Aran Sweaters

**Pleater** · 8th March 06, 04:27 PM

Originally Posted by Cawdorian

The prices are very good. Does the XXL size given as 46" run smaller than the US XXL? I was looking for a reasonably priced navy blue Aran or cable knit pullover, but I haven't found it yet.

Dark colours don't show up the Aran type stitches in the same way that the natural bainin wool does - and its the very whatsit to knit too.

I have done a few ganseys with worsted spun navy blue but only in the summer and working outside as it is almost impossible to see the stitches under artificial lighting. You might be rather dissapointed with a navy blue Aran.

Come to think of it I had one once - given to me for that very reason - plus a mistake in the twisting which was, of course, entirely unnoticable. That must have been in 1969.

Rumour has it that the Aran stitches were all made up by one man who wanted some jerseys made to sell on - they would naturally sell a lot better if they had a bit if romance about them - but the idea that the patterns were connected to particular families would have delighted him. He probably didn't think of it as Irish 'clans' hadn't been thought of either.

I know that the women's sizes in the UK and the US are different - a size 16 in the US is an 18 in the UK - something one of my aunts who worked in a clothes shop in York said she recited 50 times a day and the tourists still would not buy their correct size, sometimes even after trying on the clothes.

It might be advisable to enquire what the actual size of the garment is, rather than rely on sizing, which can be a matter of opinion.

**auld argonian** · 8th March 06, 06:48 PM

Forgive me if this ground has already been gone over but a friend of mine (of Irish extraction) once told me that the reason for the different patterns on Arran sweaters was so that they could identify fisherman who had drowned and had been in the water for a while...they'd just check the pattern on the sweater and say, " ohmigod...it's O'Connor!".

...that's what he said....

Best

AA

**Paul Henry** · 9th March 06, 02:07 AM

yet another urban legend......

**auld argonian** · 9th March 06, 08:28 AM

Originally Posted by paulhenry

yet another urban legend......

I'm not the least bit suprised. So many of these urban legends sound so much better than the truth that people just WANT to believe them.

Best

AA

**porrick** · 9th March 06, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by auld argonian

I'm not the least bit suprised. So many of these urban legends sound so much better than the truth that people just WANT to believe them.

Best

AA

So true, but what we are witnessing (along with the romanticizing of the "ancient" clan tartans - sorry, could't resist) is the creation and start of wonderful myths that future generations can marvel over. Think of all the myths from ancient times that we all are familiar with and see as part of our heritage.

Let's enjoy the myths - so nice with stories that are apart from so much cruelty in our world.

Does it matter if the Irish patterns are a sales pitch? I have a Murphy Aran sweater, and my son and grandkids (OK, maybe one day...) will be able to say that their sweaters are Murphy - just like dad and grandad's...
Myth gives way to a nice family tradition

**Paul Henry** · 9th March 06, 10:54 AM

I'm, not sure that it matters what the pattern represent, eg, fisherman's ropes/fields of barley/blackberries/honeycomb etc, but the fact remains that they are made up!
If we chose to make a "myth" out of them so be it.

What exactly makes your jumper a "murphy"? sorry not meaning to pick on you, just curious!

When I was taken as a child to visit all sorts of family friends, many of whom knitted,I was shown the different patterns , some of the knitters liked doing some stitches and not others, so in a sense that created a style belonging to them,but hardly a clan!

**porrick** · 9th March 06, 11:53 AM

Originally Posted by paulhenry

I'm, not sure that it matters what the pattern represent, eg, fisherman's ropes/fields of barley/blackberries/honeycomb etc, but the fact remains that they are made up!
If we chose to make a "myth" out of them so be it.

What exactly makes your jumper a "murphy"? sorry not meaning to pick on you, just curious!

When I was taken as a child to visit all sorts of family friends, many of whom knitted,I was shown the different patterns , some of the knitters liked doing some stitches and not others, so in a sense that created a style belonging to them,but hardly a clan!

That is where the myth comes in, I guess. As far as I have gathered, somebody - don't know who - have systematized different patterns by giving them Irish family names. One could probably have named them "pattern 1, pattern 2" etc (?!?) Probably much of the romantic drive that has named so many tartans on differing isles

I am not particularly updated on the history of the Aran sweater, but I like the names given to the various patterns. Clan? Well... if one reads it as e.g. "pattern named after a Murphy family" I think we should be getting somewhere

The men in our family have had the same pattern Aran for four generations, and for us it has certainly become a "clan Murphy" thing in a modern context. We have been three generations wearing our sweaters at the same time (7 of us), and that certainly gave others something to identify us by.

My 2 cents is that the Aran sweater is of an outstanding quality, and I haven't seen any others similiar that I would rather have.

My appologies for rambling on - concluding with: it's a darn fine sweater, and if family and friends associate Patrick Murphy with his (Murphy) Aran and kilt, all the better.