Downeast Sweater
Downeast Sweater
Ever since we first started making knits, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to understand how we could make a fully traceable, local wool sweater to support regional farms and clothing production in our backyard. At the end of last year, we finally saw a breakthrough when a 4th generation family member from Fall River Knitting took a keen interest in working his connections and facilities to turn this idea into reality. Before we get into that reality, it’s worth sharing a little more about the local wool behind our newest sweater.
Since 1821, Bartlett Yarns of Harmony Maine has built a reputation for offering fine yarns with a lofty airiness. Operating the last spinning mule in the USA and pooling New England raised wool, they offer a truly beautiful taupe-tinged sheep’s wool grey yarn that showcases the natural beauty and color of sheep raised in New England. Dating back to the 1880s, the Jagger name has been synonymous with high-quality worsted spun yarns spun from 100% wool in beautiful Springvale, Maine. As an alternative to our earthy sheep’s wool grey, we couldn’t resist offering a top-dyed worsted spun 100% medium grade wool yarn from Jagger. The heather effect of this Cherrywood yarn is created by blending together many different shades to achieve a unique earthy brownish red.
Working with local, New England wool and these Maine spun yarns, we patterned and knit our Downeast Sweater from a much-loved handmade, vintage sweater that has been a winter staple for years—every time I wore it, people would ask about it and so became obvious that it should be the foundation for the pattern we created together with the experts at Fall River Knitting in Fall River, Massachusetts.
We spent so much time on the silhouette of these sweaters, perfecting a cozy, longer length and gently tailored body so as to not catch on thickets and wire fences, but that also has enough ease to throw over a layer or two. Featuring a raglan sleeve, shaker stitch, crew neck and side vents, this sweater looks fantastic tucked in, worn over a favorite pair of dungarees, or peeking out from under coveralls. Sometimes the reality of a dream is better than you could have imagined and we couldn’t be more proud to offer these super special sweaters and support the craft of New England textile production.
100% New England raised wool, spun in ME, knit in Massachusetts
Two colorways: Sheep’s Wool Grey, Cherrywood
Raglan sleeve, crew neck, side vents, shaker stitch
The hand of these sweaters only gets softer and broken in with wear, but we think the Cherrywood option would be best for those who are sensitive to wool and looking for the softest option out of the gates. Please take a close look at the size chart as there are some small differences in sizing between colorways given how these different yarns washed; the grey option is ever so slightly larger than the Cherrywood. It would be hard to notice a difference if we didn’t mention it, but we are nerds and always want to point out important details.
If you’re looking for an oversized sweater you might consider ordering a size up, but you might also consider an alternative fit as not only does the sleeve and body increase in size, so does the length. Given our focus on function and form, we steered away from a super bulky or oversized fit that would be impossible to wear around the stuff of everyday work (i.e, thorns, metal fences, claws, etc). Sweaters have enough ease for multiple layers. Judith wears a size M in both colors and we suggest ordering your normal size. Please reach out with sizing questions to Whitney@gamineworkwear.com
All Measurements in inches; please note: all points of measure are intended to give an idea of sizing, not garment specs.