Many years ago I saw a wonderful pattern in a magasine. I pulled out the page and put it in my knitting basket. At first I thought it looked too complex, but iI gave it a try. That was my first experience with Aran Knitting, as it is actually called, coming from 3 small islands of the west coast of Ireland called the Aran Islands.

This particular pattern was of a fairly long, slim, doublebreasted cardigan with wingsleeves and ’smoking jacket’ collar. The cardigan was made of offwhite wool.

Some years ago I actully visisted the Aran Islands and the ladies there had never seen their traditional pattern used in that way. I think they liked it.

I made the cardigan approx. 25 years ago, and I still have it and I still use it.

Zontee says: Hi Lata, like with any project, you may have to change your needle size to get the recommended gauge. Please read the comments on the knit-along post for more details, or listen to the latest YarnCraft podcast episode for more on gauge and what it’s useful for.

Thanks so much and a happy Mother’s Day to all of you knitting mothers and grandmothers.

Zontee says: Hi Cheryl, there are written patterns for cables. Depending on the specific pattern, the designer may or may not include a chart. For instance, our Learn to Cable Scarf pattern has only written directions. BUT charts are not too difficult to learn to read, so I would say that it’s worth the effort to learn. As for patterns for your friend, I recommend searching our Pattern Finder. Hope that helps!

I like your Grandfathers sweater very much. I am still looking for the very special sweater to knit. I have an idea what kind of pattern I want to use, however I am still planning on how to arrange the pattern in the sweater.

Is your Grandfathers Sweater hand knitted? That makes them twice as interesting. I can just piture a lady walking down the road and knitting away.

I am so glad you shared this heirloom with others.

Ingrid P.

While we don’t have a pattern for this particular sweater, we do have some great cable sweater patterns. The Family of Cable Sweaters has designs for almost every size, and the Forever Classic Heirloom Cables Adult Cardigan is an absolutely beautiful pattern. We hope you’ll take a look!