| Aran Sweater |
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Originally sweaters were Knitted using unscoured Wool that retained its natural Grease s making the garments more water-resistant and insulating even when wet. It was primarily wives of the Fisherman who knitted the sweaters. The Aran sweater can be knitted in many distinctive Pattern s. Some patterns have a traditional interpretation often of religious significance. The Honeycomb is a symbol of the hard-working Bee . The cable, an integral part of the fisherman's daily life, is said to be a wish for safety and good luck when fishing. The Diamond is a wish of success wealth and treasure. The basket stitch represents the fisherman's basket, a hope for a plentiful catch. Characteristics The sweater is usually made with undyed cream-coloured "bainnin" sheep's wool, sometimes "black-sheep" wool, and is even occasionally made with unwashed wool that still contains natural sheep lanolin, making it to an extent water-repellent. Up to the seventies the island women spun their own Yarn on Spinning Wheel s. The sweater, locally called a ''gansey'', usually features 4–6 texture patterns each of which is about 2–4 inches in width, that move down the sweater in columns from top to bottom. Usually the patterns are symmetrical to a centre axis extending down the centre of the front and back panel. The patterns also usually extend down the sleeves as well. The same textured knitting are also used to make socks, hats, vests and even skirts. However it was not until P.A. Ó Síocháin organised an instructor, with the help of an IDA Ireland grant, to go to the islands and teach the knitters how to make garments to standard international sizings that exports in the late 1950s began to flourish. Even with all available knitters recruited from the three islands he had difficulty in fulfilling orders from around the world. Knitting had now became part of the island's subsistence economy. Origin stories There is debate about when island residents first started making the sweaters. Some have suggested that the sweater is an ancient design that has been used on the island for hundreds of years. Proponents of this theory often point to a picture in the Book Of Kells that appears to depict an ancient "Aran sweater". Also many Megalith s around Europe depict similar patterns as those used in the knitting, which are carved into the stone, and date back several thousand years. Some historians, however, have cast doubt on this origin story and have suggested that the sweater, which is technically a very complex piece of knitting, was invented as recently as the 1920s by a small group of enterprising island women to be created and sold as a source of income. The sweater is usually sold as a "fisherman sweater", indicating that the sweater was traditionally used by the island's famous fishermen. It is said that each fisherman (or their family) had a sweater with a unique design, so that if he drowned and was found maybe weeks later on the beach, his body could be identified. Again some doubt the idea that the sweater was used by fishermen and argue that the sweater, which is quite thick and stiff, would probably restrict the movements of a fisherman. On the other hand these garments were the only form of hardy clothing they had to weather the Atlantic Ocean storms in. They may be seen wearing them in photographs taken early in the last century. EXTERNAL LINKS |
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