Fair Isle my arse, give me a good Harris Tweed any day.
“Fair Isle my arse” indeed, but what about a Shetland wooly jumper?
Christina – I would happily wear the pattern and colours (if not the size) as modeled by the white pony, being old enough not to give a monkey’s what people think any more. In fact, I am wondering if a nice cardigan is available.
Does anyone remember Dunne & Co., suppliers in the UK high street of cardies and slippers to the slightly over-middle-aged man?. I remember a landmark moment too many winters ago now gazing into the window of their Liverpool store and thinking, “Hmm, nice scarf” as A Zangada beat me to the floor with my copy of The Oldie.
OZ
Shetland Phonies?
Oz, I can remember my father buying a hat at Dunne’s, a replacement for the city. Other than that he trotted round in rags! Much to my mother’s eternal aggravation he used to pretend to be the hired help when he met people on the drive, especially new boyfriends of my sister and myself. He did a good line in the yokel persona, not a sense of humour that engaged him to the old girl!!!
Re the cardi, I never knitted Fairisle much, never particularly liked it or the colours. Hideously complicated Arrans are my speciality, all the cables, bobbles and bizarre textures. The only trouble knitting them for somewhat portly elderly gentlemen is that they are HUGE!
Spousal unit’s took me three months to knit alone, quite funny really, I had the fleece from a girlfriend very cheap, It took me a couple of months to spin before I started knitting. Unfortunately the poor bloody sheep wasn’t large enough to go round spousal unit and I ran out of wool, went back to the girlfriend and the bloody sheep had died of old age!!! (I kid you not! So old, not even the ragheads would have eaten it!) Had to have some more fleece from another in the flock that wasn’t an exact match, oh dear! So it looks somewhat piebald, most embarrassing but he doesn’t care as it is a TV watching jumper and not worn outside, much more like a horse blanket but that is what he wanted!
Which was why the pics above amused me somewhat.
I might be persuaded to knit a cardi as there are getting a plethora of jumpers round here, am working on a pretty silk summer job at the moment but that won’t take long. No-one else left to knit for!
I like some thing to do to occupy my hands, tend to smoke and drink less whilst watching movies. Also saves one from cutting the throat due to bad USA TV during the winter months. One can only garden for so long!
Talk to me about Arran sweaters!
Christina – I am prepared to sacrifice my sartorial elegance for an Arran sweater (the more complicated pattern the better, but no bobbles please and in only in one colour – amber would be nice) if it keeps a cherished colleague off the booze and ciggies. 🙂 Make it 44′ across the shoulders and short. I am a chunky, 5′ 8″ type of wolf.
Can’t say a lot about sweaters from the Isle of Arran, jewel of the Firth of Clyde and one of the less unpleasant parts of Weegieland. In truth, I had never heard of sweaters from thereanent before..
I am, however, prepared to chat about sweaters from the Aran Islands which lie off the west coast of Ireland. The one which my sister knitted for me for my 16th birthday when I was heavily into the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem is still going strong after all these years.
‘Just stop complaining about our disguises and keep saying Baaa, Baaa until those men from Tesco have gone’..
These new outfits are so very….
now all I need is a trip to the hairdressers.
MeDad swore by Dunne’s for his ubiquitous trilbies. I rceall I bought a flat hat there too as a yoof when Mods could be seen in such a thing!
Well bugger oi, JM, I am not the only one who always thought they were ‘Arran’ pullies with the extra ‘r’. Wot I do know though is that each fisherman’s wife had her own design so that when they pulled her poor, drowned husband’s corpse out of the North Sea after a month or so, at least he could be identified by the pullover.
OZ
Or even the Irish Sea……
Memo to self – Engage brain before keyboard. 😦
OZ
OZ: WEST coast of Ireland would make it ummm. The Atlantic Ocean?
Bloody pedantic matelots! 😀
OZ
Fair Isle wearing troglodytes! 🙂
They could have been in the North Sea – pinching Scottish herring! If the poor man went into the drink wearing an Aran sweater, the weight of it would pull him under very quickly.
“It’s my *rse that’s freezin’ off here so why can’t I wear it bottom-up?”
Oz I need a lot more discussion on the cardi, can you ask Bo for my email?
Need all sorts of measurements and selection of pattern etc etc.
Selection of fibre.
If I don’t get an email by the weekend, UI’ll just put it up here. I shan’t be around til the weekend as am going into hospital tomorrow for more gall stones to be fished out! Eeuugghh!
JM I should have known better! Not that the Irish know how to spell it either considering all the denizens of the Aran Islands are Neanderthals!
Christina – Done and will be in touch. Trust the gall stones issue has been resolved.
Boadicea's Chariot 
I was never much of a jumper myself.
Does my bum look big in this?
OZ
Och aye, my bum’s still cold, the noo!
Fair Isle my arse, give me a good Harris Tweed any day.
Oh dear they appear to have borrowed spousal unit’s cardigans! Same sort of size!!!
They really do look very sweet.
“Fair Isle my arse” indeed, but what about a Shetland wooly jumper?
Christina – I would happily wear the pattern and colours (if not the size) as modeled by the white pony, being old enough not to give a monkey’s what people think any more. In fact, I am wondering if a nice cardigan is available.
Does anyone remember Dunne & Co., suppliers in the UK high street of cardies and slippers to the slightly over-middle-aged man?. I remember a landmark moment too many winters ago now gazing into the window of their Liverpool store and thinking, “Hmm, nice scarf” as A Zangada beat me to the floor with my copy of The Oldie.
OZ
Shetland Phonies?
Oz, I can remember my father buying a hat at Dunne’s, a replacement for the city. Other than that he trotted round in rags! Much to my mother’s eternal aggravation he used to pretend to be the hired help when he met people on the drive, especially new boyfriends of my sister and myself. He did a good line in the yokel persona, not a sense of humour that engaged him to the old girl!!!
Re the cardi, I never knitted Fairisle much, never particularly liked it or the colours. Hideously complicated Arrans are my speciality, all the cables, bobbles and bizarre textures. The only trouble knitting them for somewhat portly elderly gentlemen is that they are HUGE!
Spousal unit’s took me three months to knit alone, quite funny really, I had the fleece from a girlfriend very cheap, It took me a couple of months to spin before I started knitting. Unfortunately the poor bloody sheep wasn’t large enough to go round spousal unit and I ran out of wool, went back to the girlfriend and the bloody sheep had died of old age!!! (I kid you not! So old, not even the ragheads would have eaten it!) Had to have some more fleece from another in the flock that wasn’t an exact match, oh dear! So it looks somewhat piebald, most embarrassing but he doesn’t care as it is a TV watching jumper and not worn outside, much more like a horse blanket but that is what he wanted!
Which was why the pics above amused me somewhat.
I might be persuaded to knit a cardi as there are getting a plethora of jumpers round here, am working on a pretty silk summer job at the moment but that won’t take long. No-one else left to knit for!
I like some thing to do to occupy my hands, tend to smoke and drink less whilst watching movies. Also saves one from cutting the throat due to bad USA TV during the winter months. One can only garden for so long!
Talk to me about Arran sweaters!
Christina – I am prepared to sacrifice my sartorial elegance for an Arran sweater (the more complicated pattern the better, but no bobbles please and in only in one colour – amber would be nice) if it keeps a cherished colleague off the booze and ciggies. 🙂 Make it 44′ across the shoulders and short. I am a chunky, 5′ 8″ type of wolf.
OZ
What a project. A wolf in sheep’s clothing!
“Do you think theses will thelwell?
CO, good evening.
Can’t say a lot about sweaters from the Isle of Arran, jewel of the Firth of Clyde and one of the less unpleasant parts of Weegieland. In truth, I had never heard of sweaters from thereanent before..
I am, however, prepared to chat about sweaters from the Aran Islands which lie off the west coast of Ireland. The one which my sister knitted for me for my 16th birthday when I was heavily into the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem is still going strong after all these years.
‘Just stop complaining about our disguises and keep saying Baaa, Baaa until those men from Tesco have gone’..
These new outfits are so very….
now all I need is a trip to the hairdressers.
MeDad swore by Dunne’s for his ubiquitous trilbies. I rceall I bought a flat hat there too as a yoof when Mods could be seen in such a thing!
Well bugger oi, JM, I am not the only one who always thought they were ‘Arran’ pullies with the extra ‘r’. Wot I do know though is that each fisherman’s wife had her own design so that when they pulled her poor, drowned husband’s corpse out of the North Sea after a month or so, at least he could be identified by the pullover.
OZ
Or even the Irish Sea……
Memo to self – Engage brain before keyboard. 😦
OZ
OZ: WEST coast of Ireland would make it ummm. The Atlantic Ocean?
Bloody pedantic matelots! 😀
OZ
Fair Isle wearing troglodytes! 🙂
They could have been in the North Sea – pinching Scottish herring! If the poor man went into the drink wearing an Aran sweater, the weight of it would pull him under very quickly.
“It’s my *rse that’s freezin’ off here so why can’t I wear it bottom-up?”
Oz I need a lot more discussion on the cardi, can you ask Bo for my email?
Need all sorts of measurements and selection of pattern etc etc.
Selection of fibre.
If I don’t get an email by the weekend, UI’ll just put it up here. I shan’t be around til the weekend as am going into hospital tomorrow for more gall stones to be fished out! Eeuugghh!
JM I should have known better! Not that the Irish know how to spell it either considering all the denizens of the Aran Islands are Neanderthals!
Christina – Done and will be in touch. Trust the gall stones issue has been resolved.
OZ