Here are a couple of pics of the fisherman's gansey knitted for me by my talented Mum, Pat, from 5ply gansey wool. Mum, born in Scotland and now living in Amble, has knitted many ganseys for local Amble fishermen in the past, including my cousin who now lives and works in Brixham. This is the first one she has knitted for a while, however, as she is 75, and she enjoyed it so much that she has already started one for Malcolm.
The deep rose wool used in my gansey is from her stash and she is unsure of its origin (sound familiar?). The pattern is a fairly basic herringbone style but many of her past ganseys had more complex patterned yokes which involved her combining traditional patterns to each fisherman's direction.
Looking back over her original notes has rekindled both of our interests in gansey making. Mum has quite a few books on the subject, some of which mentioned a traditional Amble pattern and we began piecing together how this would look. Many thanks to Jan at Frangipani (www.guernseywool.co.uk) for her help in sourcing a book confirming our endeavours (watch for pics of Malcolm's gansey, coming soon!) and also for selling us the most beautiful gansey wool!
Obviously I'm not heading out onto the cold North Sea in my gorgeous pink gansey but it at least gives me a reason to look forward to winter!
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