Twenty to make Mini Christmas Knits - review

Book Depository, Ravelry, Dublin City Public Libraries

Cute christmas knits.  Starts with an introduction and some basic techniques then has 20 different Christmas themed knits.

Twinkling star using sequin yarn, make 5 points and knit them together and then sew two pieces stuffing as you go.

Christmas tree with some ornaments - again make 2, sew together adding beads and a bell as ornaments as you go.

Gingerbread Heart - not sure what makes this gingerbread, it's more nordic to me or rustic.  Knit two heart shapes, sew together with blanket stitch in a contrast yarn, add felt or button heart to centre.

Mini-sweater with a cable, knit 2 sew together.

Mini-mittens, make 2, sew up

Christmas mouse.  sewn

Fairy mouse, like the ordinary mouse but with a tutu, wings and wand.

Stocking, again sewn.

Holly garland sewn onto a curtain ring

Sweetie cone, lined with felt, seamed

Fir tree egg cosy is one of the one that appeals, though it's layers of sewn strips of leaves.

Rudolph is another sewn ornament, you would need to use pipecleaners in the i-cord to keep him up, he's more of a hanging ornament as designed.

Snowman with a hat and scarf and i-cord twig arms and yes sewn.

Rocking Robin, body and breast are made seperately and sewn together, sewn on wings, beak, tail, legs and feet.

Christmas Pud - pudding, large icing drips, small icing drips made seperately and incorporated into the icing top, holly leaves made seperately and all sewn on

Christmas Angel would do for a very small tree.

What a hoot - a miniature owl made in many pieces and seamed together.

French hen - a hen with a scarf, again made in multiple pieces.

Turtle Dove - again complicated small pieces seamed later

Nordic Bunting made with some nordic style patterns these are cute.


One for those who enjoy fiddly seaming. AKA not me.  The only things that caught my attention were the egg-cozies (and I don't often eat eggs) and the bunting.  The rest didn't really grab me.

We Knit you a Merry Christmas review

Book Depository, Ravelry, Dublin City Public Libraries

We knit you a Merry Christmas by Debbie Harrold

Some quite amusing, some groanworthy patterns.  All in dioramas, only 3 of them are on ravelry as I write this.

First up is a Brussels Sprout with a beard, moustache and Santa hat. fiddly seaming

Chill Out - A Chilli Pepper with glasses, magazine and paper hat.

Ha Pea Christmas - a pea skiing, wearing a Santa hat.

Turkey, a knit turkey with a Santa hat.

Go Crackers - a pair of crackers with Santa hats.

Let it snow - a group of snowballs sledding, wearing festive crowns.

Gingerbread - a Gingerbread man and woman

Choir Boys - choir boys with book

Snappy Christmas - a christmassy crocodile

Baa Humbug - Christmas sheep, with either Santa hat or antlers (made with pipe cleaners)

Three French Hens - hens with striped jumpers knitted in and berets or Santa hats.

Happy Christmas, Deer - yes, you guessed it, a deer with antlers.

Ho Ho Ho - Santa

Have an Ice Christmas - a polar bear with a scarf and skates

Penguin - with scarf and ear-muffs

We Three Kings - apart from the fact that I always understood that at least one of the kings wasn't Caucasian .. three kings with cloaks and gifts.

Chris Moose - a moose with a Chris label.

Angel - in silver dress and bearing a gift.

Snowman - with scarf and hat

Mistle Toad and Wine - a toad shown with a miniature bottle of wine.

At the back there are some knitting basics.

This one really made me groan, not for me it would probably appeal to people who like making miniature toys and playing with Dioramas.

Knitting without tears review

Book Depository, Dublin City Public Libraries, Ravelry.
Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann


Elizabeth Zimmermann is the grandmother of modern American knitting and her books are in the bibliography of almost every knitting book in the last 10 or so years.  She's opinionated, antsy and she will tell you exactly what she thinks, but she's also entertaining to read.  It's full of illustrations and sketches by her and it has a certain charm.  The patterns are pretty timeless (provided you adjust for current fashion for fit) There are patterns for jumpers/sweaters, socks, baby wear, watch caps, socks, slippers, mittens and more here, along with advice on washing jumpers.  The Tomten jacket makes an appearance here and you may have to translate the yarns and needles but she makes you ask questions about why you knit the way you do and why you don't play with your knitting more.

This is what Elizabeth Zimmermann is famous for, not the patterns, but for making people think more about how they knit and how things go together and whether or not received wisdom is always the best way.

It's worth reading, even if you don't knit any of the patterns, if you're feeling like there's more that you could do in knitting, even if you don't agree with her, she makes you think.

Rowan Crochet Workbook review

Crochet Workshop - Rowan (Book Depository Link)
Ravelry Link
Dublin City Public Libraries have copies which is where I picked up my copy

Text links are to the patterns on Ravelry.
The presentation of this book is quite good, spiral bound makes it easier for beginners, however it's not a book for left-handed crocheters.  Right-handedness is assumed and there's no real mention of using a mirror or that it's possible to crochet left-handed.

The edition I read is the one on the Amazon.co.uk site and it was in UK crochet terms with a note about the US terms and conversion notes.

Workshop one takes you through some stitches like slip-stitch, double, half-treble, trebles and double trebles you then have a four-stitch coaster practice piece.

Workshop 2 - Stripes are explained next followed by a mixed-yarn striped scarf

Edgings are explored, with some simple patterns, a discussion of edging other fabrics with crochet.

Seaming comes up next, with a patchwork cushion cover to practice crochet seams.

Workshop 3 brings in shaping and working in the round, and some simple flowers. Project four is a Cloche hat with a flower.

Afghan Squares are explored with a couple of different types, often referred to as Granny Squares.  Project five is a Wagon wheel throw, with 188 motifs needing sewing up afterwards.

Workshop 4 takes you through creating textures, lace and some colourwork.  Project six is a crochet belt, covered in crocheted flowers.  Colourwork is used in some variety for the felted pots.

Workshop 5 is about garments and finishing. Project eight is a Baby Matinee Jacket, project 9 is a baby dress. After a piece about finishing with crochet button techniques and pocket techniques there's a woman's cardigan in a very simple stitch.  Short sleeved and made in pieces.

Workshop 6 is about embelishing crochet. Beads, felting and embroidering.  Project 11 is a crocheted necklace with beads. Project 12 is a felted bag with corsage, sewn after felting.

Most of the yarns used in the projects are dk or lighter.

Apart from the caveat about left-handed crocheters it's not a bad book, if you were looking to get into crochet it would be a good lead-in and after doing the projects you would have a good idea of what you were doing with a hook.  The photographs are clear but I don't think that they use enough of how Crochet can be done three-dimensionally, seams are ever-present where perhaps they aren't absolutely necessary.

Sew What bags review

Book Depository Link Dublin City Public Libraries copies


Yes, this isn't a sewing blog and I'm not really a sewing type of person, however this is an excellent book on how to go about designing and making bags out of fabric, ideas which could be translated quite easily into knit bags and if I ever was to sew bags for myself this would be a book I would turn to.  Messenger bags, sacks, organisers, draw-string bags and totes all with clear instructions and inspiring ideas to add to the mix.

Later the same week I read Sew by Cath Kidson and didn't think it was as useful for bags to be honest

Ladybird Book About Knitting

Book Depository Link; Dublin City Public Libraries 
Ladybird Book About Knitting.

Wow, a serious flashback in this one, I remember using this book when I was much younger and I think I tried to knit a few things, but even I knew that my dad wouldn't be that impressed with a knit tie!

This book was part of a series by Ladybird that were about practical projects and originally published in 1972.  This is a facsimile edition of that one, so the needle size is in the old UK Imperial.  Size 8, by the way would be 4mm.

The advice to get some brightly coloured double knitting wool didn't say it had to be actual wool.

The first page of text is some do's and don'ts for better knitting, including washing your hands.
Then a list of essential supplies.  Needles, wool, scissors, sewing needle and bag.
How to create a slip knot is followed closely by an unnamed cast-on, the standard knitted-on cast-on considered pretty basic.
How to knit is followed by a small piece on Garter stitch and then how to cast-off.

The first project is a garter-stitch hair band that requires some help from "mother" to finish.

Purling comes next and an illustration of stocking stitch.  How to sew something together using an overstitch is followed by a pattern for a pincushion for "mother"

How to decrease is followed by a simple pocket money or change purse.

How to increase and then the backstitch seaming method is followed by a ball for a baby using increases and decreases, knit in five pieces

Making holes is followed by how to knit egg-cozies.  Then there's a blanket for a doll's pram, a pencil case, a bag and the aforementioned knit tie (which would appear to be at the end because it's knit using size 9 - 3.75mm needles and 4ply wool!)

It's funny, today there would be things like knitting in the round and probably brand-named yarns but this is simple and very basic and the illustrations are quite clear, wouldn't be a bad book to start someone off on


The libraries have got in a few copies.  Worth looking at for at least entertainment value.

Unintended Politics

No, this was never meant to be a political blog, I honestly didn't intend to talk about politics, but recent events have forced my hand.

And it's all about a knitting pattern, Irish Cable Bomb, a pair of shorts.  earlier versions mentioned that the name is a riff on the Irish Car Bomb drink. Knitpicks have renamed it as Irish Cable Shorts.

Now the Irish Car Bomb cocktail is not a cocktail you would really ever get in Ireland.  At the very least it's a racist stereotype at the worst it's a trivialisation of the pain and suffering that was the Troubles.

The "Troubles" are a raw issue in Ireland.  In my name people murdered other people, often by blowing them up. Often the people were going about ordinary days (see the Omagh Bombing).  We had bombings in Dublin & Monaghan but mostly it was in the Six Counties.  While they claimed it was in my name I never felt that anything justified this.  It was never in my name for me.

The Troubles left scars, not only with other people but every Irish person has a story about what went on.

I remember my mother in tears as she prayed, during her 25th Wedding Anniversary Mass, celebrated by a priest family friend who was based in Belfast.  I had said as an aside earlier that day that none of her children had known peace in the North, I was born in 1970.  I keep seeing that expression of pain and suffering on her face, every time I think about that pattern.  That and the voice of the man who lost his daughter in Omagh as he held her hands, as I write this, tears are beginning to form.

I remember going to that priest's 25th Ordination Anniversary and being surprised at the amount of security on the building, and that was in the late 90s

I remember a friend being very stressed because she just got the last bus out of Belfast before the "Twelfth", I also remember when in July you would suddenly see an influx of Northern Registered Cars in Galway, as some of the more moderate people ran away from the violence that would erupt then.

I remember when I put a white ribbon on, when the Women's Peace Protest said "not in my name" and called for people to wear it, maybe I should start again.

My husband told me about being stopped and searched because he was going to a paintball game in the UK in the late 80s early 90s, when you could be stopped and detained for 48 hours for suspicion of being Irish.

If you want to know more about the conflict this is a good place to start.  The Irish Car Bomb Cocktail should be renamed and this racist trivialisation of pain and suffering should stop.

And it should never be used for a pattern name.

In fairness, the author and editor have apologised for any offence caused.  This does not stop it from being hurtful.

Since I wrote this on Friday they've changed the name to Bombshell Shorts.  I would like to thank them for listening.

Strange locations for evidence

Idly reading Sex and Marriage in Ancient Ireland By Patrick C Power

By the way I really wish a lot of romance writers who writer about Ancient Ireland would read this, marriage in modern Ireland and celtic Ireland were two completely different things. Not exactly a book you would expect to find anything really about yarn and fabric.  I mean why would a book about marriage have anything about that sort of thing?

Page 53-54

When it came to the division of wool and the dye-plant (glaisin) which was used, the position was as follows: the woman would take as her own one half of whatever cloth she had woven or of the the wool she had spun while married.  She was entitled to one third of the wool which has been combed once and a sixth of the wool which is in locks or sheaves of flax.  As to the dye-plant, she received one third of it at a preliminary stage of preparation and one half if it be fully prepared for use.

(the author cites Ancient Laws of Ireland Vol II, p 373
Glaisin would appear to be Woad from a quick google, I suppose that's going to be one of the next things to research,

So there was flax, and wool. Nothing is said of knitted fabric of any sort, but then again it's not clear if the cloth is about unused cloth or if it would include used cloth, I may have to take a better look at the laws and my old college text on Early Irish Laws looking at it for mentions of yarn and clothing.  I was reading this originally to remind myself about the laws because I read too many books that contradicted what I believed was true.  It's an interesting and quite short read.   It's interesting to see a different view of marriage and an insight into a different culture.  It's just a pity that many authors can't see past their own cultural assumptions.

Aran Reader - clothing etc quotes

Since my last post on the Aran Reader I've finally finished it.

Book Depository Link, Dublin City Public Libraries link

It's a collection of writings about the Islands beginning with Giraldus Cambrensis in 1220 to a poem by Michael Longley in 1985.  There are six sections in it, Early Visitors; Literary Revival; The Strangers; Aran Writers; Man of Aran and To Possess Aran, each dealing with different eras.

I did find it an interesting read, interesting in how different people experienced the islands.

This post is more about clothing and fabric traditions of the islands than about some of the other details in the book.  It's worth reading if you're interested in the islands and their history.

Pages noted here are from the hardback edition I'm reading.  Links on the title are of online copies I have found, if available.

From Samuel Lewis A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland from 1837 (p18-22)
p20-21

"...and they grow small quantities of flax; but the produce of their harvests seldom exceeds what is required for their own consumption.  The pasture land is appropriated to sheep and goats, and a few cows and horses, for which they also reserve some meadow..."

p21

"...the tormentil root serves in place of bark for tanning; and there is another plant which gives a fine blue dye, and is used in colouring the woollen cloth which the islanders manufacture for their own wear."

p22

"From the secluded situation of these islands, the language, manners, customs, and dress of the natives are peculiarly primitive; instances of longevity are remarkable. The shoes worn are simply a piece of raw cow hide, rather longer than the foot, and stitched close at the toe and heel with a piece of fishing line."

From Notes on Connaught by T. J. Westropp (1888) (p47-49)
p48

"This island is an extremely primitive place we saw women grinding meal with querns & weaving the cloth which dyed red or brown forms the staple female dress; the men usually wear blue cloth clothes & scotch caps & 'pampooties' or raw hide shoes of untanned skin laced up the heel & instep..."

More from Ethnography of the Aran Islands by Haddon & Browne (1893) (p50-58) [note link is to version that appears to be abridged]
p55
Clothing

The dress of both sexes is for the most part homemade, being largely composed of homespun, either uncoloured or of speckled brown, or blue grey or bright red colour.  The people appear not only to be warmly clad, but as a rule to be over-clothed.
As previously mentioned [not included, that I can see, in the extract] the girls and women card and spin the wool, the wool is worth eightpence per pound. The cards are bought in Galway, and the spinning wheel is of the pattern which is common throughout the west coast.  A large fly-wheel is supported on a form, at the other end of which is an upright board which supports the spindle.  The wheel is turned by hand. The whole machine is of rough workmanship and is homemade.  Some women will hire other women to come to their houses to do their spinning for them at the rate of eightpence per pound.  All the yarn is woven in the islands by professional weavers who charge fourpence per yard for the plain and fivepence for the coloured flannel.  The flannel or yarn is dyed by the women.  Dr Kean informs us that formerly the wool used to be dyed a black of a very fast nature made by steeping it in a decoction made from some plants which he has never been able to identify and, then boiling it in an 'ink', as they used to term it, composed of the black liquid from bog holes, which was imported from Connemara or the purpose.  This method has been given up for some years since the introduction of the dyes of commerce.  Those most in use now are madder and indigo.  O'Flaherty writes (1824), p133:- 'There is a native vegetable, the name of which I now forget, [damn you O'Flaherty, why didn't you remember! W] which gives a fine blue dye, much used in colouring the wool which the islanders manufacture for their wearing.'
The men wear a shirt of dark flannel procured from Galway, and over this a jacket or sleeved waistcoat (bawneen) of white homespun nearly as thick as a blanket; outside of which is worn a waistcoat made of grey-blue or brown flannel, in many cases this is bound with a dark braid.  Of this waistcoat there are two patterns, one with large collar flaps buttoned back on the shoulders and the other buttoned up to the neck with a simple turnback collar without flaps.  The latter patter, though sometimes worn by the men, is for the most part worn by boys.  The trousers are of white or grey homespun and are worn loose and rather short, ending well above the ankles, and are slit down the outer side of the calf for the lower four inches.  The feet are clothed in blue woollen stockings with white upper bands and toes.  These are knitted by the women  They also wear a home broad blue bonnet of the 'Tam o'Shanter' type with a chequered head-band, or a broad-brimmed soft hat which is imported.  Up to the age of about twelve the boys wear a long frock of red homespun, coming well below the knees and buttoned up the back, otherwise they are clothed like the men.
The women wear only one cotton undergarment, and bodice, and several heavy petticoats; the outermost is usually of a bright red colour.  They often wear a white jacket like a man's.  Frequently a woman will be seen wearing a petticoat over her head as a shawl; but more usually an imported tartan shawl is owrn, the red patterns as Stuart, Grant and McNab, being the favourite.  In many cases a red kerchief is worn on the head, but caps, hats, or bonnets are not worn.  O'Flaherty (1824 p. 138) says:- The female headdress is completely the old Baraid [or Bairéid] of the Irish.'
Both sexes wear sandals made of raw cowhide, the hair being outside, the edges of the piece of hide are caught up with strgin, with which htey are tied on over the instep.  They are admirably adapted for climbing and running over the rocks and loose stones.  Some of the men, however, are now taking to wearing leather boots.  These sandals are precisely similar to the 'rivlins' of the western and northern islands of Scotland.  In Aran they are now called 'pampooties'; the origin of this term is obscure (cf. Wilde, 1861 p. 281).  A curious point about them is, that they have to be wetted with water before being put on, and that while in wear they must be kept damp in order to preserve their flexibility.
In a footnote on p. 96 of O'Flaherty's H-Iar Connaught, Hardiman says:- 'It is observed that the people of Aran, who wear seal-skin pumps, or "pampooties", are never afflicted with gout.  They affirm that a piece of the skin worn on the person cures and keeps away the cholic.' Apair of pampooties will last about three months, and the cost of the skin is from 6d. to about 1s. 2d. per pair.

From  Lady Gregory's Seers and Healers (1920) (p68-70)
p 68

The men would sit in a half-circle on the floor, passing the lighted pipe from one to another; the women would find some work with yarn or wheel.

Which begs the question, what did they do with the yarn, however it's not recorded!

The Arran Isles by Mary Banim from Here and There Through Ireland (reissued from 1896 Weekly Freeman) (73-83)
p74

The men were clad in white flannel suits of sort, loose jacket and trousers; their head-covering, a round, grey woollen cap, made with the crown flat and a little wider than the red and white tartan band which fits it to the head; on the feet 'pampootys' (I spell the word by sound), or sandals made of one strip of raw cowhide, stitched at the toe and heel with a bit of fishing line; another piece of string is run half way round at the top of the foot at one side, a second string goes an equal distance at the heel to the other side, and these strings being drawn around the foot while the hide is supple, the sandals form perfectly to the shape of the feet, making, with the brown or prettily mottled hair on the outer side, a sandal such as was worn, perhaps, in the days of Cain and Abel, and which is certainly as simple, and yet as pretty a foot covering as one could wish to see.  They are necessary to the people of Arran, who have to spend their whole lives walking on the rocks and springing from crag to crag; so that the pampootys are worn by every man, woman and child...
...The bigger lads were dressed like the men, while the little Arran boys, up to twelve, wear red petticoats like their mothers and sisters. .... These dark-skinned and darked eyed little fellows, in pretty cowhide sandals, red petticoats, white homespun jackets and woollen caps, look exactly like young Arabs.

p79

Beside [the fireplace] the stand of the spinning-wheel served as a form until the winter evenings should come, when the wheel would be mounted, the spindle put in, the carders set to work and the busy spinner be the centre figure in the warm, firelit kitchen, while the immense balls of yarn, spun last winter and now hanging up on the wall, would be taken down and knitted into stockings for the family, or dyed and prepared for the weaver to weave into flannel, frieze or blankets.  For nearly every article of clothing is made at home on the islands, and, though heavy and rather coarse to the touch of those accostomed to the finely dressed (and adulterated) English manufactured goods, the stuffs thus made at home are far warmer and more durable, and also healthier than any others, as nothing but pure wool and vegetable dyes are used.

p80

...many of the women looked strangely like their own Eastern ancestresses: the sandalled feet, Venetian red petticoat, and, with many of them, bawneen, or white flannel jacket, worn covering the head, forehead, and body in truly Eastern style, have a curiously foreign effect. 

The Islands of Aran by Arthur Symons from Cities and Seas-Coasts and Islands (1897) (p86-91)

p89

...women wearing the same red clothes that we had seen on the larger island... and looked up at us out of the darkness of many interiors, from where they sat on the ground knitting or carding wool.

...and two of three girls sat down on the other side of the arena, knitting.

p90

...she was sitting by the roadside knitting...

Sadly what they were knitting isn't recorded.

The Aran Islands by John Millington Synge (1907) (p97-104)

p103-104

The rough lane to the graveyard slopes away towards the east, and the crowd of the women going down before me in their red dresses, cloaked with red petticoats, with the waistband that is held aroudn the head just seen from behind, had a strange effect, to which the white coffin and the unity of colour gave a nearly cloistral quietness.

James Joyce The Mirage of the Fisherman of Aran. England's safety valve in case of war (translated from Italian, 1912) (p108-110)
 p109

The fisherman of Aran has sure feet. He wears a rough sandal of untanned cowhide, without heels, open at the arch, and tied with rawhide laces.l He dresses in wool as thick as felt and wears a big black hat with a wide brim.

p110

...the islander, removing his hat from his head, sinks his face in the soft wool, confused and smiling.

Somerville and Ross - An Outpost of Ireland from Some Irish Yesterdays (1906) (p124-128)
 p126

a middle-aged and taciturn widow, wearing a red-checked shawl over her broad chest, a smaller red shawl over her head, an excessively short red homespun skirt, and pampooties. In the early hours of the summer morning her step, muffled in cowhide, traversed the house weightily ; in due time followed the entrance of the stable bucket, borne with a slow stride that showed to admiration the grey woollen ankles under the short skirt

p127

With its barbaric novelties of colour, its wild, red-clad women, its background of grey rock, its glare of sunshine, Aran should be a place known to painters

facing page 16 of the text is an illustration of an Irish Fisherman

Thomas Mason The Aran Islands from The Islands of Ireland (1936) (p131-135)

p133

The bride...was dressed in a blue costume, thin stockings and light shoes; she wore a necklace, and her appearance was in strong contrast to that of the other women.

Liam O'Flaherty Skerrit from The Black Soul (1924) (p140-161)

 p159

They all wore the native costume of the island, rawhide shoes, blue frieze drawers held with a belt, hand-knitted [? the ones I've seen have been woven], of coloured threads, a sleeveless frieze waistcoat, blue in front and white at the back, dark blue frieze shirt with white bone buttons from throat to breast, wide-brimmed black felt hat.

Tom O'Flaherty Coming Home from Aranmen All (1934) (176-188)
p180-181

Children were reared for export to the American labour market (plus ca change)... English post-office name for the hamlet is meaningless, like the phonetic atrocities that go for names of places all over Ireland.

Yeah, nothing to do with costume but a lot to do with some recent thoughts.

Intro to Pieces on Man of Aran
p208

Michaeleen Dillane, was sent to boarding-school in Galway but left to join first the Irish and then the British army.  He was reportedly wounded at Dunkirk but he vanished without trace in the war's aftermath and is now but a hazy memory among the oldest islanders 

Another piece of trivia that really has nothing to do with much but strange trivia that caught my attention, like the fact that the first Gold Medal of the modern Olympics was awarded to James Brendan Connolly whose parents came from the Aran Islands.

Ria Mooney - Autobiography from George Spelvin's Theatre Book (Summer 1978) (p239-242)
p240-241

Everyone seemed to dress in the same way: the men wore the white collarless bainin jacket over their hand-kntted jerseys, pampooties, footwear- made from oblong pieces of unplucked cowhide - on their feet, and a crios (a belt woven from coloured wools) around the waist of their trousers. On their heads, the wore the Bobalin cap or the large, sombrero-like felt hat.  The large hats, however, seemed to be dying out, as only the older men wore them, and I doubt they could be bought in Ireland after the early years of the century.  The Bobalin cap was very attractive. It was round, crocheted in thick white wool, with a large tassel at the top.  It has become fashionable now for children or teenagers to wear one with an 'Aran' sweater or lumber-jacket.  At that time, the children of Aran would wear their sweaters to Mass on Sundays - each family having its own traditional individual design, and all in spotless, gleaming white.  The girls wore mostly red woollen skirt which they called petticoats.  Married women and widows had begun to wear black, but the majority wore the skirts that were made from the homespun wool they had dyed with the juice of red berries.
The effect of these traditional clothes, and the simple good taste of the people who had remained on their island, was marred by the cheap American clothes which some of the girls wore on Sundays, proclaiming hte fact that they had relatives or friends who had emigrated to the States.  Some of the older women wore fawn-coloured shawls which had been bought in Galway, and others were very proud when on Sundays they could show off one of the newfangled machine-knitted garments called 'cardigans''. The men's trousers were made from cloth woven from the wool of the black sheep - Bainin was made from the wool of the white sheep.
...I am glad I saw something of the old customs before they disappeared altogether.  Pat Mullen told me that in his youth, before he had emigrated - to stay only a few years - to America, the women were even more colourful in their dress.  White, red, blue, purple and striped petticoats were worn.  Their newest, which they wore on Sundays, was turned up in front and caught in folds to form a kind of bustle at the back, when they were performing any tasks at which their new petticoats might get splashed or spotted.  But even at the time of my visit it was a picture for the mind to store away to see those women, with their red skirts spread out, sitting on the sloping golden sands of Inisheer in the evening, their backs supported by a green bank, waiting for their men to come home with currachs full of supplies brought in on the Dun Aengus from Galway.

 Shevawn Lynam from A Change of Outlook from Accent on Living (1955) (p273-275)
p275

It hardly seemed worth explaining that the islanders grow their own clothes on their own sheep's backs and the the island weaver weaves them: or that they make their own shoes - pampooties, they're called - from their own cows' hides: or that they make their land with the own hands...
I can still see her sitting there, as neat as a pin in her long, red tweed skirt and velvet trimmed bodice...

I have transcribed these as best I can, a good chunk of it is out of copyright material.  If you know any sources or comments feel free to add them.

Aran Reader - some notes as I read

I'm on a short break, somewhat marred by a missing cat putting paid to some plans.

Then I heard that Vogue Knitting has published an article about Clan Arans... sigh.  While I'm reading this Aran Reader.

Book Depository Link, Dublin City Public Libraries link (yes, yes the copy I'm reading is the one circulating copy, I hope to have it back soon)

The Aran Reader is a book that gathers together writings about the Aran Islands from the earliest with Giraldus Cambrenis in 1220 to the 20th Century (published in 1991) with a variety of writings and opinions.  I'm mostly data mining it for mentions of knitting and the costume of the locals over the centuries.

I was mostly ignoring the bit about local names.  Didn't really think about it much the rest of the extract was sufficiently annoying in parts, anything written in 1893 with a title of Ethnography of the Aran Islands (published in the Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy) is guaranteed to be, at least patronising and at worst down right bigoted.

So the Local surnames, with frequency: (page 53)

Beaty              1
Brabson          1
Burke              5
Concannon     5
Conneely (1) 61
Cooke             5
Curlin              8
Coleman          1
Costello           8
Crampton        1
Davoran           1
Derrane (2)     57
Dillane              4
Donohoe         11
Duignan            3
Faherty (1)       78
Fallon                3
Fahy                  1
Flaherty (1)     80
Fitzpatrick (3)   5
Flanagan           1
Folan               18
Gauly (4)          1
Garvey              1
Gillan (5)          3
Gill                   6
Gould               1
Griffin              9
Hardy               1
Hernon            11
Hogan               1
Joyce               17
Kean                 5
Kelly                 4
Kilmartin (6)     1
Kennedy           1
Kenny               1
King                  1
Keilly                1
Kyne                 2
Lee                    2
Leonard             3
Maher                7
McDonagh       27
Millane               6
McNally             1
Mulkerrin           4
Mullin               20
Murray               2
Naughton           3
O'Brien              5
O'Donnell        20
O'Rourke           2
Powel              14
Quinn                2
Ryder (7)           1
Scofield             1
Sharry (8)          2
Toole                4
Wallace             3
Walsh                4

1) This name is found over the three islands
2) this name is confined (with exceptions of two families) to the large island
3) Originally from the King's County [Offaly]
4) Originally from Dublin
5) Originally from the North
6) From County Clare
7) Originally from Boffin Isle
8) Originally from County Clare
{apologies for the clunky formatting, I'm not too hot with this]

Sadly these names are in English only so no idea what names were in Irish, also the collector, a Seargeant Wm. Law of the Royal Irish Constabulary who said "I have omitted a few names such as those of Johnston, Chard, Kilbride and a few others of more ancient appearance on the islands." Also many of the names are names I came across during Primary and Secondary school years in Galway.

The names highlighted are the names that appear in the Clan Arans listing.

Now I may have missed a few, however I did try to find them being as general as possible.  Feel free to point out the ones I've missed.

Sadly the tradition of knitting stockings or socks is dying out, the socks described as having white heels and tops (cuff or toes?) with the rest being coloured.  Yes you can get them around Connemara but they're not regarded as something that we should be worried about or should try to preserve.  My father describes knitting heels by double knitting them, where they were knit into the front and back of the stitch and then the first stitch cast off over the second stitch.  He described them as very hard wearing but a pain to mend.  I wonder how socks were knit around Ireland and were there regional variations.

I have found no mention of knitted jumpers, just woven clothing with knitted socks, and I'm heading into the 20th century with what I'm reading in this book.