The tradition of Cornish Guernseys and knit-frocks

Ruth Strickley for The Little Wool Company

The Cornish style of knitting originated way back in the times of Queen Elizabeth the First. Admiral Lord Nelson made the Guernsey jumper a valuable part of the Royal Navy's uniform during the Napoleonic Wars. And Guernsey jumpers – or 'ganseys' - were even worn at The Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. Originally designed for fishermen, this is no ordinary jumper. In fact, it's quite extraordinary. Here's what you need to know about the tradition of Cornish Guernseys and 'knit frocks' – simply another way of saying, 'jumper'.

About the Guernsey jumper

During the 1700s and 1800s many Cornish women knitted Ganseys in between their daily tasks, to earn extra money while their husbands were at sea. The traditional Guernsey sweater was tightly knitted to provide a close, snug fit. Snugness mattered because that way you wouldn't get dangly bits of sleeve or hem snagged in a rope or in the jaws of a machine and potentially rip your arm off or get thrown overboard. When your jumper can't get caught in your fishing equipment, and your sleeves stop short of the wrist so they don't get in the way, life at sea is an awful lot safer. Shorter sleeves also mean your jumper didn't get wet, and the tight-fitting hem, neck and cuffs kept chilly draughts at bay.

Every Cornish fishing community had its own easily-identifiable pattern, some with fish designs and others featuring ropes and nets, herringbone pattern and even anchors. Families developed their own patterns, as did entire generations. The classic Guernsey stayed mostly plain but as time passed and the skills made their way steadily northwards, the stitches became more complex. By the time it reached northern Scotland's fishing villages the jumpers were smothered in complicated patterns.

The original Guernsey jumpers were square with a straight neck and they were also completely reversible, with the same pattern on the front and back. There were plain, non-patterned bands at the waist, so the jumper could easily be tucked in, and on exposed areas of the body, the patterning was the thickest and most complex, simply to help keep the warmth in. Making the patterns the same on both sides meant the jumpers lasted twice as long, with the wear and tear they suffered being distributed evenly.

Imagine using five needles to knit one jumper? That's how it was traditionally done, knitted 'in the round' from the chest to the back on two needles, then joining the pieces so they didn't get lost. The wool most often used was worsted wool, perfect for protection from the cold, wind, rain and salt spray. And you didn't wash your jumper very often, if at all. The people believed that the dirt gathered over the years helped to keep their garments waterproof, windproof and warmer.

As far as the colour goes seafarers, whatever their role, always wore dark blue. The dye used was natural Indigo dye, the only blue dye available until the late 1800s.

Mary Wright brings Ganseys back to life in the '70s

By the late 1800s Cornish hand-knitting was an important cottage industry and each small coastal village created its own distinctive patterns and names for their knit-frocks. But by the 1920s contract knitting – effectively a kind of poorly-paid piecework - had died out and Guernseys were in crisis. Then, in the 1970s, a woman called Mary Wright started asking elderly Cornish people what they remembered about it. The book that emerged is more than a fascinating picture of social history, full of fabulous old photos, detailed instructions and charts showing modern knitters how to make their own Cornish Guernsey thanks to thirty local patterns she resurrected.

Since then Mary, a specialist knitting instructor, has exhibited her work throughout the UK and beyond. If you'd like to buy a copy of her book and give a Gansey a go, here's a link to the book on Amazon. It was last reprinted in 2008, in line with the growing contemporary trend for knitting.

See pictures of inspirational Ganseys!

If you're feeling inspired to design and knit a Gansey of your own or knit one for someone you love, Pinterest has some super photos to whet your appetite, here. And if you'd like to buy some gorgeous worsted alpaca wool to knit with, we sell wool from our own alpaca herd.