Features

Propagansey Exhibition 2015 October 04 2015

St.Stephens Old Church Robin Hood's Bay, East Yorkshire Coast.

Praise be to Deb Gillanders and her utterly fabulous Propergansey exhibition.

A real treat for any Gansey lover & a rare day trip out for some serious knitting inspiration.

With Ganseys sourced from all over British Isles from Scotland to Cornwall

even a few from over the North Sea in Holland.

Nice tonal mend to end of the collars & cuffs after much wear.

Below right, vintage hand stitched child's under shirt.

Hand printed postcards by local Filey artist Mel Whitaker.

The holy grail of Gansey wools..yes the mythical Poppleton's of Harrogate.

Until next year.

www.propagansey.co.uk / check PROPAGANSEY on facebook for details.

Flamborough Sword Dance December 27 2013

Boxing Day and our yearly pilgrimage along the cliff top to Flamborough to watch the sword dance.

A cloudless sky and warm Winter sun bathing the chalk cliffs. Bridlington in the distance.

Worsted wool red hats and mini Ganseys for the juniors. Wooden swords at the ready.

Dog & Duck square Flamborough for a rousing finale to the days events.

Hand Knitted Fishermans Ganseys, white cotton trousers and cloth caps

for the men of the village.

The circle of life is complete. Another year passes and a new one begins.

Hand Knitting a Humber Star Gansey Sweater November 29 2013

Hand Knitted Humber Star Gansey Sweater.

The ultimate Christmas Sweater. Ready for a proud son of Hull.

British 5ply worsted wool, knitted from a 500g cone.

Harbour Flag pattern knitted across the chest in double Moss stitch.

Double thickness of yarn knitted into the first few rows of the ham

rib to give extra strength and better maintain the ribs shape.

Ladder stitch panel above the rib at the side seam.

Arm hole held on a pin ready for the sleeve to be knitted down.

Double Moss stitch panel to Gansey shoulder.

Last few rows of the rib cuff knitted on three needles.

Last job. Tying up the loose ends, carefully sewing the threads

back into Gansey.

Humber Star Gansey hand knitted in East Yorkshire by Katie Banks.

Vintage Original Flamborough Gansey October 27 2013

We were fortunate enough to be able to buy this extremely rare

example of an original hand knitted Flamborough Gansey sweater recently.

It's the finest vintage Gansey we have seen. It's a real museum piece and

a beautiful example of British heritage knitwear.

Woven name label sewn neatly into the back neck.

Bought from a local auction house and originaly belonging to

Mr.D.M.Burnhill from the small village of Sewerby a couple of miles down the

coast from Flamborough Head.

Knitted around 1940-50 in a 4ply wool, probably using the original

Poppleton's Gansey wool from Harrogate. This is a much finer yarn

then is available today. For the wearer the finer yarn means a denser

knit structure giving far better warmth and rain resistance. For the knitter

however the finer yarn means many more hours of knitting.

The Gansey must be over 50 years old and yet it has not lost any of its

shape and hardly any of its colour. The definition of the Net Mask & Cable

patterns is staggering.

The size is now a small, washed down and shrunk a little from what was

probably a medium when first knitted. The continuous washing by both man

and the North Sea have left the knit with a tight almost felt like structure.

It is easy to see where the phrase Fishermans Iron comes from.

This type of traditional hand knitting really would turn water.

Looking at the excelent condition of a Gansey this old and well made gives us

a glimpse of a time stretching away from us now. When clothes were made,

not bought and care was taken to ensure at least one lifetime of use.

Ahh the good ol days.

Shetland Pattern Gansey Sweaters September 09 2013

From the Archives - Island life North of the border, Och aye

Similar to the Yorkshire coast Gansey sweaters but generally hand

knitted in a finer 3 or 4 ply wool yarn.

Check back soon for more from The Shetland Isles.

Hand Knitting - Bridlidlington Gansey Sweater September 08 2013

Sunday afternoon 3rd fitting off our new hand knitted Bridlington Gansey

sweater and she's a purler. 5 ply worsted wool worked on five 2.5mm

needles, British breeds wool dyed and spun in Yorkshire.

Once finished should last a life time of even the roughest wear

plus can be worn inside out and back to front which is handy.

Close up on Kates handy work, Gansey sweater yolk panel.

Gansey pattern knitted down the arm as far as the elbow.

Then plain knit down to the 2 x 2 rib cuffs.

This Gansey is a size Medium, shown here on 38" chest stockman.

The traditional Yorkshire Coast Gansey patterns of Love Hearts run

through the centre flanked by Betty Martin, Cable & Net Mask patterns.

Deep 2x2 rib used at the hem of Gansey with the last few rows worked in

double thickness yarn for extra strength.

Just the last sleeve of the Gansey sweater to knit down from the shoulder

again in the round using 5 short 2.5mm needles. Check back in around two

weeks to see the finished Gansey sweater.

Hand Frame Knitting Video, Part 1 September 07 2013

Down to business. Hand frame knitting our new Autumn knitwear range of

Authentic Fishermans sweater at a small local factory just down the coast.

frame-knitting-W.SIDE-1 from Wayside Flower on Vimeo.

She's making it look easy but there's thirty years of practice going into this.

First body samples coming off the machines. Not in the correct wool yet.

This first sample is just to help work out the pattern and number of rows &

stitches needed. The finished fishermans knit sweaters will be much denser

and in Navy using 5 ply worsted wool from British breeds, spun & dyed in Yorkshire.

frame-knitting-W.SIDE-2 from Wayside Flower on Vimeo.

Hey what does this do.. Circular linking machine for joining the side seams.

No cut & sew here all the seams are hand link finished.

Lewis model 200, vintage Union Special used for sewing on cardigan buttons.

frame-knitting-W.SIDE-3 from Wayside Flower on Vimeo.

Pressing the knit panels flat using wood pads & steam bed to flatten the knit.

It's grey outside, but not in here. Cones of 5 ply wool yarn in every hue and colour.

Brutalism from the Hessle Foreshore, homeward bound Humber Bridge.

Check back in a week or so to see the finished Fishermans sweaters with the

sleeves added ready for our store.

Pot Luck, Archive Footage of The Wayside Flower September 04 2013

Watch the video at: http://www.yfaonline.com/film/pot-luck

POT LUCK
1962

This documentary film was made by Bill Freeman in 1962. It focuses on the fishing industry in Bridlington and features the crew of the Wayside Flower as they bring in the catch of the day including lobsters and crabs.

The film opens with a sunrise over the water; a man approaches the docks and climbs aboard a fishing boat. More men arrive to board the Wayside Flower and begin to load lobster nets onto the boat. As the boat begins its journey, the docks appear to move further into the distance. Other boats are seen at sea as the boat rocks backwards and forwards on the waters. The captain of the boat is inside the steering vestal.

The fishermen pull up lobster nets from the sea and unload their catch. They begin to prepare the lobsters by tying string around the claws. Once the catch has been unloaded, the fishermen throw the cages back into the sea.

When the fishermen arrive back at the docks, they secure the boat with a series of ropes. The fishermen move barrels containing the day’s catch onto a wooden platform, which is pulled up by a crane and loaded onto the docks. There are crabs stored inside large wooden containers with rope handles marked ‘Grimsby Fish’.

When the containers are placed on the dock, fishermen unload them and start to prepare the fish that are inside. Two fishermen are working at a table, gutting into the fish and putting them into a basket. Other containers marked ‘W. SIDE’ are loaded onto the crane and placed on the docks.

Once the fishermen have unloaded their catch, they walk away from the docks towards Bridlington.

- See more at: www.yorkshirefilmarchive.com