The Chronicles Of The Cable Girl
So folks I have discovered a new hobby... knitting. Aran knitting to be precise. Its something I haven’t done in years and well I’ve never done aran so thats a whole new experience... See when i started college i discovered the joy of the knit machine and i cast away the good old fashioned hand knit with two needles, a ball of yarn and a bag full of patience. The thing is that since I’ve picked up the needles again I’ve realised that the big bag of patience is no longer really required, perhaps its maturity or just old age but instead of finding the slow pace and sometimes pernickety pattern work a source of frustration i now find it a source of solace, all in all its good for the head. When your stuck in a pattern counting stitches twisting cables knitting and purling, the burdens of day to day life just disappear, no stress or woes just a feeling of contentment and achievement.
You see I’ve wanted an aran jumper for quite some time now but haven’t been able to find one that I am content with or that gives me the “I want it now” buzz that you expect to get from a piece with a price tag of in and around €200... I grew up with my Mam knitting these, she knitted one for all the family, they got sent stateside and everything, so I was quite taken aback at the price tag on pieces that were, frankly, not as interesting or intricate as those my mother knitted out of kindness and necessity.
Since i began my search for the perfect aran jumper two or three years ago my mother has shook her head in jest at my fruitless labours and has never let me forget, that several years before that, when she was cleaning out her own wardrobe, she pulled out a beautiful handknit aran cardigan, with just about every stitch in the craft, and upon asking me would I wear it or would she give it to the local charity shop my face took on a screwed up look of horror at the idea of wearing such a dated, stereotypically irish historical garment and i quickly informed her that no i was not an american tourist and therefore would not by any means ever want to wear a piece of aran knit... Oh woe is me, because after three years of fruitless searching i have realised time and time again that that cardigan could easily have been exactly what i have been looking for, but alas I will never know...
So after a recent trip to Galway, home of the aran jumper (almost, it was far too cold to go to the Aran Islands) and a thorough search through all of the offerings of handknit and machine knit jumpers, cardigans, scarfs etc I finally threw in the towel on my search and conceded that i would be better off finding my Mams old patterns and knitting my own. After a quick search in the attic and a trip to town for some yarn the chronicles of the cable girl were born, and since i haven’t held a pair of knitting needles in at least fifteen years if not more and aran is a completely alien concept to me i have started chapter one with a humble scarf.
I admit that the likelihood of me following in the footsteps of great knitwear designers and becoming the next Tim Ryan or Sandra Backlund is slim to say the least, but I am enjoying the newfound sense of tranquility this age old tradition has brought to my life and i am hopeful that come next winter (I say that as if this one has ever ended) I will have the beautiful hand knit jumper that I’ve lusted after now for several years and when someone enquires I will be able to say proudly “I made it myself”.
Above Images; Keep Calm And Cast On www.amazon.ca, Aran jumpers, Fallers Sweater Shop, Shop Street, Galway. Aran jumpers, cardigans, polonecks and hats,Treasure Box, Shop Street Galway. Alexa Chung wearing an aran jumper at JW Anderson London Fashion Week www.elbowsandkneesblog.com, My Mams old patterns and my first aran scarf.
