Is it a Gansey or an Aran? A Look at 2 Traditional Knitted Sweaters

Is it a gansey or an aran? While there are those who can spot the differences between the two sweaters from a mile away, it can be easy to confuse the two traditional knitting styles. Today, let’s take a quick look at what makes these two types of traditional knitting unique.

Gansey

According to Beth Brown-Reinsel in her book Knitting Ganseys (affiliate link), “Ganseys are wonderfully varied and thoughtfully constructed sweaters that originated in the fishing villages along the coasts of England, Scotland, and Cornwall in the nineteenth century. Designed as a working garment for fishermen, ganseys were traditionally seamless and knitted in the round with an overall simple square shape and dropped shoulders.”

Although not all gansey sweaters are the same, traditional ganseys usually:

• Have distinct underarm gussets to eliminate stress and allow a wider range of movement.
• Are knit using a highly twisted five-ply yarn known as “seaman’s iron”.
• Have a tighter gauge for a denser fabric to protect the wearer from the wind and water.
• Are adorned with sharply defined knit/purl patterning, usually on the chest and upper arms.

Aran

Although they also have island roots, aran sweaters (or jumpers, as they’re traditionally called) trace their roots back to Ireland. Specifically, to the Aran Islands off Ireland’s west coast. While these garments share some similarities with ganseys in that they were knit for the fishermen of the region, they are distinct and traditionally more ornate. Some characteristics that are unique to aran sweaters include:

• They are traditionally knitted with unscoured, natural wool, producing the traditional off-white color.
• Arans are heavily adorned with cables that run the length of the body and sleeves.
• They have unique symmetrical patterning that was specific to a family or clan.

So whether you’re a lover of a hard-working gansey or swoon at the sight of an intricate aran (or fall somewhere in between), you’ll have no trouble telling the two apart now!

Happy Knitting!
Hayley

(Featured Image by David Baum.)

Originally posted September 25, 2018. Updated March 16, 2022.

Traditional meets timeless with these knits!