The Cuillin Gansey is a homage to the Isle of Skye, a Gansey celebration of my youth spent climbing in the Cuillin mountains there.

The design reflects all the beautiful nature I observed in this special place. The remnants of the Caledonian forest and its great Scots pines, the North Star guiding us off the mountain after a long day out, the heapies, or peat stacks, as we neared the mountain bothy and the shape of the mountains themselves.

The Cuillin vest is knitted using the Gansey techniques explored in the book written by Di and Sheila Greenwell, The Gansey Knitting Sourcebook. They use the seeding patterns: the small, repeated patterns between the main motifs which often reveal the ‘hand of the knitter’, to create extra stitches for larger sizes.

They found this device in many of the Ganseys they curated at the Scottish Fisheries Museum while researching the book. A knitter could then keep the main designs unchanged but adjust the size if knitting for a new family member who would have joined the fishing boat.

SIZES

Sizes: 1 (2, 3, 4) {5, 6, 7}

To fit chest: 90–92 (95–97, 104–106, 115–117) {124–126, 133–135, 144–146} cm /
35.5–36.5 (37.5–38.5, 41–42, 45–46) {49–50, 52.5–53.5, 56.5–57.5} in

Designed to be worn with 8–10 cm / 3–4 in positive ease.

YARN

Di Gilpin Lalland Lambswool Aran, 100% Lambswool spun in Scotland, 150 m / 164 yds per 100g ball.

4 (4, 5, 5) {6, 6, 7} balls

Sample 1: Firebird, shown in size 1 with 9 cm / 3.5 in positive ease.

Sample 2: Crowdie, shown in size 2 with 14 cm / 5.5 in positive ease.

Sample 3: Storm, shown in size 3 with 13 cm / 5 in positive ease.

OR in Aran yarn which knits to the specified tension and has similar stitch definition.

APPROXIMATE YARDAGE REQUIRED

550 (585, 635, 715) {795, 875, 955} m /
602 (640, 695, 782) {870, 957, 1045} yds

TECHNIQUES

Knitting in the round, reading charts, picking up sts, 3 Needle Bind Off