A Fisherman Knits

I am interested in hand knit traditional ganseys. They were beautiful and extraordinarily functional garments. Here is my research journal and thoughts on related historical issues

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Handspun gansey yarn

I have not posted for a bit, because I was learning to spin my own gansey yarn. I had been told that NOBODY ever spun gansey yarn by hand ...

Sunday, July 11, 2010

An apology about waterproofing wool

A couple of years ago, a yarn supplier told me that a drop of baby oil would oil ,and waterproof wool. I tried it, and it has worked very we...

Saturday, July 10, 2010

hand spun gansey yarn

I just passed a milestone and had something of an epiphany. I am working with Cotswold, spinning and swatching for a gansey. I had been wor...

Two Ply, Three Ply, More Ply

I have been hand spinning classic gansey yarn from traditional British long wool fleece. The extreme fineness of the singles that I had to s...

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

Adapters

There were places I had to go, and things I had to say (in other places). Then, I had to learn to use my new spinning wheel. Then, I had to ...

Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Nothing in the mud?!

How many knitted seaman’s frocks would YOU expect to find from the medieval period? We will not know that there were medieval ganseys unless...

Saturday, February 27, 2010

New technology needles

I have been admiring and praising the Hya-Hya DPN for knitting softer spun yarns on the basis of some hand knitting at a show. These are ver...

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Citations

I do not give many citations. Suppose I cite British customs taxes from the 14 th century? The few folks that would go to London and check t...

Friday, February 19, 2010

My View of Knitting History

I am highly amused by the reaction that I get when I talk about knitting sheaths in history groups. Knitting sheaths are tools, like rocks a...

Wednesday, February 03, 2010

An approach to using different sized needles with the same knitting sheath

Many Victorian knitting sheaths have adapters that allow several different sized needles to be used with the same knitting sheath. Many of...

Monday, February 01, 2010

Wood for knitting sheaths

The traditional wood for for making knitting sheaths was "sycamore". I had been looking for sycamore, and the American sycamore t...

Sunday, December 06, 2009

Heat of sorption in wool

Years ago, I got out my “Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods” and calculated the heat of sorption for wool. Then, I looked at B...

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Yorkshire Goose Wings

The first time I made and tried knitting with a Yorkshire "goose wing" knitting sheath, I was just amazed at the perfection of the...

Sunday, November 08, 2009

A Path Foreward - Lace!

I started this reseach because I wanted to know how seamen of old stayed warm. Now, I know, they knit tighly to produce a warm fabric. They ...

Saturday, August 08, 2009

Recantation about sheaths holding needles tighly

Several times I have said that the knitting sheath should hold the needle firmly. Yet, just now I caught myself using a US00 needles in a kn...

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

UK knit circa 1800?

How did folks in the UK knit circa 1800? 1) Certainly, hand-held DPN (or needles held, supported, or controlled in the arm pit) with the yar...

Monday, June 15, 2009

New Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool

I knit my first gansey from "Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool" some 3 years ago. It is an extrodinary garment knit from an extrodin...

Monday, June 08, 2009

How Knitting Sheaths Work

I get this question- frequently. So, I am going to post an answer, HERE, where everybody can find it. First, a knitting sheath is a tool li...

Tuesday, June 02, 2009

I made the same stupid mistake as Rutt

I did. Look at the knitting sheaths in all the collections and most of them are 2o to 25 cm in length. Then, at the end of the Beamish colle...

Monday, June 01, 2009

In a rut

I read all of Rutt. Then, I looked at a bunch of his original sources, and read him again. Then, I went to the shop and made needles and exp...

View web version

About Me

Aaron

View my complete profile

Powered by Blogger.