A Postcard from: Coastal England
Today your postcard comes from coastal England, the island of Guernsey specifically. Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands located in the English Channel near the French coast. To remind you, I will be traveling the month of September and the blog/newsletter will feature knitting traditions from around the world for a few weeks!
Now, you may have heard of a Guernsey sweater and a Gansey sweater and have wondered what the difference is. It turns out that they are basically the same. One source says that Gansey is a dialectical variation of Guernsey. Traditional Guernseys were knitted without seams, in a square shape, with a straight high neck at a tight gauge.
Victorian fishermen ©Flamborough Marine Ltd
It originated as a seaman’s knitted woolen sweater. They are traditionally navy blue, reflecting the sea and sky. In order to keep out wind, water, and cold, they were quite close fitting, especially the neck, cuffs, and hem. The close fitting design also was a safety factor; it helped reduce the likelihood of getting caught on pieces of equipment or tackle.
Jared Flood’s Alvy © Brooklyn Tweed/Jared Flood
One of the features of these sweaters is the motifs that decorate them. Some are just on the upper part of the body, some go from neck to hem. The upper body needed to be knit more densely than the lower part for extra warmth. To accomplish this, knitters could show off their skills by adding designs. Some were inspired by everyday objects such as ropes, anchors, and nets. Others were based on the weather; waves, lightning, or hail.
Often a fisherman’s initials were knit into the sweater, for the morbid reason of making identification easier if there’d been an accident.
Amy Christoffers design, New Berlin Gansey © Amy Christoffers
The popularity of hand-knitted ganseys died out as cheaper, man-made versions became widely available. Thankfully, we have knitting designers who have brought this traditional sweater back so we can make one for ourselves! You can enter either word into the ‘patterns’ search bar on Ravelry. I used ‘gansey’ and narrowed my search to sweaters and found 20 pages of patterns!
Tin Can Knits design, Bowline © Tin Can Knits
The original ganseys were made with bulky yarn but modern-day ones are mostly worsted or DK weight with a looser fit. We invite you to choose a blue shade, knit one up, and you’ll be keeping the tradition alive!
Where will your postcard come from next week?
Happy knitting,
