Women's Basketweave Cardigan
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- About Women's Basketweave Cardigan
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Women's Basketweave Cardigan
The myth behind the cardigan stems from the 1900’s play by J.M. Synge called “Riders to the Sea”. The story is about the body of a dead fisherman is identified by the hand-knitted stitches on one of his garments. The play references his stockings as the garments that were identified, however through the years people have changed the story to reference a sweater. From this point, a myth was created around each Irish clan or family having its own sweater pattern.
The birth place of the Irish Cardigan was on the Aran Islands. These islands are located near the Galway Bay in western Ireland. The Aran Islands are comprised of three islands. The smallest is Inisheer, The middle sized island is Inishmaan and the largest Island is Inishmore. On these islands there were many knitters.
Knitting on the Aran Islands started around the 17th century. The first articles of clothing knitted were socks. The socks were created by fisherman’s wives to keep their feet warm. In the 1930’s, the knitting of sweaters became very common. The technique of creating the sweaters was taught to local woman and school children who wanted to make an income or even a second income. The first source of income for most families was fishing and raising sheep.
The popularity of the Irish cardigan did not really take off until the 1940’s. The sweaters were originally sold in Dublin and London. The Aran woman created the many different original patterns. The honeycomb and basket stitch patterns of the sweater portray an image of busy fisherman who hopes for a bountiful catch.
Vogue magazine published a series of articles about the Aran Irish wool cardigan, in the 1950s. Back in the beginning the sweaters were made mostly by hand. In today’s world the sweaters are made by machines. However, you can still purchase an Irish Cardigan that is hand knitted using wool from some of the last surviving woolen mills in the world. The wool that is used to create the Irish cardigan is taken from the locally raised sheep on the Aran Islands.When the craftsman or craftswoman spins the wool, it is done in such a way that the sheep’s own natural oils are still in tact. This freshly crafted wool is also resistant to water and is off-white in color. The question is sometimes asked “Is the Irish Cardigan really Irish?” The answer to that is basically yes. Sometimes when people learn that the sweaters are not “old” they do not believe that they are Irish cardigans. The Aran women invented the unique style of knitting in the mid-20th century. The trend spread throughout the world. The Irish Cardigan is very popular and most definitely and completely Irish.
