This is my father-in-law wearing an aran jumper I knitted as a birthday present for him last year. He lives in Cornwall and has a yacht so an aran jumper seemed ideal for him. The yarn was (I think) 100% wool and I adapted an old jumper pattern adding aran patterns chosen specially for him.

The central panel is a diamond pattern with moss stitch and is thought to represent small fields divided by dry stone walls – my f-i-l used to own a Cotswold stone quarry and lived in rural Oxfordshire and so fields and stones seemed appropriate. There is another idea that they represent the shape of fishing mesh and symbolise wealth and success – this would tie in with him now living in Cornwall near a small fishing village.
Either side of the central panel are double rows of bobbles either side of a cable stitch. Cables represent the ropes of the fishermen’s boats, in this case the ropes on my f-i-ls yacht.
Finally the Tree of Life which represents the continuation of the family line and as I was knitting this my hubby and I were undergoing IVF and hoping to continue the family.

I love knitting aran as I enjoy the intricate patterns and the chunky wool knits up so quickly. The only trouble I had with this jumper was that it was very large and so got very heavy – particularly when knitting the neck. As the jumper has saddle shoulders knitting the neck involved knitting up from stitches on the back, front and both sleeves so I had the whole jumper on the needles!!!

This is my mother and father in law, my hubby’s uncle and me off to the pub on my f-i-l’s birthday with him wearing his new jumper.