Originating possibly on the Aran Islands, spreading wide through Europe, wherever the men were fishermen by trade their wives and sweethearts knit for them the iconic Fishermen Sweaters to weather the harsh conditions at sea. I find myself once again revisiting the elemental seascape through knitting, to stroll the sands of my creative imagination, collecting sentiments washed ashore, and above all, inspired from these iconic Fishermen Sweaters, I am working my needles to produce at long last, my own version. Just off the needles and blocking to dry, is the first of my own Fishy Thing . . .
I haven’t had a chance to sit down and write a post for weeks, as I’ve been really busy and distracted with things going on. Yes, of course, understandably, mostly now its raising Juno the puppy, but also working out of doors mowing wild grass, nervous as a rabbit in a race against the fire season, hoping to be prepared for the hot drying days ahead. Also I’ve been working on a new pattern that I started to write a couple of years ago when living in the tiny house, and then for some reason that I can’t remember, I put it down and did not follow through. In fact it has been very difficult for me to design anything in the last year, oppressed by worry, but now I feel lifted a bit, and able to focus on the intensive process required to write and knit several prototypes for a new pattern, all the while hunkering indoors being a puppy mommy for the remaining weeks of Spring, and all through the coming months of Summer. Relieved am I to have finally got an idea going again, and so I am putting my stashed yarns to work making samples, one after another, until one day in late summer, I hope to put it all together for Autumn. Until then, I will fill the time with stitches and puppy walks and my usual string of themed posts to entertain myself, wandering through research wormholes on Wikipedia, and of course anybody else who enjoys reading, watching, and listening to what I post, while I slowly but surely head to the finish. Ok! Revisiting of the sea, again, a theme which continues to pull me out with the undertow, and I’ll not put up any resistance. . . how about I kick off with a sea shanty to get in the mood?
Oh, and I am calling attention to all knitters who regularly read this space who might want to take part in knitting this upcoming design with me in the secret test-knitting phase, all in good fun. If you are feeling up to it, please message me over at Ravelry soon, and I’ll fill you in and you can decide if it is something you’re itching to knit. Thanks to all and I hope all are doing well, if not much better, on this flipside of a very dreary fifteen months which has been unbearable but is now nearly past. xx
Go now fishermen of olden days, slip away into the blues and greys of dawn. Find me, cast away, and draw me back in your nets of knotted twine, for I long to be caught and reeled back in to the world. O’ to be born into the day once again!
St Andrews Harbour in Scotland, is an historic fishing harbor inspiring this classic ensemble of socks, mitts & tam, and the namesake for the collection ~~ St Andrews Harbour.
Well, I’ve returned, with a fishermens gansey for your feet !
And for hands….
There’s an option for kilt-hose style turned cuffs ~~ adorned with kilt flashes or ribbons tied beneath cuff and folded down, this variation resonates the Scottish Highlands!
Option for legwarmers, anklewarmers, & boot cuffs….
boot cuffs ~ ankle warmers
Alive O’ !!
A bonus gift included of “Petra’s St Andrews Harbour Tam” !
Because nearing the end of my pattern writing for the socks, my good & dear friend Petra had been busy test-knitting the socks, but was also (secretly) adapting the sock pattern to a proper sea-worthy tam…
Thank you so much Petra for your tam contribution! ~ xx
So beautiful, easy to knit, and a Must Have! I am knitting one straight away ~~ but more on the tam knitting later. For now I am working like a team of knitting fisher lassies to get all this pattern submitted and sorted out.
Happy Spring everyone!
I have pushed to have this ready on the Vernal Equinox and and shared in short series of fishermen posts, and at last here it is ~~ done & dusted!
This painting caught my eye last winter, and so when the coast was clear in spring I dove into a lace designing frenzy. For a while I have wanted to make a female counterpart to my Fishermens Neck Gansey, and so here it is finally ~~~ done & dusted! Inspired by the painting, and in the same colorway as the painting …
Fishwives Shoal = shawl + stole. ( Okay, plus a cowl thrown in! ) A play on words, indeed. As many of you have been reading all the fishy posts leading up to this one (especially Shoal or School? will help you get the name of my new design). Fish tails motifs with yarn-overs resembling splashes, and waves in-between create a beautiful lace pattern. Three styles, and three sizes in each.
The Shawl is square, and worn folded diagonally around neck double thick and tucked into corset, or just pin together. This one shown in pink is the small shawl(ette) size, while largest size, with diagonal of 64”, wraps around whole torso as a traditional Scottish hap does, and would also do nicely as a throw.
The Stole is just as a French neck & shoulder wrap, sized from wide scarf to full shoulder wrap.
Medium stole.
Back of medium stole.
Small stole.
The Cowl is simplest of the three styles, and knit in-the-round.
Medium cowl
But of all the three styles, I think I love most is to wear two of them together!
Small stole in rose, with medium cowl in natural white.
Medium stole in light grey, with small shawl in pink.
Medium stole in light grey, with small stole in rose.
Well that about wraps up an epic project. I will be laying low for a while, but soon back on another big idea I am sure. ~~ Boat loads of thanks to Wendy from Ontario for her test-knitting and generous help with figuring things out! Thanks Wen! ~~xx
I’ve been a knitting fool with these Fishermen Neck Ganseys… in two styles; “St Andrews Harbour” and “Flamborough Cliffs”. I’ve given an armload of them away for the holiday gifts, but seems there are still a sufficient number left to photograph, and show off some new ones, with the most recent addition to complete the colorway of stone harbour at dawn …
The herringbone motif with moss panel or cables, including a simplified easy variation that knits up quick, and of which as of today I have a sample with this little silver darling….
Also finished today, the simple variation of Flamborough Cliffs in some Malabrigo Rios…
I am not sure if I am quite through knitting these, as they seem to be a hit with the men (and women) in our family, but with the new year approaching, it really is time for me to set my sights to a new knitterly horizon. I just am really very smitten with these neck ganseys, and so pleased to have this design as my 2016 finale.
