (my design choice) - $85 Simplified Balmoral hose: three-color entrelac cuff and single-color body in any colors(pics coming soon) - $110 Argyle kilt hose: ribbed cuff and three-color argyle body in any colors- $140 Balmoral hose: two-color entrelac with two small stripes and single-color body in any colors- $140 Any other custom work priced based on time and complexity (contact me) Prices updated to reflect yarn costs, etc.

With the opening of my list to new orders I have been thinking about more possibilities for those interested in my wares. All of my kilt hose orders thus far have either been for plain-knit, simplified balmoral, or argyle kilt hose. I have one order for tartan hose, which are similar to argyle, but the possibilities really are endless. I'm great at cable knitting and even design custom cables. Color work is another possibility for distinctive hose, with options such as diced cuffs as well as shepherd's plaid and other fair isle-style color patterns. I also design colorwork to order, so that you can incorporate initials, designs, etc. into your hose. I encourage everybody to think creatively when it comes to kilt hose, and feel free to contact me any time to communicate about custom work.

Despite closing my waiting list several months ago, the order requests continue to pour in. Since I have a second knitter, and since my customers insist they don't mind the wait, I am going to re-open my waiting list. I will continue to take payment as I get ready to start orders and I will continue to say that you should expect to wait a year for your order. Please try not to flood me too terribly. Christmas is coming, after all, and I have a whole family waiting for knitted goods, since the rule in our family is that all Christmas gifts must be home-made.

I have been daydreaming for a long time about the perfect knitting needle case, a fabric affair that has pockets of different sizes that I can roll up and tie shut. Yesterday, I finally made that dream a reality. I am in love with my new needle case! Here it is all closed up with my sewing machine (an antique Singer Featherweight that is my pride and joy) and opened with my gear inside:

Now that my yarn is dry and finished I just have to share a few more photos. Here is the yarn in skeins, and then, because I couldn't help but play with it, wrapped into balls and ready to knit. The color's not quite right in the second image, but you get the idea. Sunshine and candy canes, people!

I have long wanted to experiment with doing my own yarn dyeing. I had the chance to give it a try this weekend thanks to a few lucky thrift store finds. Both the yarns I got were old and the color just slightly off from what it had once been. Luckily, neither had moth holes or other moth damage, and both were 100% wool. Kool-aid dyeing is simple... one package of kool-aid per ounce of yarn (to saturate, that is). The drink is acidic enough that no additional acid is needed, and you don't even need that much heat to set the dye. My first attempt was with a pale yellow worsted weight wool, about three ounces, and some orange kool-aid. I decided both experiments were going to be monochromatic, but I wanted something unique. The yarn was already in a long skein, so I tied it in a few places and I was ready to go! I mixed up the kool-aid in a large pan (2 quarts of water, 1 package kool-aid, no sugar, of course). I only used one package because I still wanted a fair amount of the...

Well, as August winds down and the days start getting shorter my thoughts are turning once again to sweaters and scarves for myself, something I have accepted will probably never happen. The waiting list is gradually decreasing and my knitting minions are improving their skills, though who knows if they will use them for good or for evil. I am still making a fair bit of business for myself selling patterns. The bonnet pattern has been available for some time through Ravelry and through me directly, and I recently released a very customizable kilt hose pattern as well. I have a pattern for knitted fingerless gloves with mitten flaps, which I have so far only made for gifts, and if anybody would like a copy of that, it is also for sale. All patterns cost $3. In other news, I have some major yarn lust these days, and it is hard to keep myself from buying new yarn for myself (though I have quite a large stash of quite nice fibers), especially now that Noro has released kureyon as a so...

I saw this cartoon today and had a little laugh since it's so true... nataliedee.com

For those who don't know, I named my knitting blog Russet Lodge Knits after a series of comedy sketches by the venerable Catherine Tate displaying a refuge/home for harrassed redheads called russet lodge. When I was doing some vanity googling I came across this article from The Times Online, and it was eerily appropriate. http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life _and_style/women/families/article1873119.e ce Family forced to flee just for being ginger Andrew Norfolk A family of six have fled two homes after enduring a vicious hate campaign, apparently prompted by the colour of their hair. Kevin and Barbara Chapman say that anti-ginger prejudice has led to their property being vandalised and their four youngest children being subjected to a litany of cruel taunts, verbal abuse and bullying. The Chapmans and their children, who are from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, have a blaze of red hair which, they claim, has reduced them to living like fugitives in the city. Their plight carries uncomfort...

I just realized while going back through old orders that my wait time is up to nearly a year! This means I am not spending enough time knitting and am taking on more projects than I can handle. While I feverishly train my husband to knit bonnets and help with orders and continue my busy and challenging life the orders keep coming at a slow and steady pace. It is with all this in mind that I have decided to stop taking new orders for a while. I will still be selling patterns and will consider pattern design on a case-by-case basis. However, I simply cannot keep up with the volume of orders I have received, and I feel it unfair to ask anybody to wait a year for a $45 hat. When my waiting list time is back down between 8 and 12 weeks I will open it up to new orders. I would like to thank all of my clients for their patience with me. I'm only one woman, and hand-knitting takes a lot of time. When you add chronic tendonitis and carpal tunnel (due in large part to knitting) and a ...

Well, kilt hose have been consuming my life lately. Firstly, I am SO thrilled that I have finally finished and mailed the Isle of Skye Argyle hose. Here are reviews on X Marks the Scot , Brotherhood of the Kilt , and The Kilt Forum . Isn't my customer dashing in them? Right now I'm also working on The Endless Bonnet, in addition to my first knitted doily (from a book of 1940s doily patterns courtesy of a friend), and also repairing two pairs of kilt hose for a friend of mine who happens to do piping and Scottish Country Dance. The hose appear to be hand-made (though why anybody would make 100% acrylic hose by hand is beyond me) and look like someone blew the ends out of the toes with dynamite. They won't be perfect, but they'll be strong and they don't look nearly as bad as how he'd tried to repair them with thread. In short, I can rescue those kilt hose you can't bear to part with. I've updated my waiting list and I really am trying to plough thro...