October '15

We have received a large number of letters from our members, asking us whether we could look into the origins of some typical sock patterns. So it was the sock enthusiasts who decided the pattern for this month. Both letters expressed interest in one of the most classic models with an overlay of intercrossing diagonal thin lines on solid diamonds.  The most accurate indication of this design offers the English word "argyle". And so we came across a region of western Scotland called Argyll, where the famous propagators of the kilt - the famous Scottish "male skirt" - with a very distinctive pattern of lines and squares - used to live. A closer look under the skirts of Scottish highlanders explains the rest of the mystery regarding the origin of argyle. In order to protect their feet from the cold, these men wore the kilt with kilt hose (knee-high socks) with the same pattern, however it was rotated by 45 degrees so that the squares became diamonds and the world got to know one of the most traditional patterns, a pattern which decorates our October sock.