Come summertime, while many of us head straight to the beach, the British Royals make their way to the Scottish Highlands at the beginning of August for the Mey Highland Games located in John O’Groats, Caithness. This past August 1st, is exactly where King Charles III was found where he reigned as ‘Chieftain’ of the festivities. In Scotland, dozens of ‘Highland Games’ are held May to September, however this particular event was established in 1970 in honor of the Queen Mother’s 70th birthday. While living in London in the mid-1990s, I had the privilege of twice meeting the Queen Mother, then in her mid-90s, in her role as Patroness of Queen Mary’s Needlework Guild, which I am going to write about in the coming weeks. It was quite a thrill and, of course, hand knitting got me that introduction to her as well!
the Mey Highland Games
Much like our summer country fairs, the Scottish Highland games are a vibrant blend of traditional heavy athletics, Celtic music, Highland dancing, and clan pageantry, a reason to celebrate heritage and to get together for just some plain good fun. The games originated centuries ago as tests of strength for clan warriors, while modern games function like a combination of a track meet and a cultural festival. ‘Strength events’ are a big and rather unique feature of the games in which kilted athletes compete in feats demonstrating raw power. In the caber toss, athletes balance a giant wooden log vertically, run, and flip it end-over-end. The goal is a perfect flip so it lands straight ahead at a “12 o’clock” position. The stone put is like an Olympic shot put, where competitors hurl a heavy river stone as far as possible. In the Scottish hammer throw competitors stand stationary and whirl a metal ball attached to a long wooden shaft around their head before releasing it backward for maximum distance. And there’s more, but you get the idea. And what would a Scottish gathering be without bagpipers and drummers, in full ceremonial dress marching across the field, which commences with the Chieftan’s Parade. Add in some foot races and Highland dancing and you’ve got a real hootenanny.
King Charles in full Scottish gear
But of course, what caught my eye this past week was the shot of King Charles in full Scottish kit attending the games - and part of his attire is always hand knitted kilt hose held up by a red garter. This year he wore ‘green’ (see photo above) but in past years he’s also worn red and navy blue - I particularly like the ‘red’ stockings ♥️.
who knits the King’s hose?
The British Monarchy awards what is referred to as ‘Royal Warrants’ to makers of their clothing and also foodstuffs that they regularly use. It’s the ne-plus-ultra of endorsements; the idea being that, if it’s fit for the King, why then it’s fit for all. While several other European monarchies - Sweden, Denmark and Belgium grant their own equivalents of “Purveyor to the Court” - the United Kingdom is the only country that has current Royal Warrants awarded specifically for the bespoke craft of hand-knitted goods as well as hand-finished, hand-crafted knitwear.
The British Royal Household has roughly 800 warrant holders ranging from local artisans to global brands like Aston Martin and Twinings. To earn a Royal Warrant, a company typically must have a commercial relationship with the Royal Household for a least five years. The goods and services are not provided for free; all transactions are strictly commercial. Currently, there are only two Royal Warrants awarded to concerns that employ traditional hand-knitting, hand-cabling, and hand-linking craftsmanship: one to Wendy Keith Designs and the other to Corgi Hosiery.
Wendy Keith Designs was first awarded a Royal Warrant when the current King was a Prince. The Cornwall-based company employs artisans across the UK who strictly use traditional four-needle techniques to create bespoke, hand-knitted shooting stockings, kilt hose, and sweaters.
Wendy’s story..
Over forty years ago, Wendy Keith was asked to mend a pair of men’s shooting stockings. She grimaced at the prospect. The given pair had shrunk in a 30% [i.e, warm] wash, and the wool had ‘matted’ – but the experience gave Wendy an idea. That idea has blossomed into a highly successful and creative business with satisfied clients all over the world for over 40 years. She began by sourcing a few hand-knitters who had knitted ‘sailors socks’ close to the dock-yards at sea -ports such as Gosport, during the Second World War. This took time and great patience to achieve the quality required by the perfectionist. With an instinctive and deep love of the countryside Wendy combined her flair for design, and her commercial experience, to become a market leader in the production of hand-knitted shooting stockings, accessories and other distinctive country knitwear with a choice of yarns such as wool/mix (machine wash) to the wonderfully sensuous ‘Hint of Cashmere’ Baby Alpaca Possum/Merino from New Zealand and Extra Fine Merino from Australia
Her Royal Warrant is displayed on her website, but in good British form, she doesn’t mention her knitting for the King except to say:
Not withstanding the temptation over the years to source abroad, Wendy always insisted that ‘Flying the British Flag’ is vital to the future of her business. In 2014, Wendy has again extended her British Organic Collections, and include Rare British Sheep Breeds. The Award for the Best Organic Collection at Olympia in 2010, was sourced with the kind permission of the then HRH Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall, from their own organic Sheep at Highgrove Home Farm, Gloucestershire.
I’d love to be a fly-on-the-wall listening to the conversation between Charles’ valet when he orders socks from Wendy… “Sir, what color will the King be wearing this year?” 💂🏻 🇬🇧
Similarly, Corgi Hosiery, a knitwear and hosiery manufacturer, was granted a Royal Warrant in 1989 by the then-Prince of Wales. Based in a Welsh mining village, Corgi is renowned for its hand-cabled knitwear and luxury cashmere socks, utilizing century-old hand-knitting machines alongside master craftsmen who painstakingly hand-link the seams. If the granting of their Royal Warrant is more recent, the company was founded back in 1892.
Rhys Jones began producing thigh-high woollen socks for local coal miners in 1892. Still in Carmarthenshire, Wales we design and make the very best socks, knitwear and accessories, hand-crafted using natural yarns such as wool, cotton and cashmere. It’s all done in-house. We are best known for our socks ….
Corgi got its start with hand knitters, but today most of the stockings are made one-by-one on sock machines and hand-linked.
Both Wendy Keith Design and Corgi offer custom-made pieces and well within the range of affordability. Take a look at their websites. Corgi offers 45 cashmere colors even. Christmas is only 141 days away. 🎅🏻🎄
knit your own kilt hose
If you want to knit your own kilt hose, check out ravelry.com - there are lots of patterns to choose from….
A new ‘Whirl’ feature
I love cartoons and have long been an admirer and collector of Helen Hokinson’s output. She worked during the 1940-50s mostly for The New Yorker magazine. She poked fun at the eccentricities and privileged status of upper class women who lived primarily on the Upper East Side of New York; a comparable British cartoonist is Annie Tempest who works under the byline, Tottering-By-Gently, since 1993 for (UK) Country Life magazine. Who doesn’t like a giggle now and then, so here goes…
W o o l - B e i n g
cathycarron©2026Aug