Herring Girl

Herring Girl is a sleeveless sweater with some of the typical Guernsey/Gansey sweater details - but it is different. The piece is worked top down with has a generous positive ease, can be worn with or without a shirt underneath which makes it a perfect garment for several seasons. 

This pattern is a tribute to the women who worked in the herring fishing industry, especially from the 18th century until the mid 20th century. They were groups of women who would travel the East coast of the United Kingdom from far north to the far south, following herring as they migrated throughout the year. They worked extremely hard, using sharp knives to gut the fish, which could cause injuries, and combined with the salt and brine, the work could be very painful. Working fast was important to preserve the fish and to earn money. Some girls started work at sixteen. The women would often be away from home for months at a time. Some of the herring girls from the Scottish islands may not even have spoken English, only Gaelic. However, working in the herring industry gave these women huge amounts of freedom to travel and work, increasing their independence and confidence.* Some crews travelled and lived together for a whole season, instilling a huge amount of camaraderie and community in the group. In their freetime, many of them knitted, even using bicycle spokes when knitting needles were not available to them.

When I read about those women some time ago, I wanted to create a comfortable, modern garment which uses some of their typical stitch patterns, imagining a time-travelling herring girl, having the chance to have a relaxed break in a small cafe at the sea, enjoying the moment. 

The pattern has been released some time ago and we are now adding some sizes and did a general pattern review. 

It would be good to use the original yarn for this test, even though it is not an obligation.

Bust circumference of the finished Herring Girl: 2XL: 146, 3XL: 156, 4XL: 166 cm/ 2XL: 57.5, 3XL: 61.5, 4XL: 65.5) in 

This sweater is designed to have a positive ease of approximately 22 cm / 8.75 in around bust, so the circumference is 22 cm / 8.75 in larger than your usual bust measurement. We recommend choosing the smaller size if you are between 2 sizes.

Bust circumference body

S: 83.5 (M: 94, L: 104, XL: 114, 2XL: 124.5, 3XL: 134.5, 4XL: 144.5) cm/ S: 32.75 (M: 37, L: 41, XL: 45, 2XL: 49, 3XL: 53, 4XL: 57) in

reading several charts for working in the round and flat (working flat = reading the chart for right side and wrong side),

knit and purl flat and in the round,

work several structured stitch patterns and simple cablework,

m1l/m1r, m1 purlwise right/left increases, k2tog/ssk/p2tog/p2tog tbl decreases, 

short rows (are used for shaping the neckline and (optional) adding length to the front if needed - all explained in the pattern)

blocking

circular knitting needles size 3 mm (US 2.5) and 3.5 mm (US 4): 40 cm (16 in) length plus 100 cm (40 in) for size 2XL and 150 cm (60 in) for sizes 3XL and 4XL

8 stitch markers

optional: cable needle (the cables are made of 2 sts only, so you might be able to work them without a cable needle)

darning needle to weave in ends

blocking supplies

• Weekly updates and Milestone updates
• Use Chat Room in YarnPond to provide updates and to let me know if see an error or a need for clarification.
• Use Chat Room if any questions about pattern.
• Make no changes of any kind to pattern unless permission granted by us (it's a test of the written pattern)
• Help each other out in Chat Room as much as possible
• Let us know via message if any concerns or issues arise in ability to complete test in timeline (life does happen)
• Link project to Ravelry and add photos of at least the finished project there. If you are not on Ravelry, let us know in the test application. 
• Photos of the finished project, ideally worn by you or the person you knitted it for - you can fade out any personal details there but we need your permission to share the photos on social media (especially on Instagram) 
• Send total yarn used for your size to us or use the Feedback form and we'll also include it as a question for end of test. Please let us know if you think there's an adjustment needed in the estimate! 
• Please give the pattern a good rating (5) on Ravelry after it's published....we need to make whatever changes are needed during the test to ensure that a 5 is an honest rating....in other words, it's why we test. If we can't get it there by the end of the test then we won't publish this pattern update. Also, the rating does not reflect any changes needed during the test cycle; the rating is for the pattern at the end of the test. 

The designer is offering discounted or free pattern(s) to testers

All testers who finish the test until the deadline will get a free copy of the digital pattern after its release plus will be offered a free copy of any of our other patterns on Ravelry (We don't have much yet but will grow our portfolio over time). 

We will also reward your efforts in the test with a very good rating and recommendation on Yarnpond and we will be grateful for your great support for the rest of our lives!

The designer has created the following milestones, in order to keep track of progress during the test knit. By marking off each milestone as you complete it, you can easily keep the designer up to date with your progress.