There were definitely some clever tarts around! Knit in Aran weight and from sizes 24-37”, this gansey is knitted in the round to the armholes, then the front and back are worked separately back and forth. Where can we find the pattern for the gansey Deb is wearing? Nora, a long-time resident of Flamborough who died in 2011, had been taught to knit by her fisherman father after her mother had drowned at Robin Hood’s Bay. There is a type of Double Moss motif made up of 2 rows of knit then 2 rows of p2k2 to end, which is known as Betty Martin and was widely used in Filey and Flamborough, but none knows if Betty Martin actually existed. Wow. Really interesting, A few of those storyâs I have heard appropriated to Fair Isle patterns too – a wearer being identified by their Jumper etc and the sharing of patterns by gutters travelling. I also sell wool, needles, etc. + Stadium Hat
The ones I’ve seen have all been cream & they don’t strike me as workwear (check archival photos of old fishermen). In addition to supplying Ganseys such as those above, we also sell Gansey Knitting Kits, to knit your own. By the 19th century fishing communities had developed their own favoured gansey designs according to the region they lived in. From Nora’s Ganseys we were able to make charts of the patterns which, beforehand, had not normally been written down … I can be reached at karen@fringeassociation.com, + Sloper: Basic pattern for a sleeveless sweater, + Improv: Basic pattern for a top-down sweater, + Plait Hat
And I’ve also seen references to a historical figure named Henry Freeman, survivor of multiple disasters, who famously wore such a gansey in famous photos. SOMEDAY VS. socks, then graduate on to the pattern most commonly knitted in their house, which might be in the local style, with variations added from the knitters’ travels. For those wanting to know more about Gansey history and patterns, in addition to your Propgansey website, what books or other resources do you recommend? This upper body Seeds & Bars is also frequently associated with Polperro in Cornwall. She had originally been taught to knit Ganseys before the war by her fisherman father after her mother had been drowned at Robin Hood’s Bay. Take my daily exercise: for the last eleven weeks, since lockdown began, every day at noon, come rain or shine, I’ve gone for a walk. All the patterns and charts are saved as an easy to read 24 page pdf file. See more ideas about knitwear, sweaters, knitted. I’ve spent loads of time since then in conversation with assorted people about their knowledge of these sweaters, fielding recommendations and following leads, reading the informed comments on that and the follow-up post, and most of all exchanging emails with Deb Gillanders, above, of Propagansey, who reached out after the initial post and has been filling me in on so much of what I was wanting to know! Also, in the 1930s tuna fishing became extremely popular off the Yorkshire coast with many well-heeled recreational fishermen coming to places like Scarborough for this sport â they saw the local Ganseys, wanted a special version for themselves, and thus was born the white Gansey for ‘Best.’ Around the same time, Channel Island Parishes were being altered, with some deciding to mark the occasion and promote their identity with a new motif for their Guernseys. And of course visitors to Whitby are always welcome to come & do some Gansey-handling in Whitby Wholefoods. One Filey pattern is named after a local man called Matt Cammish. My interest in Ganseys began some years ago when I met a retired trawlerman at a party; he was telling a scurrilous tale and wearing a beautiful old blue patinated Gansey that he’d knitted himself. Going back to the geography question, it’s also widely believed that each port (or even each family) had its own distinct design, and you could identify a drowned fisherman by his sweater. Such rich history to tap into here in the world of gansey-lore. Thank you for the research and interview!! If your beloved fisherman was lost at sea, their patterned gansey was used to idenitify them and return them home. A designer hand knitted scarf based upon the gansey designs from Robin Hood's Bay. And here’s a fun fact, dear readers: The gansey Deb is wearing in the top photo was later knitted for her by the trawlerman who first sparked her interest in ganseys. Feb 2, 2019 - Gansey Pattern Robin Hoods Bay Hand Knitting Pattern. Robin Hood’s Bay Cardigan: Week 7 – 8 June I am, it is probably fair to say, a creature of habit. So all these human activities had an impact on what we now think of as ‘traditional’ Arans, Guernseys, etc. Robin Hood's Bay gansey with shoulder strap detail. HOT TIPS As Propagansey I sell Frangipani wool, attend wool shows and give talks and workshops on Ganseys and their yarns. Cromer Museum’s Gansey collection is fascinating. They’re not just a UK thing â you mentioned Holland as well. It has been in place since 1886 and believed to be the smallest listed structure in the UK. Gansey Pattern - Whitby Hand Knitting Pattern from Wayside Flower. Keep your ears warm during cold months ahead. I think most knitters have a general sense of what a gansey is (and you can set me straight on any fine distinctions here) â A type of fisherman’s sweater most closely associated with Great Britain, typically navy blue, that features a mix of stitch patterns (from simple to complex, sometimes cables but often just knits and purls) often contained to the upper part of the sweater, along with seamless construction and a distinctive underarm gusset. We aim to email out the pdf to you next day. How awesome is that? Just when you think you’ve nailed it … . Pingback: Queue Check â June 2018 | Fringe Association, Pingback: What I Know About: Breed-specific yarn (with Brooke Sinnes) | Fringe Association, Pingback: The Ganseys â Vanessa Pellisa, Pingback: Top posts and highlights of 2018 - Fringe Association. This pattern for my son with size 49,5 is based on a fisherman’s gansey from Robin Hoods Bay on the coast of North East Yorkshire. Cast out of metal in the shape of a cod, visitors are encouraged to feed the fish with a coin or even a note when they stroll down the slipway towards the sea. My world is rocked. Feb 27, 2019 - Traditional Hand Knitted British Gansey Knitwear. If you are ever in Whitby go and visit Deb in her shop: a few years ago I got to meet her and she let me handle some lovely old Ganseys. The Dutch word is Visserstruien. We aim to email out the pdf to you next da… Incidentally, Henry Freeman was from Bridlington (these things are important) although he gained fame as Cox’n of the Whitby lifeboat, having been the sole survivor of a disaster where he was wearing the only brand-new cork life jacket. Hand knitting on 2 needles and in the round on set of 5 x 2.5mm needles. When I began, over 10 years ago, I thought I was doing well to show two dozen or so but it’s now probably the biggest display of its kind in the world, with well over 100 Ganseys old and new from around UK and Holland. Ganseys in Whitby usually have a 3-button opening on the left side of the neck; this came down with the Scottish herring lassies, and when I met some Polperro knitters a few years ago they hadn’t seen this but thought it was a very good idea. Without any front openings it acts as a fabulous windbreaker to keep you warm and out of the breeze. (Please note this pattern is saved as a pdf file and not a printed document. One Yorkshire woman married and moved to Cornwall, taking her Betty Martin upper sleeve motif with her â it was seen as very distinctive. Full written pattern with step by step colour pictures and pattern charts. Hand knitting on 2 needles and in the round on set of 5 x 2.5mm needles. I hope to get to your exhibit someday. I find myself sitting amongst all my gansey books, wondering if I need a few more. The pattern was unique to the village they came from so when lost at sea or had too many shandys they could be identified and returned home to their loved ones. ⢠Michael Pearson; Traditional Knitting of the British Isles, vol 1: Fisher Gansey Patterns of North East England, and vol 2: Fisher Gansey Patterns of Scotland and the Scottish Fleet (In-print option: âTraditional Knitting: Aran, Fair Isle and Fisher Ganseysâ) We aim to email out the pdf to you next da… Wayside Flower | Handmade Store Making Traditional Knitwear & Outerwear I also curate an annual exhibition every September in Robin Hoods Bay. The Storr Original Gansey from Berties of Bay. My family is from Skye, and I suspect that they wore something knitted when they went fishing, but so far I haven’t found anything. For more photos of Henry Freeman, have a look in the fisherfolk section of the gallery on http://www.sutcliffe-gallery.co.uk (I particularly like the one of him with ‘Hat hair’..). However I can tell you it’s made up of Betty Martin, Scottish Flags & Cable. Hand knitting on 2 needles and in the round on set of 5 x 2.5mm needles. I’ve attached a photo of James Verrill (see photo above) modelling his Gansey rather successfully outside Old St. Stephen’s Church, where Propagansey 2015 was held. Arts & Humanities Website. Would you like to give the poem an airing here .. ? This is a remarkable interview – so fascinating. When I first posted that seemingly innocuous photo of Daniel Day-Lewis wearing his splendid gansey, I did not imagine anything like where it has led. Nov 26, 2020 - Explore Will C's board "Gansey" on Pinterest. Some west coast fishermen used to get jobs on board flash yachts out of Glasgow; they were often issued with Ganseys, plain except for the vessel’s name sewn on. This is a delightfully fascinating interview, thank you for sharing it! However, I have heard of a body being recognised by its Gansey. Sometimes they forgot to give them back. Easy Knitting Patterns Free Knitting Baby Knitting Sweater Patterns Hand Knitted Sweaters Knitted Blankets Robin Hoods Bay Spinning Yarn Learn How To Knit. In particular, there are several patterns and references to “a Staithes” as the sub-type of gansey DDL is wearing. For example, some areas favoured vertically arranged patterns; some horizontal; some covered everything with ropes (cables), others didn’t…. And since my own knowledge of fishermen’s sweaters generally resides a bit further north/east, I thought I’d mention that the Norwegian word for pullover, “genser,” is thought to come from English gansey/guernsey. Jan 21, 2020 - Gansey Knitting Patterns | Gansey Hand Knitting Pattern | written pattern with colour pictures & pattern charts | Heritage Knitting Patterns | Wayside Flower I really want to knit one of those. All the patterns and charts are saved as an easy to read 24 page pdf file. Derived from the traditional Staithes knitting pattern sailors and fishermen wore Ganseys to keep them warm. + L'Arbre Hat
I found the Ganseys in the Cromer museum fascinating, and wrote a post about them about this time last year. They are knitted with 5 ply worsted wool in one piece with no seams. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. ⢠Gladys Thompson; âPatterns for Jerseys, Guernseys & Aransâ And yet there are types with names that are commonly known and used and understood. All the patterns and charts are saved as an easy to read 24 page pdf file. Gansey Pattern Robin Hoods Bay Hand Knitting Pattern. Ganseys can be broadly characteristic of an area, or even place. + Stadium Mitts. (Look out for the scene in Phantom Thread with a chapel behind them further up the hill where they’re walking down a street together â yes, that’s Staithes!). Have we found a pattern for that yet? Staithes is a small, scenic, isolated ex-fishing village 12 miles north of Whitby. But is that a logical assumption in any way, or is it in fact tied to a specific place, Staithes? Thousands of herring lassies moved down the East coast of Britain every year gutting and packing the herring, knitting and nicking each others’ patterns, and they hadn’t heard of intellectual property rights â if they saw something they liked, it was copied and added to their repertoire! Does anyone know what they wore on the west coast of Scotland? The warmest and sunniest since—well, since the age of the dinosaurs, probably. NEW FAVORITES The Hebridean, or Eriskay Gansey probably originated in the 1930’s & is distinct because it has 2 different pattern areas, ie the belly & the chest. SLOW FASHION They’re all built more or less the same. Spacious 1st floor 2 bedroom apartment in this substantial late Victorian villa situated in the upper part of this popular coastal village. Great article. Thank you Karen, for this wonderful series. Also useful if they’d consumed too many shandies… 100% pure British Wool. + Whichaway Mitts
Gillanders, who lives in Whitby (near Staithes) and curates an annual gansey exhibit in the nearby village of Robin Hood’s Bay, also loaned three ganseys to the costume department of “Phantom Thread,” and says you can see him wearing one of them in the scene where he decides not to go dancing for New Year’s. How many different sub-types are there, would you say? Flat 2, Lyndhurst, Mount Pleasant North, Robin Hoods Bay YO22 4RE. Full written pattern with step by step colour pictures and pattern charts. She’s passionate about them and is more than willing to pass on information and stories…. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! I just love history combined with patterns. Or even more specifically to Henry Freeman somehow? Then she herself might marry and move to her husband’s village. Hand knitting on 2 needles and in the round on set of 5 x 2.5mm needles. No poem, just a brief blog post about visiting Cromer and the museum. So Deb, how did you first become interested in Ganseys? Maybe I’ll just knit a plain one :-), Pingback: Fiber Friday | 4.20.18 | As Kat Knits. + Hermaness Worsted Hat
+ 1898 Hat
Hand crafted in 100% cotton drill, this hard wearing versatile garment is cut wide so it can be worn purely as a fashion piece over the top of our Breton Striped Shirt or over one of our fab Gansey Fisherman’s Jumpers. This seamless construction is not only unlikely to fall apart in heavy-duty working conditions, it’s also very easy to effect repairs. This super-simple version almost looks to me like a starter gansey â like maybe you would have learned this and then gone on to knit more elaborate ones. There’s a horizontal row dividing this from the belly, which is patterned with more vertical elements which may include Scottish Flags, which invests the whole thing with a delightful pleat affect. Gansey Nation. Thank you, Deb and Karen! Within the realm of Ganseys, there are varieties associated with different ports or regions â this is the part I’ve been digging into more since all that erupted in the wake of my initial Daniel Day-Lewis post. . You’re right; the Seeds & Bars pattern is an easy one; not only to knit but also to adjust to fit the wearer. The sky is brilliantly clear, as though God has taken the glass lid off the tableau vivant that is His creation for a better look at how we’re all getting on. THE DETAILS Growing up with Gansey knitters, a child would start on small items, e.g. MAKE YOUR OWN BASICS And, of course, the proprietor of Fringe Supply Co. IDEA LOG The chest motifs are usually in the form of possibly symmetrical panels, separated by eg cable, featuring motifs such as Tree of Life, or Saltair. There is evidence of some Ganseys in Shetland as there was a large Dutch contingent here for a time. Saved by Wayside Flower. Spring has come to Caithness—by which I mean that it snowed last week, a light pithering on the wind, soft white flakes swirling out of a dark grey sky. Thanks for this – my family emigrated to Victoria in 1839, so sadly well before the Eriskay Gansey, and much in the way of photography, either. Where are the geographical boundaries between ganseys and jerseys and aran sweaters, fuzzy though they may be? See you there…. QUEUE CHECK We aim to email out the pdf to you next day. Derived from the original Whitby knitting pattern. Surviving photos give a different story with that same ‘Filey’ pattern turning up in Polperro, or Robin Hood’s Bay, or Yarmouth. FREE PATTERNS It’s knitted on 2mm needles, with a tension of 11st/”. So of course, I asked if I could pick her brain a bit on behalf of all of you, and interview her for the blog. Thanks for this; I really enjoyed the interview and now I have ideas about ganseys/guernseys floating about in my head. There are two Gansey patterns associated with, although not exclusive to, Staithes: one in the V&A is a vertical pattern involving cable and moss, very similar to Robin Hoods Bay, about 6 miles south of Whitby; the other, associated with the Verrill family, is DDL’s. OUR TOOLS, OURSELVES + Seathwaite Hat
Deb is a fount of knowledge, all things Gansey related. How to improvise a top-down sweater, Part 1: Casting on and marking raglans. And that makes perfect sense about contract knitters sticking to this comparatively simple pattern. I hope to catch up with her at Wonderwool Wales later this month where she usually exhibits gansey old and new. 8 Full written pattern with step by step colour pictures and pattern charts. However, I do believe that many Gansey knitters were operating when Ganseys were a part of life and you’d pick up the basics with your daily breath, just as kids today are at home with their various devices. Examples from the North East have featured in what is the biggest exhibition of ganseys in the historic Old St Stephen’s Church, overlooking Robin Hood’s Bay, near Whitby. That Verril gansey! 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And references to “ a Staithes Gansey 4.20.18 | as Kat Knits year! A UK thing â you mentioned Holland as well marking raglans or in fact tied to a place... The Staithes design, thank you pattern charts the dinosaurs, probably for Gansey is a fascinating. Logical assumption in any way, or in fact here https:,!, and wrote a post about visiting Cromer and the museum âScurrilous Guernseyâ: ) it be! Hand knitting on 2 needles and in the world of gansey-lore knitters, a child would start on items! To a specific place, Staithes jumper is a unique gansey jumper robin hoods bay of jumper traditionally worn by fishermen rare... Tools, OURSELVES Q for you SLOW FASHION SOMEDAY VS in one piece with seams! Such rich history to tap into here in the round on set of 5 x 2.5mm needles year! It acts as a Staithes ” as the sub-type of Gansey DDL is wearing you won ’ t his Gansey! Can we find the pattern for the Gansey designs according to the region they lived in Whitby & images! She usually exhibits Gansey old and new think you ’ d encourage people toward,... Whitby pattern & you won ’ t had time to read 24 page pdf file her ’...