Whalsay Gansey Pullover

We have a new pattern--the Whalsay Gansey Pullover! My sweet husband Fred consented to modeling for me. He looks great in the Whalsay, right?

Whalsay Pullover in Cascade 220

I love Ganseys, so I added one to the Figheadh men's sweater group. I kept this one pretty simple so that new Gansey knitters wouldn't feel intimidated. It has basic drop-shoulder style and underarm gussets.

Whalsay in progress

I think underarm gussets are the best invention! They remove all the fussiness from that underarm join and they make the sweater comfortable for your armpits. Ha! Just craft a little diamond shape at the armpit by increasing as you knit the lower body and then decreasing as you knit the sleeve. 

The lower body is knit in the round, the upper body pieces are knit flat, the shoulders are seamed with 3-needle bind-off, and the sleeves are picked up and knit down from the armhole. Then the collar is knit in the round from the neck hole.

It's knit with worsted weight yarn with lots of Stockinette stitch, so the going is easy and fast. The upper body is embellished with simple cables and knit/purl stitches to give it a bit of Gansey/Guernsey flair! You'll see images of flags, ropes, winding paths, and ladders as a nod to the life of fishermen of the British Isles beginning in the 19th century, from whence the design of this type of garment came. All the edges are done with traditional 2/2 rib for good fit and the neck is big enough for wearing a collared shirt beneath.

The Whalsay is sized from finished chest of 33.5" to 56" in a range of 12 sizes. As with all our men's garments, I think of them as unisex, so anyone can wear it. A couple of my testers made them for themselves, and all my testers were women. 

Speaking of testers, I'll be back to show you the testers' Whalsays!

This project was given yarn support from Cascade Yarns. I so enjoyed knitting the sample in Cascade 220 Heathers in this beautiful blue, color #9332.

I hope you'll knit one for yourself or someone you love.

Keep on knitting!