Brooklyn Tweed recently put out a mini collection of 8 Gansey inspired patterns, for 3 hats and 5 pullovers. The gansey is rich in knitting history as a style of sweater made for seamen from the channel island of the same name. The textured stitches and cables are cornerstones of gansey design, as it increased the thickness of the knitted fabric,  were densely knitted to help repel water and keep the fishermen extra warm. This collection probably has something for everyone, as there are some sweaters that have the gansey details only on the upper body, and all three hats are beautifully done.
Let’s take a closer look at 4 of the design that I find most intriguing. And if you wanted to check them out on Ravelry (to add to your queue!), you can find them here.
The most feminine gansey of the collection features cables and a bit of lace, as well as a flattering A-line cut and a boatneck which is pretty much universally flattering. I know you have to look past the weird styling of the blue button up shirt underneath it (boatnecks don’t look good with collared shirts, but do with v necks and crew necks, so maybe the stylist only brought button ups?). It’s worsted weight, and  knit from the bottom up in the round. Design is moss stitch and charted lace and cables. Also, be sure to check out the other photos to see the beautiful design on the sleeves! They are also worked top-down.
You Should Totally Knit This If:Â You love feminine knits, cables and lace combined, and a figure that lives for A-line everything.
You Should Definitely Not Knit This If: You don’t like to print out your patterns, because I think you’ll want to place the charts beside the directions for the front and back. For those of you thinking, “who doesn’t print out patterns?!” I’ll tell you- me. I very rarely print out patterns, I work straight from the screen 95% of the time.
 This fingering weight pullover has lovely set in sleeves and waist shaping, for a more streamlined fit that is perfect for layering. Texture and great angles keep the focus on the upper half of the sweater, with a minimally finished neckline. It’s knit in the round, from the bottom up; textured stitches are fully charted.  If you were looking for a wardrobe classic that would work with anything and never go out of style, this is it.
You Should Totally Knit This If: You are looking for a wardrobe staple. Knit this in a great wardrobe neutral like black, grey, navy, or cream, and you will wear it until the end of time. Also, the charts are very easy to follow, so if you like easy charts, this is just right.
You Should Definitely Not Knit This If:Â You are looking for more of a traditional gansey that has the boxier fit, or if approximately a couple thousand yards of fingering might put you off.
This is a warm hat, people! Knit in worsted weight from the top down, you can try it on as you go. The brim is worked separately and attached at the base, which is a bit more fiddly but yields stunning results. And if you are the type with sensitive ears, you will swear that double brim is the only kind of hat to knit.
You Should Totally Knit This If:  You like being warm.  And you live somewhere that gets snow.
You Should Definitely Not Knit This If:Â You live somewhere that is mostly warm or temperate, and are nervous about reading charts with cables, as this pattern has lots of charts.
Hooray for the quick knit! This is a bulky weight hat knit with a single skein of Brooklyn Tweed Quarry, and it doesn’t get much faster than that. Knit from the brim up, you switch needle sizes to achieve much of the shaping. Once you get it all set up, tucking a copy of the chart into your knitting bag is all you’ll need to keep tabs on this sleek little hat.
You Should Totally Knit This If:Â A gansey sweater is possibly a bit beyond what you are willing to tackle right now, but a gansey style hat is not. Also, if you have interchangeable needles, switching needle sizes will be a breeze for you.
You Should Definitely Not Knit This If: I’m struggling to think who might not like this pattern…. I suppose if you really and truly do not do charts or cables. But if you wanted to try, this would be a good project to learn on, as Brooklyn Tweed patterns are very detailed, and the charts on this are very straightforward.
So what do you think of the new BT collection- Â Feeling the Gansey vibe, or no? Do you have a favourite pattern that you admire?
I knit straight from the screen too. I save a pattern to my kindle app and will knit from my phone screen when I need to be mobile. I thought I was the only one that didn’t print off patterns!
I actually didn’t care for the sweaters in this collection, but I loved every single hat!
I really like the look of the Breslin sweater but then I zoomed in on the bottom half of the garment and noticed it’s all purl. Ugh! You should add that into your “You should definitely not knit this if” paragraph.
HI Kelly,
Oh, I didn’t see that as a problem because it’s knit in the round- I would just knit it inside out for that part, and the turn it right side in for the rest. 🙂
If I had to choose from the whole collection, it would be Larus and Vanora. I shy away from sweaters with a lot of texture on the upper area only as it emphasizes the chest. So tunics or simple sweaters with an all over texture work best. Good point on the styling for Fairweather, indeed the collar looks a bit akward here. The hats are perfect, but I have so many now, I’m not tempted to knit one. A good thing as I have enough on my To Knit list. 🙂
Thanks for your detailed review.
I like both hats very much. I added the Burnaby to my queue for one of my Quarry skeins and I might knit the Forge for a friend of mine, I think it could be worn by both women and men.
Ohhhhh, the Burnaby hat looks lovely! I’ve not done cables yet, but it’s on my list of things to tackle, and a hat would probably be just the right amount!
And the Fairweather sweater! Ah, A-line shirts or tops or sweaters of any kind, really, are right up my alley – the shape is, well, flattering, ha. Though I’m not sure I could manage a whole sweater from charts. I’m alright with them, but very easily lose my place, printed pattern or not!
That first sweater is absolutely lovely. The lace and the boatneck really make it for me.
I never print out patterns either. Seems like a waste of ink and paper when I always have my laptop, kindle, or phone on me at all times.
I love all of these patterns in this collection. I had a look around Ravelry and saw that I already had one of the hats in my favorites. I thought I recognized the designer!
Depending on what I’m working on, I can either work from the screen or with an actual pattern in front of me. My Snape’s Stockings are being knit from the screen but my Wink sweater is with actual paper (because I have to flip back and forth between two sets of directions/charts and it was just easier to do with paper so the pages I need can be next to each other).
I wish I lived where I would need hats again….I do love cabled hats…::sigh::
I really love this feature, Julie. I wouldn’t have looked twice at Fairweather (the first pattern) on ravelry because the top of the sweater is just okay for me. But the bottom with the swing? It’s something I’ve never knit before and I think it’s really lovely.
As for not printing out patterns, I only print out charts for lace or cables, and read the rest off my kindle fire or phone screen. The one caveat to this: contiguous sleeve shaping. That’s difficult enough to keep in check without having it right in front of me. I can’t even listen to audiobooks or television when I’m starting one because I will lose my place! But even when I do print out patterns I print them two to a page, with itsy bitsy writing. I feel less guilty for doing so then, as it uses less ink and paper (there is so much waste on a lot of patterns, with the lovely photos interspersed with the directions).
Lovely styling for this mini book of patterns. I rarely print out patterns also. One eBook I was using I copied and pasted the pattern onto a Word doc to enlarge and rearrange the instructions that were in columns. Otherwise I will download a pattern from Rav and save it to Drive so I can pull it up anytime and not have to worry about a signal. If I’m home like I am now, I will pull up the pattern on the laptop.
This post reminds me of this terrific book I had read in 2012 called Casting Off by Nicole R. Dickson. It’s about Irish knitting, especially fisherman jumpers.
I love Brooklyn Tweed! I love most of the designs. I love the photos. I love how the models are very believable. They look like this is “their style”. Know what I mean?
I have yet to knit anything from the collection. Maybe I should start with “Forge”. What a nice hat and I even love the color that it’s shown in.
Fairweather is so pretty. I agree with you about the styling though, doesn’t look good with a collared shirt under it. I always print my patterns, as I like to make notes on them as I knit.