Aran jumper

The Aran jumper (Irish: Geansaí Árann) is a style of jumper that takes its name from the Aran Islands off the west coast of Ireland. A traditional Aran Sweater usually is off-white in colour, with cable patterns on the body and sleeves. Originally the jumpers were knitted using unscoured wool that retained its natural oils (lanolin) which made the garments water-resistant and meant they remained wearable even when wet.

Use of the word jumper (or other options such as "pullover" and "jersey") is largely determined by the regional version of English being spoken. In the case of Ireland and Britain and Australia, "jumper" is the standard word with "sweater" mainly found in tourist shops and America. The word used in Irish is geansaí, a Gaelicisation of guernsey which has been re-Anglicised to gansey in Hiberno-English.

Traditionally, an Aran jumper is made from undyed cream-coloured báinín (pronounced "bawneen"), a yarn made from sheep's wool, sometimes "black-sheep" wool. They were originally made with unwashed wool that still contained natural sheep lanolin, making the garment water-repellent.

The jumper usually features 4–6 texture patterns each of which is about 5–10 cm (2–4 in) in width, that move down the jumper in columns from top to bottom. Usually, the patterns are symmetrical to a centre axis extending down the centre of the front and back panel. The patterns also usually extend down the sleeves as well. The same textured knitting is also used to make socks, hats, vests, and skirts.

There is debate about when island residents first started making the jumpers. Some stitch patterns are believed, erroneously, to have a traditional interpretation, often of religious significance. These interpretations were fabricated by Heinz Edgar Kiewe, a yarn shop owner who noticed a chance resemblance between Aran stitches and Celtic knotwork, and assumed that Aran knitting was at least as old, if not older than the knitwork it resembles. He wrote a book on his suppositions, the, which provides most of the mythology surrounding the Aran jumper. His thesis has, however, been thoroughly debunked by many historians of knitting, including Richard Rutt and Alice Starmore.

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