Aran sweaters - a little history
The patterns used in Aran sweaters were first recorded in Scotland early in the 9thcentury; initial patterns reflected the interweaving designs which feature on the great Pictish standing stones of prehistory. In the Middle Ages, the tradition patterns for Aran sweaters split into two. Down the east coast of Scotland and England the Aran patterns became horizontal and localised identifying a fishing village. Down the west coast of Scotland and in Ireland the patterns became vertical and identified a family, usually reflecting the family's occupation. Later, into the Seventeenth Century, mostly men were enrolled into the Knitting Guilds, and it took the same time to quality for Guild membership then as it takes to become a doctor today. Later still into the Nineteenth century, fish wives along the east coast, knitting on circular needles and making a garment without seams, knitted "gansays" in their village pattern in oiled wool for the menfolk as they walked along towards the harbour or back home after a hard day at the filleting.
