Simply Stocking

No knitting done today, so I bring you yet another old project. After I got the hang of making socks, I decided to make some knee-high stockings to wear with my RenFaire outfits. Being poor, (which is only a good thing if you're applying for student loans or prescription drug assistance,) I got some of Caron's "Simply Soft" acrylic. I think the pair of stockings took about a skein and a half.



The leg is fitted, with increases and decreases on either side of center-back. The stockings are held up with garters (not the elastic kind, just a thin strip of garter-stitch that ties below the kneecap) that are eight stitches wide and something like 180 rows long [not shown]. "Tedious" doesn't even come close to describing the job of making them. Still, I like that I'm using a technique that's a little closer to being historically accurate.

People are always telling me that I should start my own knitting/sewing/costuming/general-craft business. I keep talking myself out of it because of my attention span, my somewhat lethargic progress rate, and especially the fact that I'm terrible at marketing myself. I under-price, I'm not an aggressive seller, and I'm never happy enough with my work to keep from mentioning its faults. In spite of all of that, I keep thinking about breaking into a niche market: RenFaire legware. Nobody else does it, as far as I know. Of course, the reason for that may be that nobody will shell out for a nice pair of hand-knit stockings. It's tough to do market research for a market that doesn't exist.

Even if I start such a business, (and I'd love to, if only to have an excuse to practically live at my favorite faire,) it'll be a few years down the line, when I'm (hopefully) away from my folks and doing my own thing. In the meantime, if y'all have any thoughts on the matter, sock it to me! (I know, it's lame. I didn't get much sleep last night.)