It's been said that necessity is the mother of invention. And so it goes with Highland Pipe Socks. If you are a piper that has spent several thousand dollars on bagpipes then you know what can happen if your pipes are not protected when you put them in a box and travel. I've heard pipers complain about getting scratches in the wood and silver on their pipes. I don't like stuffing my own pipes away in a box and decided to do something about it.
About a year ago (summer 2003), the thought came to me to cover the drones with some kind of cloth to protect them and a few months later a design popped into my head. My goal was to be able to cover the drones quickly and not have to take the drone cords off. By late November, I got up the nerve to ask a piper Chris Hamilton, what he thought of my idea. He said the concept sounded good, the problem of the drone cords concerned him but he was very interested.
With that little bit of encouragement it was off to the fabric store! Do you know what kind of looks you get when you're the only man in a fabric store full of women? It aint pretty! They were taking some kind of class that day and looked as if their territory was being invaded. I picked a number of fabrics to test and made my way home.
After many, hours and days of labor a prototype was born. It was a crude representation so I went to a sewing contractor to help with putting together a finished looking product. The prototype was sent to Chris for testing but he wasn't 100% satisfied with it. Some modifications had to be made along with a new prototype.
Eureka!
By the end of April, 04 the design was completed and Chris Accepted it. P&R Sewing in Moosic, Pennsylvania was contracted to produce the first production of Highland Pipe Socks.
I'd like to thank Chris Hamilton for putting up with all my calls and emails, Rob Smith at P&R Sewing for taking on this project, my Wife Cathy for putting up with all my shennanigans and to the Lord who most importantly, supplies all my needs and I give the credit for any success.
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