The History and Mystery of Wool Sweaters
We’ve always loved a great wool sweater. Maybe it’s growing up in Canada and the extreme weather we’re prone to. Or maybe it’s the coziness they provide on cold winter days and nights when curling up by the fire, or the warmth when venturing out into the wild with some whiskey. Maybe it’s the style and history of these sweaters – remembering family members who wore them – and passing them along. Most likely, it’s a combination of all of these things.
The methods we use to create our sweaters take their cue from traditional Irish sweater knitting originated many generations ago, off the West coast of Ireland.
The many combinations of stitches seen on the garment are not incidental and can impart vast amounts of information to those who know how to interpret them. On the Aran islands, sweater patterns were zealously guarded and kept within the same clan throughout generations. These Aran sweaters were often used to help identify bodies of fishermen washed up on the beach following an accident at sea.
The Aran Sweater has many attributes which made it suitable for the island's community of fishermen and farmers. It is water repellent and can absorb 30% of its weight in water before feeling wet. The natural wool fibre used in the sweaters is breathable, thus helping the body maintain an ideal temperature. Most importantly - an Aran sweater kept the wearer warm on cold days and nights at sea or on the farm.
Our wool knits are all custom designed by us and crafted on antique Swiss looms in Prince Edward Island, Canada. The knitted panels are assembled through point-by-point linking, using the same yarn used to knit the sweater. Every sweater is then painstakingly hand finished to perfection. There is no cutting and, with the exception of soft leather elbow patches and labels, no sewing anywhere on these sweaters. They're built to last - to be handed from one generation to the next.