How do I find a man

[Dutchoma]

I would love to make a gansey like one of these. They are quite expensive to make, I guess at least £60 or £70, maybe more, depending on the size of the person you make it for, so it would have to be for someone who is prepared to get the wool. I would not charge for the knitting as I would do it for my own satisfaction. It would take at least six weeks to knit, more if it was very large.
Any ideas?

Looks fabulous. Could you ask your friends if any of them think their sons or husbands would want one? It would last forever and be fantastic for walking, fishing, sailing or whatever. Do you know someone who's particularly outdoorsy?

That's just it, I don't. I've just seen that the chap who does the website would charge £350 - £500 for a completed gansey and that you need 13 100g balls of wool @ £5.95 each, so it would be over £80 for the wool and postage.

And in a way I'm doing just that: asking my friends as they are all on Mumsnet.

I think that's an amazing and very generous offer.

In the end I think I'm just going to go for a medium sweater and just order the wool and do it. Hopefully someone will come along and buy it off me.

Stop! Stop!
I've got one. He is asleep at the moment but I know he would love it as he is really into wool, tweed and traditional methods of 'making things'.

The thing that swayed it for me was the word 'Flamborough', a little known headland north of Bridlington (where my DM grew up).

He's bigger than medium but I can't get measuring till tomorrow pm.

PM me Lambstales and I will see what I can do.

You can just measure a well fitting cardie or jumper just under where the sleeves are set in and the length of the sleeves, the rest more or less is fixed from there. You don't really need to measure the man itself.

Yes, of course, good idea but I'm not going crashing round the wardrobes now..... not quite cold enough for them to be lying around on the sofa. They are all still put away.

That's fine. I have just checked out another, more traditional website in Cornwall. and they charge £24 for a full cone and £13 for a half cone. I need, According to John in Flamborough 2 1/2 cones. The postage is £7.50. It will also cost to send it to wherever you are and it will be a fairly hefty package. Unless you live near enough for me to deliver or you to collect.
Do you want a Flamborough pattern? They come with cables, hearts and allsorts. Looks interesting.

It's got to be Flamborough, amazing. Don't worry blankets can be £13 postage.

I am ridiculously excited. Going to bed now.

Sounds brilliant. Off up the wooden hill myself...

Please show us the finished gansey, I'd love to see it.

is it frangipani? they are great. i used their wool for a gansey for dp - it's quite rough on the hands but traditional and very warm. i designed it myself using Beth Brown-Reinsel's book and dp's measurements and i used motifs from places that were important to him

it was a labour of love i can tell you

Once I know what colour Lambstales has chosen I will order it from Cornwall, yes Frangipani. The pattern will be one of the Flamborough patterns and I will post a picture once it is done, promise. Don't look for it next week though.

dp's took me 9 months

(i was knitting other things at the same time)

Other thing is you could become a 'knitter' for a local wool shop. My friend runs a wool shop and she has knitters who make things up to demonstrate the wool, for the models in the window, or make things to order. They also finish up projects that someone has been making and ....this sounds awful...died in the process. Families apparently often bring things in and they finish them for them; it's part of their grieving process I think to have the last thing they were making and the wool shop knitters are happy to help.

It only took me a day or two to find a project on here. I have done it before and had quite enough to kep me happy (with my own knitting) for quite a while.
Very glad lambstales came along with her man to knit for. . we're well away.

Well, the gansey is finished and will be on its way before Christmas. It was great fun doing it and I learned an awful lot. I also made some really nice contacts.

Fabulous. Well done you!

Scarves are a pain hesterton. I usually advise people to start on a dishcloth if they start knitting from scratch. Many advantages: it doesn't matter if you drop a stitch or two, it doesn't have to have straight edges and if you manage to finish it, it will be really useful and gives you reason to be proud of yourself. A ball of dish cloth cotton costs about £1.50 and yo will get two dishcloths out of it.

Sounds like you will be quite expert by Christmas hesterton. Best of luck.