Glenan

We photographed Glenan (released a few weeks ago, as part of the Secret Coast club) on the very talented and stylish Michael . . .

. . . but I loved this cabled, hooded gansey so much I knew I had to have one for myself . . .

. . . and, joy of joys, now I do!

Scotland is by no means a warm country, and throughout the spring and summer, I often need a gansey when outdoors.

Personally, I love a hooded gansey, because whether the hood is up or down, your neck is always protected from the wind.

When I was working on Glenan, I intentionally designed the hood and neckline very carefully to give a pleasing wind-protecting shape. And the way the hood’s cable-and-i-cord edging blends into the front neckline twist is a contender for my favourite design feature across the whole Secret Coast collection. Seriously! It’s so simple to work! It looks so neat!

Though its details are polished and knitterly, Glenan is otherwise a very straightforward pattern: worked from the bottom-up with dropped sleeves and shoulder-defining panels that break up the stockinette.

Glenan is designed in a super-simple, square-ish shape (which suits most bodies) and is sized up to 60 in. I’m wearing mine in the first size, with a long-sleeved layer underneath, and knitted to a shorter length than that which the pattern specifies (simply because I have a proportionately short torso, and like my pullovers to sit above the hip). It’s easy to make length adjustments in the pattern: just knit to the body length which you prefer (bearing in mind that you may need more yarn if the garment is significantly longer)

A good woolly, outdoor gansey, in a proper, dark navy blue, really is one of my favourite things to wear. Indeed, I’d describe it as something of a personal idée fixe, ever since I knitted Norah Gaughan’s Kaari 15 years ago. I enjoyed wearing that gansey so much when I went out walking, but I made it in a yarn which did not wear well at all, and which, as a consequence made me rather sad.

But today, I find myself in the completely weird and highly fortunate position of being able to whip up my idée fixe gansey in my very own yarn – a yarn whose composition and colour I created! This is a situation that the Kaari-knitting me could never have imagined!

My Glenan is knitted in our Schiehallion yarn, in the saturated deep blue called “Faded Overalls.” Photographing a deep, saturated navy blue anything can be something of a challenge . . .

But I think Tom’s done a reasonable job (ho ho)

My new Glenan has not been off my back since its completion last week, and I fully expect this gansey to see near-continuous wear this spring.

If you would like to knit your own Glenan, we have updated the pattern today, and kits of both my Schiehallion version, as well as Michael’s original grey Ooskit (yum), are now available in the shop.

Incidentally, all of the designs which I created for the Secret Coast club, are now available for individual purchase from the KDD shop and Ravelry. Because they have been exclusive to the club, (and because I have been so busy with the club) I’ve not yet said much about these patterns here, so you’ll hear a wee bit more about them in days to come.

Hope you are enjoying the spring weather!