By this I mean knitting an item for a man to wear. Recently I have been thinking about what I
have learned about knitting for men. I
don’t have any clear recollections of my mum knitting for my dad, although I am
sure she must have done so. My best memories
are of his delight in fair-isle all-overs purchased when in Shetland. His love for all-overs began at the
Cunningsburgh Show when he spied a first prize winning jumper knitted by
Barbara Isbister. It was love at first
sight and began the purchase of a series of gorgeous jumpers over several
years. These were worn everywhere and
could not be beaten for wearing at almost any time of the year. Some of his prized jumpers have found new
homes and have been equally valued by their new owners. I have the original jumper that began the
love affair and it is a delight.
Over the years, a sign of how much a family member was loved
was when a fair isle all-over was purchased as a gift for that person. I can remember clearly the day it was
proposed to order one for my then boyfriend, now husband! Again, it had to come from Barbara Isbister
and is a beauty.
The first jumper I knitted for a man was for that same
boyfriend. I don’t know if he
experienced any conflict of interest there when he was deciding which to wear! I
do remember thinking that starting to knit for a man was a significant
thing. Significant in the amount of
yarn, number of stitches and length of time spent knitting. Not to mention the significance of the act of
creating a garment – suggesting that this relationship would outlast the knitting
of the garment and would survive the wearing of it too. I am sure I checked
whether he liked the pattern. I don’t think I would have started it without
being sure he would wear it. His mum did
like it – I heard that she sneaked it out of his room to show it off to his
aunt. I wasn’t privy to the comments it
received! I can’t remember the source of
the pattern, but I think it was knitted in Jaeger Matchmaker yarn – now there’s
a not so subliminal message if there ever was one!
Over the years since I have knitted two more jumpers for my
husband. The first one, a cabled jumper
knitted in Cashsoft DK, he agreed to, said he liked the pattern and the colour
and then never wore. I quietly ripped it
out and re-purposed it into something for myself, which, interestingly, I have
never worn either. The second he also
agreed to, said he liked the pattern and the colour and has worn frequently and
re-requested. It was Charley from Rowan 37, knitted in All Seasons Cotton. Maybe it was a better colour and style.
Every time I have seen a pattern for a knitted garment for a
man I have shown it to John asking for his feedback on it. Invariably the
response has been either – ‘No way!’ or ‘It’s OK, but could you change the
sleeves, neck, body or make it a jumper instead?’. So I gradually gave up and left him to get
his knitted warmth elsewhere.
Interestingly, the most successful knitted items that I have
given to men have been small things like scarves, hats and socks. Socks.
Sometimes I have been asked to knit them (and knit them knee high!) and
others I have given as a gift. In almost
every case I have had to knit a second pair to allow the first pair to be
washed (!). Indeed the way to a man’s
heart would seem to be to keep his feet warm.
I just wish my dad was still here so I could knit socks for him. I know
he would love them, but they would have to be knee high as well. That would be a true labour of love that
would have given me a lot of pleasure.
These experiences have taught me that it is safer and kinder
to my knitter’s heart to knit small things for my men. It helps that I love knitting socks and hats
and scarves. There is almost instant gratification and almost no finishing or
seaming.
Until now.
Until I bought some discontinued Rowan Scottish Tweed yarn
and proposed knitting a Scandinavian inspired jumper for John for Christmas.
Little did I know that the ubiquitous Christmas jumper would be making such a
huge comeback! So far it has been a great success – judge for yourselves:
And until I showed John the new look book of patterns for
men from Brooklyn Tweed. A look through
that sparked an entirely different response – ‘I like that…and that…maybe a
different colour…’. I can live with
changing the colour, so am bracing myself to engage again with the significance
of knitting for a man. No doubt you will
hear how I am getting on.
Go over and have a look at the patterns from Brooklyn Tweed
– you will be inspired, and if you need to get a man inspired about having a
garment knitted for him – this is the best chance you might have!
Comments