Gansey Links

Recommended gansey books and links of interest relating to ganseys, gansey knitting, and gansey related maritime history. This list has grown out of research for a talk about gansey history at the 3rd Annual Boston Farm & Fiber Festival. Beware, my sense of “related to” is broad. Will be updated from time to time.

Books

(in the order I happen to have stacked them on my deck)

Gladys Thompson, Patterns for Guersnseys, Jerseys and Arans The original version of this book was published in 1955. She was perhaps the first person to “collect” and transcribe ganseys into written patterns for the wider knitting audience. Suggest using in conjunction with Beth’s book.

Beth Brown Reinsel, Knitting Ganseys (Revised and Updated) Contains a version of Elizabeth Zimmerman’s percentage method adapted for gansey design, along with a thorough explanation of how to use her method to design your own. Her book also includes a good history, an easy to follow collection of motifs, and several full patterns. The most user friendly of the gansey books. If I was to buy only one gansey book, I would buy this one.

Penelope Lister Hemingway, River Ganseys A very interesting survey of the history of a lesser known tradition of gansey knitting, combined with a good history of knitting in the British Isles generally. She does give a few gansey patterns, but I enjoy this book more for the broader research she does into the history, context, and technical background of gansey knitting.

Michael Pearson Traditional Knitting new and expanded Holy heck this book is worth it for the photos alone! Extensive history. Another “collector” of gansey patterns. Many written patterns given, but not necessarily in a format useable to first time gansey knitters. Would use in conjunction with Beth’s book for actual knitting.

Mary Wright, Cornish Guernseys & Knit-frocks Another of the “early collectors”, originally published in 1979. As the name suggests she focussed mainly on the tradition of knitting ganseys in Cornwall. Fascinating history, but from a knitting standpoint I would use this book in conjunction with Beth’s book if I was designing or knitting a gansey for the first time.

Sabine Domnick, Cables, Diamonds, Herringbone Great selection of motifs displayed both as samples and charted out. History a bit thin.

Websites - Gansey focussed

Gansey Nation - gansey.com Really the go-to site for all things gansey and the wonkiest of gansey discussions.

Propagansey - A festival of ganseys held annually

The Moray Firth Gansey Project “To find, record and conserve gansey patterns from around the Moray Firth coast.”

The Cordova Gansey Project Inspired by the Moray Firth Gansey Project, bringing the tradition of gansey knitting to the Alaskan Salmon Fishery and beyond.

Of Maritime Interest

Because this was a maritime tradition

Humber Keel and Sloop Preservation Society

video of the Humber Keel

lovely video about sailing a Thames River Barge with brief mention of the sort of regular voyages made up to places like Yorkshire

Shetland Museum and Archives

Of Linguistic Interest

Getting into the weeds of “Guernsey” vs “Gansey” vs “Ganzee” vs “Geansaigh” and “Geansaigh snåth” and remembering that there are three languages and many dialects of each spoken in the British Isles (not counting Cornish which went extinct as a first language at the end of the 18th century, though attempts at reconstruction began in the early 20th century). Yup, it’s a fascinating linguistic soup.

Highlighting this post from Gansey Nation for the fascinating discussion in the comments.

Doric

North East Scots (Doric) History Present and Future : of specific interest, the comment that farmers and sailors in Buchie spoke slightly different Doric

A longer Ted Talk about Doric (and also neurolinguistics and the importance of the language you speak)

Of General Knitterly Interest

How to knit faster (using a knitting belt) - I am a process knitter and don’t for a moment believe that knitting skill and knitting speed are the same thing; but knitting speed is a knitting skill, and contract knitters could attain amazing speeds using knitting belts, knitting sticks, or sometimes twists of straw.

Vermont Sheep and Wool

The yarn travel deities smiled upon me, the stars and the autumn leaves finally aligned, and I was lucky enough to spend a Saturday noodling north through forests resplendent in their autumn finery to Tunbridge, Vermont for the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival. I varyingly listened to, and lost, seemingly all the New England NPR stations on offer as I wended through through old mill towns and over hills, past working dairy farms and unexpected remnants of manufacturing, admiring the vernacular architecture and lovely slate roofs along the way. The Toddler even slept through most of the drive (both ways!).

My visit to the festival itself was equally charmed, though much too brief. As usual I didn’t take nearly enough photos, but what few I did remember to take I posted to an Instagram Story, which I thought I would repeat here in a more permanent form, both as a reminder to myself and for those who might be interested.

This book looks fantastic and is one that I really want to add to my library (and also knit all the Selbu mittens!). Selbu Mittens, by Anne Bårdsgård

The Felting Studio continues to grow and every time I come across their booth I just want to loose myself in their felted hangings, as beautiful and intricate as a medieval stained glass window. My fingers itch to take up needle felting. Beyond the beautiful felt art, they have expanded their wares over the years, seemingly in any direction that takes their fancy, which is an urge I much support and admire. They are now producing the pattern for this lovely child’s jacket, and though I didn’t see any on display I must remember to ask if they are selling kits for it as well. I need to make this jacket. I just do.

I want to get in touch wth Steeple Chase Farm, in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire (pardon the lack of link, they don’t appear to have a website) both because they are actually very close to where I live, but also because they have a flock of heritage sheep, including Teeswater. I came away with this lovely sampler pack including some Jacob and - ? I’m embarrassed to admit that I can’t remember what the light gray is - a very lustrous longwool; Leicester? It was getting late in the day for the toddler at this point and a conversation I really wished to linger on was instead conducted while doing the toddler soothing bop - my apologies to everyone in that display barn on Saturday at around 3:00. I really want to pick up my drop spindle and feel these beauties drift through my fingers and let them be the yarn they want to become, but the part of me that prefers planning wants to wait to make sure I have a project in mind first. All my two minds can really agree on is that I need to get in touch with Steeple Chase Farm.

And of course there were a host of lovely, charming, animals with gorgeous fleeces who I really wanted to take home.

Along the way I ran into many yarn friends, admired much knitwear, ate some fantastic salted caramel ice cream, and generally had an inspiring day. So thank you to all the vendor and organizers and fiber enthusiasts at VT Sheep and Wool!

Podcasts I adore : 99% Invisible, and a book recommendation

  The Podcast 99% Invisible as described on Stitcher:

“Design is everywhere in our lives, perhaps most importantly in the places where we’ve just stopped noticing.  99% Invisible is a weekly exploration of the process and power of design and architecture.”

As summaries go, this one is a bit dry, but it’s probably impossible to summarize the joy of a podcast devoted to delving into all the random elements of our world that are so taken for granted that most of us never even think to ask about how they came to be, if we notice their existence at all.

Last week’s episode, and the prompt that got me to finally write the recommendation that I’ve been meaning to write for years, was an interview with Kassia St. Clair, about her book The Secret Lives of Color.  The book is a collection of essays, each about a given color, from ones that I have previously never heard of (isebelline - a light dun) to the ubiquitous (a history of beige).  Sometimes she writes about the historical cultural associations of a color; sometimes she writes about the chemistry of a pigment or the history of its use.  Whatever she chooses to focus on, the results are fascinating.

Working with natural dyes (spending two to three days to produce a green yarn, never mind the time required for scouring and mordanting before dyeing, and rinsing and drying afterwards) has given me much time to meditate on how I, and most of the modern world, take the easy availability of color for granted.  The price of dyeing or coloring an item is so minimal relative to the cost of production, or so much considered to be part of the production process itself, that the cost and time required disappears entirely into the final price.  Dark blue items do not cost more than light blue items.  Undyed items are rarely cheaper (if they are available at all) than their dyed counterparts.  We still have strong cultural associations with different colors (national flags, sports teams, high school colors etc) but unless we work in specialized fields, we rarely think about what is required to produce the color in question, or how amazing it is that we can so easily create it.

So we forget how much the quest for color has changed human history.  As the host of 99% Invisible summarized in what has become one of my favorite quotes, our love of color is a “...real human pursuit: basically food, shelter, and the brightest color imaginable seem to be ingrained in our DNA”.  Or, as Kassia St. Clair puts it, “We love shiny bright colors and we are prepared to do all sorts of weird and wonderful things to have them.”

Listen to it here, or on your favorite podcasting service.