Team 'Sea Shanty Sweater'
2nd July- 27th August

Congrats! Over 400 people applied to test knit and we have selected you to join us on our first projects. Firstly we wanted to say a massive thank you for applying and agreeing to be part of this test knit, we are so excited and can not wait for you to get started with the patterns and to see these designs grow!

There is a lot to read but please do read the following information carefully,

if you have any questions just drop us an email on

info@rawwoolcompany.co.uk

Inspiration

In the far south west of the British mainland, where the pace of life is slow, and boats are sailing from dawn to dusk; you will find the County of Cornwall. A coastal county steeped in legends, with shanty songs evoking perilous seas, pirates, and shipwrecks. Here, throughout history and to the present day, Cornish Sea Shanties have been sung by fisherfolk, local people and choirs alike. In fact Falmouth, a small seaside town in Cornwall hosts the "International Sea Shanty Festival" every year to celebrate the heritage of these songs passed down through the years.

The traditional knitting of practical, iconic knitwear in Cornwall has also been passed down through families and communities with the patterns of cables and shapes reflecting the local harbours and villages where they come from. Inspired by those traditional patterns we have created the "Sea Shanty Sweater".

These timeless shaped garments speak to the origins of clothing inspired by the sea. A silhouette to suit anyone and everyone. The rolled ribbed collar sings of sea shanty songs; a homage to the Cornish Gansey. The Polperro pattern worked down the sleeves is a pattern found throughout Cornwall grounding us to a sense of place, songs, and stories from days gone by.

Sea Shanty Sweater

The Sea Shanty Sweater comes in two styles;

The first is a cleanly styled sweater with a smooth stockinette body and arms with pattern detailing as you work your way down. After a rolled, ribbed collar this top down knit turns to plain sailing for a knit that glides. The arms taper after a generous allowance of positive ease of 10-12cm around the top of the arms and shoulders. Like our mindset our patterns don’t box people into specific genders, we simply create sea inspired knitwear that everyone can feel comfortable in.

This base style pattern is called- "Sea Shanty Sweater" if you would like to test knit this pattern please select it at the drop down menu at the end of this page.

Sugar, Tea & Rum

The second style of the Sea Shanty Sweater is inspired by the famous Sea Shanty lyrics from the ‘Wellermam’ song

"Soon may the Wellerman come, to bring us sugar, tea and rum"

The hard working fisherfolk often left at remote outposts would count the days until the "Wellerman" would come to bring them basic supplies and a few bits of comfort while working in such extreme conditions. So it only seem appropriate to name this Sea Shanty inspired sweater after the items that brought them that comfort: The "Sugar, Tea & Rum Sweater".

This Sweater style pattern is called- "Sugar, Tea & Rum Sweater" if you would like to test knit this pattern please select it at the drop down menu at the end of this page.