David and I are glad you found us at Irishouse productions, too, Nancy. Have you looked at the other videos we made? Keep us posted on your progress!

@@balinandgallop58 Thanks!

Thanks for your comment. I'd love to have met your Grandmother! I understand her pet peeve too. Do you have/wear the Ganseys that she knit?

Thanks for your good words. What is great about a guernsey (gansey) is that you can get it started, and decide what you want for the brocade design. Start by learning the Channel Island Cast On, and you can find that technique here at Irishouseproductions, under Long Tail Cast on with Variations. Channel Island Cast On is one of the variations!

@@balinandgallop58 I went to your video you mentioned. Thank you. Do you have a preferred yarn, wash and block method for your sweaters?

Yes, I like using the "real" gansey wool. It's a tightly-spun 5-ply yarn, available from SchoolhousePress. If you knit your gansey properly, you won't need to block it. I wash my woolens by hand, usually using shampoo, and rinse in clear water several times, and then using the spin cycle of a washing machine to get out all the water. Then I let the sweater lie flat to dry, often with a fan blowing on it, and turning it inside out for part of the process.

@@balinandgallop58 I really appreciate your quick response and generosity in sharing your expertise and guidance. I went to Schoolhousepress and was blown away with their approach to yarn and all they have. Have you ever tried using their unspun Icelandic wool? I'm thinking about getting a log of it and trying it out to see how much one sweater will need. A log equates to 18 cakes in 1 ply. Looking forward to getting started. Have a wonderful day and again, thanks for your kind input.

Dear CoBNet, Yes, yes, yes!!! Unspun Icelandic is great! I'd suggest you start with one "plate" and knit a Moeibus. I've been wearing one I knit about 15 years ago. I wind it twice around my neck when it's really cold, or once, for a scarf. Or, you could put it once around your neck, and then around your head, if you forgot your wool hat! SHP has a lot of supportive patterns for the unspun, which now also comes in dyed colors as well as the original natural colors. After you knit the Moebius, you might want to venture into the world of doubling the unspun wool and knit a Ribwarmer (count on needing 4 "plates" of the wool - I've knit dozens of Ribwarmers). Currently, the one I wear is about as old as the Moeibus and still quite warm. You might want to knit, with single ply unspun, the Faroese Shawl (3 "plates"). Over the years, I've knit through several "logs" worth of the unspun and cannot recommend it highly enough, for warmth and lightweight. Let SHP guide your knitting, especially the book, "Knitting without Tears" by Elizabeth Zimmermann! I'm glad to encourage you and cheer you on also. Therese

Hi Joan, I'd have to see the pattern before I can try to help you. Do you really mean a gusset or a "shoulder strap"? If the latter, check out Elizabeth Zimmermann's design (schoolhousepress.com) because her guernsey does have shoulder straps; mine don't, as you can see.

Hello again Joan! I'd really have to see the pattern to understand the context. It seems to me that the pattern should tell you how to knit that shoulder gusset.

You form a diamond-shaped gusset at the underarms, keeping all stitches live (don't cast off!), adding them to the sleeve, once you get that going.

Hello Beth! How (where) are you these days? I'm in your old territory: NE PA!

Hi again Therese! I live in Vermont now, but am very busy teaching knitting workshops all over. You can connect with me on my website: www.KnittingTraditions.com Happy holidays! Beth

Thanks Beth ~ can't wait to see what you have been up to. Merry Christmas to you too. Therese

I just bought "Knitting Ganseys" from eBay and I'm eagerly awaiting it's arrival.

Great video Therese Inverso. I love the green Frangipani, is it the olive or do you remember the color? Can't tell on Frangipani site but I know it's not the pine green.

Hello Nancy, Unfortunately, David and I can't do video tutorials because I'm in lovely northeastern Pennsylvania, and he's in hot and humid Florida (kidding about the heat and humidity David). I can offer you the most important tip to sewing down live stitches and that is to be sure to line up your stitch columns exactly! I use coilless pins at every five stitches or so on both the live stitch, and the base of the stitch that corresponds with the the live stitch. Use a blunt sewing needle and simply go through the loop of your live stitch, and one side of the stitch at the base of that column of stitches. Do not pull the yarn firmly after each stitch. Work slowly and carefully, one such at a time, and you will find that you have a nice stretchy neckline when you are finished. I hope this helps, but if you need more long-distance hand holding, I'll be glad to answer any more questions. I have just started knitting a gansey, and I have a long way before I get to the point where you are of sewing down the neck ribbing, and I'm looking forward to getting there, one stitch at a time! As Elizabeth Zimmermann has written, "enjoy every stitch". A tall order, but worth striving for I think. (OK, end of lecture.)

@@balinandgallop58 Wow, Therese, thank you for getting back to me so quickly! Very appreciated. And such a lovely offer to hold my hand long-distance :) If I understand correctly, you go up through the live stitch on the needle, through on side of the stitch above, then back down to the next live stitch, then up to the next base stitch, keeping the stitches carefully lined up? So it's basically a running stitch?

Hello Nancy, thank David for the quick reply as he emailed me to let me know you had written. Yes, you understand exactly what to do; it is simply a running stitch the way you describe. Again, keep it more loose than tight. After you do a little section, stretch it and see how you like the stretch. As you know, little children do have big heads and they need plenty of room at the neck, to put on their sweaters, or they won't like to wear them. Keep in touch and let me know how it goes.

Hi my name is naheeda for xlarge men carddian how many length should i Cast I've 320

janaheeda80@gmail.com Pls 07778465416

Once you knit one, you'll have it for decades, and it will still look new, if you use the 5-ply tightly-twisted wool!

@@balinandgallop58 Ooohhhh...thanks SO much.

Ah Joan! Beth Brown-Reinsel has just updated her wonderful book on knitting guernsey/ganseys, and that might be a good way to get started. Also, consider this: you don't have to design the gansey first. Learn the Channel Island Cast On (it's one of my videos here at Irishouseproductions) and knit your ribbing, and start the body of the sweater. While you are knitting that (and it's a lot of knitting), you can think about how you want to design the top of the gansey when you get to the underarm gussets. That will be plenty of time to figure out what you want, believe me!

I hope that you were able to see the recommended books, so that you can knit and design a guernsey. Beth Brown-Reinsel has just updated her book on Knitting Ganseys, so why not start with that one?