lizabeth and I took our honeymoon on the west coast of Ireland. One of my favorite places there was the Aran Islands. We spent two nights on Inis Mhor, the big island, a latticework of stone walls and green
grass, fog and the odd cow or two.
We walked all the way along the western cliffs to Dun Aengus, an ancient fortification hanging off the edge of the island, open to the endless Atlantic. It was truly heart-thrilling (but it was also quite chilly, even in August)! On the walk back, we stopped at a tiny shop that sold Aran’s famous sweaters. Most were undyed cabled ganseys. But there was one sweater that called out to me: a patchwork of cables in all colors. It was hand-knit by Áine Ní Fhátharta, a local resident. I wore it every winter in New York and remembered our wonderful Irish roving.
When we moved to Asheville, however, I found that it can go for years without getting cold enough to comfortably wear my old Irish friend. So I set about knitting a sweater that would recall my favorite sweater (though never replace it). Instead of thick Irish wool, I used a recycled yarn (Berroco Remix) that knits up remarkably like wool but is made from cooler fibers. I also changed the drop-shoulders to saddle shoulders to get some of the cabling onto the sleeves.