The Woolly World of Gansey Knitting: Set Sail with Us!

If you’re like me and are drawn to all things knitstoric, Ganseys, or Guernseys, have probably come up on your radar. These sweaters came out of the 19th-20th century fishing industry, knit up in one color of sport weight yarn at a tight 8-9 stitches per inch, and designed to keep its wearer warm and dry on the stormiest of seas. It features certain design elements like a fake seam and gussets at the underarm as well as a textured pattern in the front ranging from cables to seed stitch. There’s so much to dive into on this subject so we hope this is a good starting point! And if you’re already a pro, maybe you'll learn a few fun facts to share at your next knitting circle!

History

The origins of where Gansey or Guernsey got their name are muddled but there are a few theories. The first is that they’re named after Guernsey Island in the English Channel. The other is that the name stems from the Norwegian word for yarn or sweater - garn and genser.

While many regions have distinct stitch patterns, you’ll see common motifs found across the UK and elsewhere. Why these commonalities you ask? You can thank the “Herring Girls” – women who left their homes and worked in all sorts of conditions along the coast, gutting fishermen’s catches and putting it out to market. This was rough but lucrative work and led to the transfer of ideas such as knitting patterns and stitch motifs. There’s even a memorial in Bridlington in the UK commemorating these wool & water workers… 

To tie this into one of our favorite yarn brands, I recently learned from Ella Gordon’s interview on Show and Tell Knitting that Shetlandic herring girls helped bring J&S to mainland Scotland. It was common for Shetland women to travel to the mainland to do gutting work for the fishermen, and so many of them missed their favorite yarn that Jamieson and Smith launched a mail-order business.

Yarn

Traditionally, Ganseys are made with a 5ply sport weight wool yarn that’s dense enough to help keep out the outside weather. Paired with smaller needles, this creates a dense fabric that allows water to bead up on the sweater and then drip or evaporate away. Mind you, if you pour a bucket of water on your knit - it’ll end up soaking wet as nothing is that waterproof.

At the Woolly Thistle, we have two fabulous options - 

Frangipani’s 5ply Guernsey cones are made of 100% British wool and are spun specifically for ganseys! With almost 1,200 yards per cone, you can find a range of traditional colors including ‘Herring Girl Pink’. This color was developed after a historic gansey in the Scottish Fisheries Museum, the pattern for which is on Ravelry, showing that ganseys were knit for all genders and not just the fishermen on the sea. We have over 30 colors in stock, so you are bound to find your favorite color!

The newer gansey yarn we have in stock made its debut last year at Shetland Wool Week – Jamieson & Smith’s 5ply! This yarn was designed with traditional Shetlandic Ganseys in mind, such as their Yoal Gansey pattern (pictured above), with colors inspired by the Shetlandic landscape. We love the hues in this line as many of them are on a white base and several are on a grey base, producing moodier shades aptly named “Twilight”. This is a great yarn to combine your love of Shetland and guernsey knitting! 

Gansey Knitspiration 

If you want to dive into the world of Ganseys, be sure to pick up a copy of  Beth Brown-Reinsel’s Knitting Ganseys. Originally published in 1993, this book is full of history, patterns, and instructions on how to do different collars and the distinct underarm gusset. 

If you want to stick your toes into this tradition without embarking on a sweater-sized journey, the Gansey Herring by Nita Bruce  is a free pattern for small knit fish with traditional gansey motifs. Perfect to hang in your window or even on your Christmas tree - these are simply darling!

For more modern takes on these storied sweaters, check out Amy Christoffers' ‘New Berlin Gansey’ or Rocquaine by Christina Danaee for PomPom Magazine… 

A Little Song to End it on…

To wrap it up, I wanted to do something a little different and fun. It’s no secret that AI is an interesting new tool that’s arrived in the last year, and here at TWT we’ve been curious how to use it in our woolly world. I decided to ask it to come up with a sea shanty inspired by these nautical knits, and was quite entertained at the result and just had to share!

Should you or a loved one be in a shanty choir, please feel free to share and sing along - it’d be fabulous to see this brought to life! We’d love to hear from you, so comment back on this blog post with your favorite gansey patterns, advice for knitting one if you’ve made one before, or interesting reads or books you’ve seen on the topic.

Thanks for reading and have a woolly day!