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#1
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New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using
"Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. Aaron |
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#2
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Cool!!!!
I am finding Lion's Brand "Fisherman's Wool" impossible to locate locally. I am wondering if, with the introduction of their new felting wool, they might discontinue the Fisherman's. Or, maybe it's just my local stores. JJMolvik wrote in message et... New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. Aaron |
#3
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I saw some at JoAnns today, but not a lot.
Georgia "JJMolvik" wrote in message ... Cool!!!! I am finding Lion's Brand "Fisherman's Wool" impossible to locate locally. I am wondering if, with the introduction of their new felting wool, they might discontinue the Fisherman's. Or, maybe it's just my local stores. JJMolvik wrote in message et... New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. Aaron |
#4
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On Feb 19, 5:13 pm, wrote:
New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. When I used to knit them, Aaron, it would take me about six weeks to knit an adult size. I would knit while my son was napping and for a couple of hours after he went to bed. HIgs, Katherine |
#5
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On Mon, 19 Feb 2007 17:34:06 -0800, "JJMolvik"
wrote: Cool!!!! I am finding Lion's Brand "Fisherman's Wool" impossible to locate locally. I am wondering if, with the introduction of their new felting wool, they might discontinue the Fisherman's. Or, maybe it's just my local stores. I think that depends on the stores you're checking. At any rate. The last time I was in a Joann I saw Fisherman's Wool. Ghetto Lobby doesn't carry FW but does carry most other LB stuff. Michael's is hit-or-miss on any yarn that isn't trendy. Reputedly Wally is "shrinking" the craft section but the few times I've had a look the LB selection was quite small and included no wools at all. You should be able to order it directly from LB if you're desperate and willing to pay postage. |
#6
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When calculating Working schedules and trying to use this measure to
former times , one should remember that people had no cars [ thus walking time was longer, and no all knew how to knit while walkig] , No phones , no washing machines , dish washers , they used out houses, no paper trowels , etc,,, all these added HOURS of work , that could NOT used for knitting. also they tended sick kids , elder relatives , etc,, All THEHE has to be taken into account when trying to decided if people could or could not produce something in the same time a contemporary person does it ,, ps and don`t forget that light wasn`t as good as your`s. mirjam On Feb 19, 5:13 pm, wrote: New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. When I used to knit them, Aaron, it would take me about six weeks to knit an adult size. I would knit while my son was napping and for a couple of hours after he went to bed. HIgs, Katherine |
#7
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Joanne's corporate doles out yarn to stores with an eye dropper. Good luck
finding 10 skeins in a store, much less 10 skeins of the same dye lot. In course of a year, dye lots do vary considerably. Wait for a sale, and buy online. The Fisherman's wool has oil on it that gradually oxidizes - so you do not want it sitting at the bottom of your stash too long. (3 years) Buy it as you need it. If you are going to knit a masterpiece gansey, go get real gansey yarn. Or, at the very least, some of that Bendigo Merino. Aaron "Georgia" wrote in message ... I saw some at JoAnns today, but not a lot. Georgia "JJMolvik" wrote in message ... Cool!!!! I am finding Lion's Brand "Fisherman's Wool" impossible to locate locally. I am wondering if, with the introduction of their new felting wool, they might discontinue the Fisherman's. Or, maybe it's just my local stores. JJMolvik wrote in message et... New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. Aaron |
#8
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![]() "Katherine" wrote in message oups.com... When I used to knit them, Aaron, it would take me about six weeks to knit an adult size. I would knit while my son was napping and for a couple of hours after he went to bed. Wow. The one and only Aran I've ever done took me months to complete, even with me making sure to do some of it everyday. The sweater turned out very well and I'm very proud of it. I made it as a Christmas gift for my DIL and she loves it too. Shelagh |
#9
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With all due respect Mirjam, you have not thought this through!
A warm gansey was the single most valuable thing a fisherman's family could own! Remember that the stitch patterns provided warmth and ventilation. If a fisherman did not have a well knit gansey - how would he stay warm while he was out on the water? Without a GOOD gansey, he would not be able to go out fishing and his family would starve, or he would die of exposure while fishing and his family would then starve. If a fisherman's wife wanted to eat, she knit a good gansey for her fisherman (and sons). If a woman wanted to keep her man alive, she knit him a fine gansey. She patched it when it was torn, and she reknit when it was worn, because it was essential to the family. For a fisherman's family, NOTHING was more important. A man with a gansey could go out on his own boat, or he could work shares with another fisherman that had a boat or he could sign on to work on a schooner. A fisherman could borrow a fish net, or a fish hook, but he had to have his own gansey. Without a gansey, he could not fish. If he could not fish, he could not feed his family. Ganseys were a major capital asset of the fishing industry, but history has not recognized the huge value of that asset. Knitting ganseys was a terrible labor that has not been recognized by history. And, it was piled on the other terrible labors that the women bore. Women have not been given the credit that they deserved. Without finely knit wool ganseys, Europe would not have had fish, at least not cod and herring. Europe would have starved. That is a bit of economics that has been overlooked. ---------------------------------- I have lived in situations without electricity or running water, or paved roads. I do know what it is like to cook over an open fire, and what a nasty job it is to try and clean afterwards when soap is precious. Never the less, women living in those conditions (and worse), knit (millions??) of fine ganseys for fishermen. In addition to the chores that you mention, those women sold the catch, tended flocks and gardens, mended nets, made other clothes for the family by hand, & etc.. . . It is an accomplishment that should rank with the building of the Pyramids of Egypt, and yet history ignores it. ---------------------------------- I admit that I love to knit in our clear California sunshine. (In part, we choose to live in Pleasant Hill because of its fine quality of light.) But today is a foggy mist, and I must knit anyway. Aaron "Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" wrote in message ... When calculating Working schedules and trying to use this measure to former times , one should remember that people had no cars [ thus walking time was longer, and no all knew how to knit while walkig] , No phones , no washing machines , dish washers , they used out houses, no paper trowels , etc,,, all these added HOURS of work , that could NOT used for knitting. also they tended sick kids , elder relatives , etc,, All THEHE has to be taken into account when trying to decided if people could or could not produce something in the same time a contemporary person does it ,, ps and don`t forget that light wasn`t as good as your`s. mirjam On Feb 19, 5:13 pm, wrote: New Years day I cast on for a traditional Cornish Seaman's gansey using "Fisherman's Wool" (930 yd/lb.) at a gauge of 8+ spi. I have made a point of only working on it a few hours per day as I help my wife watch movies in the evening. (Bad movies result in the most progress. Good movies result in errors that must be frogged, great films result in no knitting what so ever.) Now, I am down to the cuffs, and I expect to finish it to wear to the Stitches event next weekend. Anyway, the sleeves had turned into a long, hard slog. Evening after evening, I did not seem to make much progress. (There are about as many stitches in the sleeves as in an entire sweater knit at 5 spi.) I stopped, and polished my steel needles, and I was back to full speed. I love freshly polished steel needles! Other needles may be more pleasant to touch and feel, but nothing is surer than cold steel. This also confirms my calculation that a traditional knitter could make a fisherman's gansey in a couple of months by working on the gansey only 2 or 3 hours a day. This would leave time for childcare and other household duties. Thus, a fisherman's wife could knit new ganseys for her husband and a couple of sons every year. (Fisherman's Wool knits much slower than the more tightly spun wassit that they used.) If I had been using a tight spun gansey yarn, the thing would be long done! We have rain coming towards the end of the week, so I am going to block it to shape by wearing it as I do my spring garden chores in the rain. When I used to knit them, Aaron, it would take me about six weeks to knit an adult size. I would knit while my son was napping and for a couple of hours after he went to bed. HIgs, Katherine |
#10
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![]() wrote in message . net... With all due respect Mirjam, you have not thought this through! A warm gansey was the single most valuable thing a fisherman's family could own! Remember that the stitch patterns provided warmth and ventilation. If a fisherman did not have a well knit gansey - how would he stay warm while he was out on the water? Without a GOOD gansey, he would not be able to go out fishing and his family would starve, or he would die of exposure while fishing and his family would then starve. If a fisherman's wife wanted to eat, she knit a good gansey for her fisherman (and sons). If a woman wanted to keep her man alive, she knit him a fine gansey. She patched it when it was torn, and she reknit when it was worn, because it was essential to the family. For a fisherman's family, NOTHING was more important. And when it came to the end in the event of tragedy at sea, the fisherman was identified by the pattern on his Guernsay which was peculiar to his own family Ophelia Scotland |
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