Re: sock needles, ws Semi-OT: Another lost lamb checking in

I am using Flamborough Pattern 1 from Gladys Thompson's Patterns for
>Guernseys, Jerseys & Arans

That's a handsome pattern. Thompson's book is a good source for patterns and folklore, though some of her conclusions were affected by the amount of pure fable made up by Hans Kiewe in 1938 when he discovered the new designs being invented at the time and claimed they went back to antiquity. She does show guernseys that were worn for years, in one case for two generations. Staithes I (Mr Verrill's guernsey) was worn for many years and was still in the possession of his granddaughter. Matt Cammish's guernsey was worn by his father before him, and had been in continual use for forty years (pg.23). Catherine Gillies of Inverness is quoted on page 102 as saying that the designs have symbolic meanings going back "hundreds of years", but I've been searching for any evidence other than folklore memory, and so far I haven't found any. Knit-purl patterns do seem to begin in the late 16th century - there are some stockings and a pair of silk trousers knitted with knit-purl patterns - but no guernseys, and the

16th century patterns are not the ones found on guernseys.

using >BLUSH< Lion Brand Fisherman's wool. >That yarn has 4 tightly spun plys that allow it to be knit very tightly.

With that yarn, do you get the same gauge given in the patterns?

I started with another yarn, and ended up frogging 20,000 stitches. >Then, I swatched several other yarns. I decided that most modern >yarns of that weight do not like being knit that tight.

I find that sometimes, as I make the stitch, I will twist the yarn a little tighter than it was spun. It makes a slightly firmer texture.

=Tamar