The Gansey Talk (or, there was a microphone, but it was okay)

by Sarah Lake Upton in ,


 
In which I talk about ganseys, and try not to make weird noises into the microphone - thank you to Sarah H for the photo

In which I talk about ganseys, and try not to make weird noises into the microphone - thank you to Sarah H for the photo

 

A huge thank you to everyone who came out to the Third Annual Boston Farm and Fiber Festival, and an equally huge thank you to those who paused in their day to listen to me speak with great enthusiasm about ganseys. It is always wonderful to meet other people who share an interest in and love for historically important but currently obscure forms of knitting.

When I imagined the talk, there was a table to share books and ganseys on. Sadly that existed only in my head. So thank you to the folks who were willing to join me on the floor to share their work and thoughts. (Also thanks to Sarah H. for driving …

When I imagined the talk, there was a table to share books and ganseys on. Sadly that existed only in my head. So thank you to the folks who were willing to join me on the floor to share their work and thoughts. (Also thanks to Sarah H. for driving to Boston and taking photos).

And a special thank you to the folks who stayed after to share their own gansey related show and tell, and poke through the books I brought, and generally geek out over the very unexpected and unique garment that is the gansey.

And of course a thank you to New England Farm to Fiber and the sponsors, Harrisville Designs and Taproot magazine! Every year the Festival is a little more amazing, with more vendors, more talks, and more enthusiastic fiber folk dressed in their finest.

I will admit that between the stage fright, the strangeness of talking into a microphone, and the general muddle that is my head, I don’t remember much of the actual talk itself, but I did spend the drive home wishing that I had touched on more than I did. Because the history of ganseys encompasses so many elements important to the history of knitting in the UK, and the social history of people who worked on the water, and the differing concepts of geography encoded by one’s relationship to the water and vessel type, and really it is too broad a subject to possibly do justing to in twenty minutes. And that is before one starts talking about the actual garment itself.

And personally it’s a bit weird to talk about any of those things because I am not British, and there is a feeling of cultural appropriation and overlooked nuance. But I am a mariner, and from the perspective of a mariner I can see that previous writers, though British themselves, have missed quite a bit more than nuance in their discussion of ganseys.

Perhaps the paragraph above is really the introduction to a book. We’ll see.

On a more personal note, one thing I also meant to share, and completely overlooked, was the personal history of the working gansey I knit for myself and my husband (who had his own maritime life). Each gansey really deserves it’s own post. Stay tuned.

My ganseys at rest (two of them were knit for my husband). Collectively they have more sea miles than I can count, and more days in shipyard than I care to remember.

My ganseys at rest (two of them were knit for my husband). Collectively they have more sea miles than I can count, and more days in shipyard than I care to remember.


Gansey Links

by Sarah Lake Upton in ,


 
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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.


Gansey Talk at the Third Annual Boston Farm and Fiber Festival at the Boston Public Market

by Sarah Lake Upton in


 
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I am both excited and nervous to announce that I will be giving my first ever talk about ganseys, their history, a few myths, and my experiences as a working sailor of traditionally rigged schooners (whilst wearing ganseys) on February 9, time TBA, at the Third Annual Boston Farm and Fiber Festival at the Boston Public Market (because go big or go home).   I am trying to organize my thoughts on a type of traditional knitting that has had an enormous impact on my life, and finding that it is incredibly difficult to narrow down my thoughts on the subject. Perhaps there will be a book someday? In the meantime, if you are heading to the Boston Public Market for the Fiber Festival and want to learn a little bit about ganseys, please come to my talk. I’m bringing my favorite gansey books and a stack of work-worn ganseys for show and tell.  I’ll be in the knitting lounge for a bit after the talk, and would love to continue to chat about ganseys, or traditional boats, or knitting in general.