Ten Years In The Making

The Arklow Knit is a contemporary take on a fisherman’s guernsey. Five chapters, countless samples - here’s the story behind the design.

This is a design that I've been working on for ten years. It started in 2016, with an idea I had while testing the Eversholt MkI around Europe.

Version one was a roll neck with a windproof front panel. It was great on two wheels, but the synthetic membrane felt like I'd stuffed a raincoat under my jumper. It had lost the snug feeling that makes knitwear what it is. I only wore it when out on my bike, and the rest of the time it gathered dust.

Next... a full-milano, 7 gauge knit in British Shetland wool. For context, it used twice as much yarn as a naval submariner's jumper. The knit was so dense it could almost stand up on its own - probably the warmest jumper I've ever worn. Perfect for a dispatch rider in the Arctic, not so good when running for a train.

A couple of years later, I was introduced to a knitter in Portugal. They had the latest machinery - anything was possible.

I settled on a half-milano knit in a 10 gauge. Premium Italian merino. The quality was incredible, and anyone I met who knew about knitwear loved it. For me though, merino wool can look too clean. I wanted a jumper with more character.

It was around this time that I nearly took a shortcut.

A number of knitters in the UK make white label jumpers. Pick a style, pick a colour, they'd sew in my label. No minimums, easy as you like. I was tempted. A surprising number of established brands work this way. Maybe I should too?

I requested a few samples, but that's as far as it got.

Everything was wrong. The fit, the tension of the knit, the quality of the yarn. Out of the box, I'd have rated them a generous okay. They'd hold up for a season, two at most, then lose their shape and pill badly. Not the direction for me.

We're about eight years in now, and throughout this time I realised that my go-to knitwear was a traditional fisherman's Guernsey. It always looked good, always kept me warm, always got a compliment. Year in, year out, this was the one I reached for. It was an investment when I bought it, but one that had paid dividends.

That said, there was room for improvement. Sometimes it felt a touch too heritage, sometimes too casual. The jumper was bulky and took up half my bag - not great for travel. But there was something in the idea... with a few changes, I could make the design more versatile.

Onto the final chapter... the Arklow Knit.

I started to work with a specialist knitter in Hawick - a town in Scotland that's been at the centre of knitwear manufacturing for over two hundred years.

Next, the yarn. I found a virgin wool from an Austrian spinner. It has more to it than merino, but isn't as coarse as Shetland - traditional character without the itch. Perfect. After a number of tests, we settled on an 8 gauge, with 2 ends of 2/28 yarn. It's dense, durable and will hold its shape.

Historically, each fishing harbour in the UK had its own pattern across the top of a Guernsey - a way to identify sailors should the worst happen at sea. The ridged garter stitch is my take on this detail - a signature that I hope to use for years to come.

I kept the traditional drop shoulder. It gives free arm movement without the jumper riding up, and comes into its own when lifting a bag onto an overhead rack.

What surprised me is that even through the summer we've just had, I found myself wearing the Arklow on a cool evening. I've tested it on a motorcycle, in an open-top car, on coastal walks, across town and at 30,000ft. The weight is just right.

This jumper is constructed using traditional methods - it's knitted under high tension and all seams are linked by hand. It's made properly - there's no better way to describe it.

It's been a long journey, and I'm really happy with the way the Arklow has turned out. There's something about this jumper - it feels special.

Follow the link below for details and the waitinglist.

ARKLOW KNIT →

Ten Years In The Making

The Arklow Knit is a contemporary take on a fisherman’s guernsey. Five chapters, countless samples - here’s the story behind the design.

This is a design that I've been working on for ten years. It started in 2016, with an idea I had while testing the Eversholt MkI around Europe.

Version one was a roll neck with a windproof front panel. It was great on two wheels, but the synthetic membrane felt like I'd stuffed a raincoat under my jumper. It had lost the snug feeling that makes knitwear what it is. I only wore it when out on my bike, and the rest of the time it gathered dust.

Next... a full-milano, 7 gauge knit in British Shetland wool. For context, it used twice as much yarn as a naval submariner's jumper. The knit was so dense it could almost stand up on its own - probably the warmest jumper I've ever worn. Perfect for a dispatch rider in the Arctic, not so good when running for a train.

A couple of years later, I was introduced to a knitter in Portugal. They had the latest machinery - anything was possible.

I settled on a half-milano knit in a 10 gauge. Premium Italian merino. The quality was incredible, and anyone I met who knew about knitwear loved it. For me though, merino wool can look too clean. I wanted a jumper with more character.

It was around this time that I nearly took a shortcut.

A number of knitters in the UK make white label jumpers. Pick a style, pick a colour, they'd sew in my label. No minimums, easy as you like. I was tempted. A surprising number of established brands work this way. Maybe I should too?

I requested a few samples, but that's as far as it got.

Everything was wrong. The fit, the tension of the knit, the quality of the yarn. Out of the box, I'd have rated them a generous okay. They'd hold up for a season, two at most, then lose their shape and pill badly. Not the direction for me.

We're about eight years in now, and throughout this time I realised that my go-to knitwear was a traditional fisherman's Guernsey. It always looked good, always kept me warm, always got a compliment. Year in, year out, this was the one I reached for. It was an investment when I bought it, but one that had paid dividends.

That said, there was room for improvement. Sometimes it felt a touch too heritage, sometimes too casual. The jumper was bulky and took up half my bag - not great for travel. But there was something in the idea... with a few changes, I could make the design more versatile.

Onto the final chapter... the Arklow Knit.

I started to work with a specialist knitter in Hawick - a town in Scotland that's been at the centre of knitwear manufacturing for over two hundred years.

Next, the yarn. I found a virgin wool from an Austrian spinner. It has more to it than merino, but isn't as coarse as Shetland - traditional character without the itch. Perfect. After a number of tests, we settled on an 8 gauge, with 2 ends of 2/28 yarn. It's dense, durable and will hold its shape.

Historically, each fishing harbour in the UK had its own pattern across the top of a Guernsey - a way to identify sailors should the worst happen at sea. The ridged garter stitch is my take on this detail - a signature that I hope to use for years to come.

I kept the traditional drop shoulder. It gives free arm movement without the jumper riding up, and comes into its own when lifting a bag onto an overhead rack.

What surprised me is that even through the summer we've just had, I found myself wearing the Arklow on a cool evening. I've tested it on a motorcycle, in an open-top car, on coastal walks, across town and at 30,000ft. The weight is just right.

This jumper is constructed using traditional methods - it's knitted under high tension and all seams are linked by hand. It's made properly - there's no better way to describe it.

It's been a long journey, and I'm really happy with the way the Arklow has turned out. There's something about this jumper - it feels special.

Follow the link below for details and the waitinglist.

ARKLOW KNIT →