Keeping history alive!

Wednesday 11 March 2020

Le Tricoteur is inviting local knitters to help keep the island's history alive, while earning a bit of extra cash, at the same time as keeping fashionistas across the world satisfied!

The company, which specialises in Guernsey jumpers, is appealing for anyone with a knack for hand knitting to get in touch.

At the moment, it's struggling to keep up with the worldwide demand for Guernseys, and is looking for people in the island to lend a hand from home in their spare time.

"We knit the bulk of the pieces by machine, so [the knitters] just have to put the body pieces together," explained Le Tricoteur Director, Neil Sexton. "They do the neck in the round so there is no seam, which can be quite tricky but it's not too hard.

"We give them instructions and deliver as many needles as they need, along with one sample."

Pictured: Le Tricoteur (image from shop's website).

It is down to the knitters how long they want to spend working for the company and, while they do need knitting experience, they don't need to have finished a Guernsey before.

"Some ladies do two garments a week while others do 20," Mr Sexton added. "Most people do a few and they sit in the evening, with one eye on the telly and one eye on the knitting. 

"Some people do one an hour, some people do one in an evening."

The knitting industry has played a big part in Guernsey's history and can be dated back to more than 500 years ago.

"We ship all over the world. Our biggest market at the moment is Japan, and we have trade accounts all over the world that we supply as well. We have orders from Australia, New Zealand, Russia, China and we do quite a lot in South Korea."

Any knitters interested in getting involved can call 266881 for more information.