Harrison

After an hour or so the upward flood of tide held its breath for an elongated moment and then it changed direction and we were being pulled back the way we had come, down towards the meeting of river with sea…”

Threads-The delicate Life of John Craske. Julia Blackburn.

From the Olive and George collection, drawing inspiration from the Norfolk Fishermen’s Gansey jumpers of the 19th and early 20th centuries, Harrison is a modern interpretation of a traditional Gansey. Crafted in Nottinghamshire from the highest quality 100% certified British wool; fleece to finished jumper in under 125 miles!

This knit comes in 3 sizes and three colours; the new bespoke True Navy Blue (exclusive to Charl), natural undyed Oatmeal and natural undyed Cream. This piece can be worn by men or women, a cosy over-size go-to piece to pull on when the coastal breeze picks up. It is knitted with an open crew neck with a chunky folded rib trim. The top half of the body is knitted in the original “hailstone” stitch taken directly from the original Ganseys on both the  front and back body with a neat central shoulder seam and chunky rib trims. The body is generous and boxy, flatteringly shaped upwards towards the front. The sleeves are slightly long and can be worn turned back with a ribbed cuff which can be pushed up to scrunch, or pulled down to cover the knuckles. Reverse knit panels run down each side seam – just like on the original Ganseys, this jumper is intentionally simple in pattern and form to complement the beauty of the stitches.

The Harrison is named after Jimmy “Buttons” Harrison , who was the coxswain or helmsman of the Cromer lifeboat the “Louisa Heartwell” between 1902 and 1909. There is a photograph of him taken by Olive Edis, in which he is proudly wearing his handknitted Gansey under his wool coat. The Harrisons were a well-known Cromer fishing family, Jimmy had two sons, one of whom was called Jack “Measles Harrison” who served in France during the First World War.