sweaters

On 16 Jan 2006 12:21:56 -0800, "jes" spewed forth :

Or use Elizabeth's fake cap sleeve, which is set into a steek. No binding off as you graft in the live stitches, per my recollection. Ought to make for a stretchier armhole.

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Lost me. What's a steek?

On 16 Jan 2006 12:37:00 -0800, "jes" spewed forth :

Its a place where you actually (don't faint) cut the knitting (don't faint) to do something like install a sleeve, make a neck opening, or even open the front for a cardigan. Its a pretty typical thing to do for colorwork sweaters (ie, Fair Isles for example) because you just keep sailing on in the round with your colorwork, no need to try to purl back in pattern and say bad words.

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I am rather fond on knitting everything without a seam, Thus my new turkiz sweater [+ delicate one hole lace :>:>:>] will be knitted "the Aran way" Knit collar than you knit 2 Side panel that come on the shoulder . Than you cast on stiches on side of panel , knit the middle stich on the collar and cast on stiches on 2nd panel ,,, knit this to wanted legth of arm hole [ remembering that arm hole has already the upper panel stiches as well as intended casting on of stiches on the underside of armpit ,, knit the same on the other side [panel casr on+collar + panel cast on ,,, , knit one of those panels, cast on armpit stiches , knit second panel , cast on second armpit and knit as long [ and in which wanted pattern you want] as you need/want finnish as wanted ,,,, Back to arm holes , knit panel stiches , cast on stiches on 1 side of armhole cast stiches on armpit stiches , and cast on stiches on other side , knit downwards , and calculate when you decrease stiches all over the length of the sleeve ,,, do the same others side ,,, mirjam

On Tue, 17 Jan 2006 19:23:27 GMT, spewed forth :

It isn't all that uncommon - a basic top-down saddle-shoulder construction, which I've seen in several books. I made my first Aran as Mirjam describes, tho I unvented the method after decided I didn't need to do all that making-up and setting in of sleeves and whatnot.

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That is certainly a very interesting approach to knitting an Aran. I printed it out on >archival< paper and put in my knittng notebook.

I am very interested in the provenance of his method.

I thought that Pre 1900, Aran sweaters were knitted in the round from the bottom up for their own consumption, and sometime before WW1 they started knitting for market.

My understanding is that the knit for market Aran sweaters were knit as front and back panels and stitched together. The sweater construction method that you are laying out below, does not strike me as suitable for a knit for market industry. Thus, the method below may well be a traditional sweater making method which needs to be preserved for future generations.

Aaron

Pre-1900 there were no "Aran" sweaters. There were ganseys, and apparently in some European countries there were socks knitted with bobbles, and certainly ganseys had cables, but the stereotypical "heavy white cabled Aran sweater" was invented sometime in the early 20th century. Most of the fabled 'history' of it was made up out of whole cloth by a man who owned a yarn store and had a vested interest in pushing lovely romantic stories. There is a photograph of a small boy in a white communion gansey from the year before the film Man of Aran was made (in which there are no Aran sweaters).

When the first patterns for Arans and Guernseys were published, after 1938, the author had written the patterns to be knit in the round as they were, but the publishers had the patterns changed to be flat-knitted. Later editions changed them back.

=Tamar

Right! That is close to my understanding. However, I am not certain that we are correct as Gadys Thompson offers another view, and she seems to have done a fair amount of onsite research going back to before 1938. The Queen Mother was quite a knitter, and she seemed to to think that Thompson was getting it right in 1938.

In the photographs in Synge's 1907 book on the Aran Islands that helped popularized the Aran Islands as a tourist destination I see knit vests, hats and many shawls from dark wool. There is one photo of 4 men landing a boat. One of the men may be wearing a light colored, patterned gansey, but I do not think it is what we could call an Aran sweater today. Synge mentions that "fisherman's jerseys" are common on Aranmor but that he only has seen one on Inishmaan, but really does not describe them.

Aaron

AAron it isn`t my original idea , i saw it somewhere and made my first one , later in USA [in 81-82], i bought a Mon Tricot knitting dictionary and ReMet this pattern ,, i was very glad to do it again. and ever since make one every several years. I prefer it to the knitting up , fits better ,, mirjam ps this time i am using the outer idea , but i wilmake a delicate lace , and no cables ,,, the panels i made purl side up with intention to knit/embroider tiny flowers on them mirjam

I am fascinated by this method - I have knit top down before but always raglans. It took me a while to see it in my mind, but now I think I can.

The method just seems so logical as a way for a good knitter to make a tailored garment without a lot of stitch up; that I thought it must be a traditional method. Note that Wooly unvented the same method. However, I do not find it in my traditional knitting references. But, that is OK. Those books leave out most of the good stuff any way.

The most logical thing and a change from raglans and Neat See my source that looked like my first ones ,, MON TRICOT , 1300 pattern stiches , advice , hints, Knitting Dictionary , 1981. The True Aran Knit , page 125. Ps have you read ? A History of hand knitting , By Richard Rutt ??? mirjam

The Rutt book is on my reading list but I have not gotten to it yet, as is Mary Wright's book on knitting in Wales. I will add the Mon Tricot to my list of books that I am looking for. Thanks!