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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Tin Shed Yarns

Charted Designs For Traditional
Knitting
Connors Aran
One year old to eighteen
months

Description

Yarn
Minimum 160gm 2ply handspun or
2ply millspun.

Needles
1.25 mm DPNs and 60cm double
pointed needles.

Miscellaneous
Stitch markers, cable needle, 2 stitch
holders, row counter.

Aran jerseys have a complicated history and are more myth

than heritage. Essentially the fisherwomen from North East
England stood quay-side with the fisherwomen in the Aran
Islands and exchanged knitting details while awaiting the
herring fleets. The Gansey of North-East England became
translated into the Aran of West Coast Ireland.

Gauge

This is a perfect garment to work on for a special small

person. There are all the usual Aran elements but without
all the heaviness. This is knit in a 2ply natural wool and it will
not be a quick knit but the delicacy will give more detailed
patterning with better drape.

Width 30cm.

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36 stitches and 38 rows in knit stitch

makes a 10 cm square.

Measurements
Length 34cm

Weight
160 gm

Ti

This pattern may not give you every single stitch

and every single step. It is a presentation of design
work and should be read as a guide only.

Basic stitches -knit, purl, yarn over

increases, and paired decreases (SSK
and K2tog), two, three and four
stitch cabling, travelling cables,
picking up stitches for sleeve and
neck, steeking for armholes, knitting
in the round, working from charts.

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Connors Aran
Disclaimer

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Skills Required experienced

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Construction
The jersey is knit bottom up in the round with textured panels worked in the front and
back centre. The armholes are steeked to about a third of the depth of the body.
Stitches are picked up around the armhole. The shoulders are then formed by seaming
from the body edge to the neck opening. The cut knitted fabric hangs neatly inwards
forming a facing for the sleeve edge. This cut edge is oversewn by hand taking
particular care at the underarm where there is a narrow seam created to provide ease
for the join at the jersey body. Sleeves are then worked in the round down from the
shoulder seam to the cuff, decreasing every eighth round. As the front central panel is
finished a centimetre lower than the back panel, this forms a neat front neckline. The
neck is ribbed and worked to roll to the inside of the neckline. The stitches are then
hand-sewn to finish the neck. The garment must be washed and blocked.

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Schematic Drawing of Arans Construction Lines.

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1cm depth

25 cm

9 cm

15cm

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12.5 cm

34 cm

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30 cm

jersey. This chart is repeated five times to create five diamond motifs down the front and back.

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Important Note This chart only shows stitches for the central front and back panels of the

Figure 1 Construction lines of Aran evident in schematic and photo.

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

The top diamond point on the front is not fully completed so as to accommodate the neckline
of the jersey.

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Chart for Central Panels of Front and Back

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After completing a swatch for gauge, cast on 212 stitches on a 60cm 1.25 circular
needle. Join to work in the round and knit 1x1 rib to a depth of 4.5 cm. Mark front
centre and back centre points with stitch markers. Arrange stitches and markers so
that you are ready to work the front and back panels. Mark side centre points too. See
chart for circular needle set-up on next page.

Instructions

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Right side centre is your starting point. Jersey is worked in the round so front side will
always be facing you.
Following the chart and working 60 knit stitches between front and back panels, work
body of jersey until 31 cm minimum (including ribbing) is achieved on the front panel
or until the final diamond motif is three quarters complete i.e. the arms of the shape
are turned inwards to the centre but not yet joined at the top. This will be a matter of
judgement for you. Essentially the jersey should be completed to the collar bone and
not the shoulder line in order to work the neck and shoulder shaping.
Circular needle set-up set-up for Connors Aran Jersey. 212 total stitches.

53 stitches between
front, back and side markers.

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Left side centre

marker.

Centre front mark

Back Panel 23 stitches either

side of Centre back marker (total
46 stitches.)
Right side centre mark
and starting point.

Front Panel 23 stitches either

side of Centre front marker (total 46
stitches.)

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30 knit stitches between side

markers and front and centre
panels. (60 stitches total.)

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Centre back mark

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Shaping the neck and shoulders.

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1. Working Back and Forth Method.

When the body of the jersey has been completed in the round to the collar
bone in the front section transfer the central panel of pattern stitches to a
stitch holder. Continue working the round without this central section.You will
have the task of working the textured patterning of the back panel from the
back because you are now working back and forth from one side of the central
panel to the other. You will need to work this way until the diamond motif has
closed up on the back central panel. Once the shoulders are seamed with a
three-needle bind-off you will end up with a square neckline opening made by
the horizontal edge of the front panel, the vertical sides of the collarbone to
the shoulder and the horizontal edge of the back central panel. A ribbed neck
finish is then worked by picking up stitches from the shoulder seam bind-off,
collecting live stitches from front and back stitch-holders and individual stitches
picked up to avoid gaps at the corners. The curve of the neckline forms once
5cm of 1x1 ribbing is worked and rolled to be finished by hand-sewing along
the inside of the neckline. There is no need to bind-off the ribbing.

NB. There are two methods of completing the neck and shoulder shaping when working in the round:

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

2. The Steeked Method.

Complete the fifth diamond motif. Place front and back panels on
stitch-holders (see Fig 2). Complete shoulder seams with three-needle bind-off.
Work from the shoulder to the neck. Pick up a straight line of stitches using
DPNs where you would like your ribbed neck to start from. You will be cutting
into the completed knitted fabric at the front neckline and into the top of the
diamond.
Neckline Shaping using DPNs to Pick Up Stitches.

Angled position of
DPNs for stitch
pick-up using steeked
method.

Front panel

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Front and back panel stitches held

on stitch-holders.

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Shoulder
seam

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Picking up stitches across a 45 degree angle will give a smarter neck closure.
Allow about a centimetres seam allowance. Cutting across the bias always
exposes the stretch in fabric so work to collect the stitches before cutting. The
ribbed opening that is to be worked will roll over the cut edge and be sewn
down to conceal the raw stitches.

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Figure 2 Stitches at neckline held on stitch-holder for

The Steeked Method for shaping the neck and shoulder.
Notice the diamond motif is completed.

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Finishing the Neckline Opening.

After creating the neck and shoulder shaping, collect up all the stitches from stitchholders, from the three-needle bind-off and the picked up stitches on to DPNs. Work
two rows of 1x1 ribbing in the round. Avoid gaps at corners by picking up individual
stitches. The suare and angular shape of the neck opening will be softened by the pull
of the ribbing. Complete any cutting of knitted fabric at this point leaving a 1cm
allowance. Continue ribbing until 5cm is achieved. Without binding-off, handsew
through the head of each stitch directly onto the neckline. Any cut work will be
encased by the rolled neck opening. The curve of the neckline will develop once the
ribbing is completed and sewn down.
Steeking and Knitting The Sleeves.

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Measure down jersey side from shoulder seam to one third of the jerseys length (just
over 10 cm) and mark with a single lockable stitch-holder. The fabric is folded here and
will be cut by steeking.
With the shoulder seam already sewn up, pick up stitches down each side of the armhole leaving a 1cm allowance. At the bottom of the armhole pick up in a straight line to
join the stitch pick-up line on the back. Use DPNs for stitch pick up.

Cutting line for steek.

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Cut at
90 degrees
for ease.

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Steeking and Stitch Pick-Up Line on Jersey.

Neckline

Stitch pick-up line

for sleeve with 1cm
allowance. Line continues
over the shoulder and down
armhole. Stitch pick-up line
is joined across lower armhole
with a straight line.
Central panel

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Ratio of vertical stitches to horizontal stitches when picking up should be three out of
every four. Refer back to the swatch and perform a test with that before starting.
After collecting all the stitches (64) work on DPNs in knit stitch and incorporate the
chart below for the central sleeve panel. Again arrange stitch-markers either side of a
central marker so as to achieve symmetry with the cabled motif. With a few rows
worked cut down the folded line from the very edge of the shoulder seam to half a
centimetre before the stitch line at the bottom of the armhole. Mark your cutting line
by oversewing on either side of the line to be cut. To ease the straight seam at the
awkward point at the bottom of the armhole cut again through the seam allowance to
half a centimetre out to the start of the vertical stitch line. Hand sew a firm finish to
the raw seam before continuing. This will allow a better hang to the sleeve.

Picking Up Stitches For a Dropped Shoulder Sleeve

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Figure 3 Cutting the vertical steek at the armhole. Note the oversewn lines.

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Chart For Central Panel of Sleeve.

Work sleeve using chart for central panel. Arrange stitch-markers and needles so that
the chart is symmetrical and central. Mark for where paired decreases are worked.
Decreases will shape the sleeve along the join on the bottom edge. Work these in pairs
two stitches either side of the sleeve join. See Figures 4 and 5.

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Decrease Chart For Sleeve Underside.

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

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Figure 4 Shaping with paired decreases along underside of sleeve.

Finishing and Blocking

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Continue downwards along the sleeve decreasing two stitches every eighth row until a
length of 22 cm is achieved. The wrist should measure 9cm. Continue with 3 cm of 1x1
ribbing. Cast off loosely.

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Weave in ends. Close up any awkward holes at the neck or armhole by sewing into the
knitted fabric through stitches using a wool needle and left-over wool. Pull the fabric
closed. Do not knot the end of the wool weave the ends in and snip.

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Figure 5 Cabled pattern down the centre of the sleeve top.

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Hand- wash gently in a plant-based fibre wash. Rinse and squeeze out excess water.
Dry flat in a warm spot. Use a jersey stretcher if possible, though a conveniently sized
breadboard placed inside the body of the garment worked very well. The legs of sock
shapers proved good for the sleeves too.

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Figure 6 Connors Aran completed.

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South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Ti

This pattern is not available to be copied.

The intellectual property contained and detailed in this pattern solely
belongs to Tin Shed Yarns of Helensville, Auckland.
If you want to use this pattern for charity knitting, you are obliged to
contact me and ask.a quick e-mail will suffice. I would be honoured.
If you want to use this pattern for teaching, you are obliged to contact me
and ask..again a quick e-mail will suffice; Again, I would be honoured.
I can be contacted at the details below;
Contact Details
Fiona MacBride, Helensville, South Kaipara, Auckland.

Ravelry.com TinShedYarns
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tinshedyarns@gmail.com

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tinshedyarn. blogspot. co. nz

South Kaipara, Helensville, Auckland
Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

Tin Shed Yarns Charted Designs for Traditional Knitting

tinshedyarn. blogspot. nz