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#11
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Traditional Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters
On Jul 10, 9:41 pm, "Aaron Lewis" wrote:
Has anybody ever hear of "fisherman's sweaters" that were knit large, and felted to size? I know of traditions of socks that were felted; and, traditions of mittens that were felted and worn wet, but whole sweaters that were knit large and felted? The fellow who proposed this was a curator at a museum. The museum does not have any examples, and when I look at photos of fishermen from the same period that sailed out of a port only 100 miles from the subject port, I do not see ANY evidence of felting. Knitters and knitting shop owners in the area do not seem to be aware of such a tradition, but such traditions die fast. I have never heard of this, Aaron, and I really can't imagine it. Just think how heavy such a garment would be! Higs, Katherine |
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#12
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Traditional Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters
Would you consider the photos on
http://gansey.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html to look knitted or felted? It was knitted, but most knitters that touch and feel it, make a comment that it must be felted. It is not - yet! That gansey is now navy blue. I wore it as I chatted with enactors on the ramparts of Louisburg. In their replicas of 1744 French Army uniforms with BOILED wool coats, the enactors' finger tips were blue and their teeth were chattering. My wife was wearing two layers of Patagonia pile under a mountain parka and was also warm enough. I was wearing the gansey over a jersey. I was warm and had more freedom of motion than either the enactors or my wife. (We were actually out in the wind longer than any of the enactors.) The wind on the walls of Louisburg did inspire me to knit a warmer hat for myself in preparation for my cod fishing trip. That gansey has now been cod fishing on the banks off PEI and sailing on the Bluenose II. I wore it hiking in the rain and mist as we looked for moose, and as we sat on the headlands of Cape Breton watching pilot whales in the white capped waters below. The coldest place I wore it was on the beach where Cabot is said to have first landed in the New World. The warmest place that I wore it was drinking beer at a sidewalk pub in Halifax. The firmness of the gansey fabric along with the loose sleeves allows it to vent through the large neck opening in warmer (60F) conditions. This venting is dramatically reduced by wearing a garment under the gansey, or carrying a backpack. (Note however that the gansey, fits snugger than many modern "fishermen's sweaters".) Otherwise, I have never owned a garment that was so comfortable in such a variety of different weather. If I had not knitted it myself, I would say it was magic. It was worth every hour of its knitting. It gets worn a lot! I cannot knit that tight with circular needles. (At least not without eventually ruining my wrists.) Gansey needles and knitting sheaths are still a marvel of technology. I bought a fist full of DPN as I geared up for the trip. Wooden needles are good for not dropping stitches while knitting on the go, but steel needles are faster. Air security did not take my needles away from me - not even the 7" steel DPN, but on the plane, I ended up knitting with wooden needles. (I did check the gansey needles.) Oh, and the little bands that they put around lobster claws are perfect for keeping stitches on your needles. Lets see, for 4 needles you will need 8 bands - as if we needed another reason for eating lobster! LOL Aaron "Vintage Purls" wrote in message ups.com... On Jul 12, 6:34 am, "Aaron Lewis" wrote: Many people that see my gansey have to be convinced that it is not felted. They just assume that anything that tight MUST have been felted. The felted sweaters in "Knitting from the Netherlands" don't look tight, they look felted. They look very thick and stiff. All of the studio photos show men in fine "fishermen's sweaters" that would have never seen a boat in their lives - these sweaters were for Sunday best. No one would have worn their work jersey for a formal portrait. The photos that show fishermen at work (of which there are many less for obvious reasons) show men in grubby, thick, chunky jerseys. van der Klift-Tellegen seems to have consulted local people in each area and asked for their recollections and photos. Although this can't be considered 100% reliable she does seem to avoid falling into the trap of repeating "mainstream" history and clearly attempted to discover the history herself from the practitioners (or their nearest decendents). VP |
#13
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Traditional Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters
On Jul 13, 6:59 am, "Aaron Lewis" wrote:
Would you consider the photos onhttp://gansey.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.htmlto look knitted or felted? Your gansey looks knitted to me, not felted. I'm not denying for a second that your jersey is warm but van der Klift-Tellegen describes the felting process and provides images of sweaters that look distinctly felted - I'm satisfied from what I can see that felted sweaters existed. I know what fine knitting is - I do a lot myself. I know what felting looks like. Why is it impossible that some fishermen's sweaters were felted? VP |
#14
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Traditional Dutch Fishermen's Sweaters
It is possible. In fact, it would solve the question how Europeans could
have been fishing the Newfoundland banks long before knitting arrived in Europe. However, my guess is that felt is not as durable as a gansey knit from worsted yarn spun from a long staple wool. That is OK if you are a coastal fisherman. But, if you are far at sea and your upper garment starts to fall apart, then you will die and your family will starve. I once wore a pair of wool pants up into the hills. It turned rainy, and after a few days those pants just disintegrated. I would have froze, if I had not also been wearing a wonderful old Canadian army officer's wool shirt. While my pants fell apart, that shirt never even lost its crisp creases. My point is: that not all wool fabrics have the same durability. So, instead of a fisherman taking one knit gansey for a season of fishing, he would end up taking 2 or 3 or .?. felted garments. So then he has a larger duffel bag and less space in his berth. Ever (try to) sleep in a fisherman's berth with your duffel beside you? Fishermen slept in their ganseys. I've slept in my gansey. Would a felt sweater be comfortable enough to sleep in? I think we need to make up a swatch of felt as directed by Klift-Tellegen and see how it stands up to flexing and abrasion while being drenched with salt water for a few weeks. Then, we test to see if the swatch of felt is as warm as a swatch of gansey material. If the felt has reasonable durability and warmth, then we make up a felt garment and see how it works. My guess is that if Klift-Tellegen's felting produced a warmer, more comfortable, more durable garment than knitting, then we would have seen more felting and less knitting. Belfast mills has a really neat felting machine G It can convert a bat of wool into felt in 15 minutes. Aaron "Vintage Purls" wrote in message ups.com... On Jul 13, 6:59 am, "Aaron Lewis" wrote: Would you consider the photos onhttp://gansey.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.htmlto look knitted or felted? Your gansey looks knitted to me, not felted. I'm not denying for a second that your jersey is warm but van der Klift-Tellegen describes the felting process and provides images of sweaters that look distinctly felted - I'm satisfied from what I can see that felted sweaters existed. I know what fine knitting is - I do a lot myself. I know what felting looks like. Why is it impossible that some fishermen's sweaters were felted? VP |
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