Thought this might be interesting...

[CaptainHarlow]

This was a YouTube short I found some weeks ago that I thought was interesting, especially the wooden garment that looks like a modern sweater.

I couldn't find any period sources for this, and not really sure what to call it.

Outside of shows like Black Sails or Hornblower (which is much later of course) and Master and Commander (also a lot later) wasn't aware of these garments so they've always been fascinating to me.

 

After asking some questions on another forum all I got was gurnsey (gansey?) sweater or nalbound sweater so I thought I post here and see what others have to say!

 

Watch the video here

[William Brand]

Thank you for sharing that!

[Stynky Tudor]

3 hours ago, CaptainHarlow said:

After asking some questions on another forum all I got was gurnsey (gansey?) sweater or nalbound sweater so I thought I post here and see what others have to say!

 

Watch the video here

I've heard of sailors having wool work shirts, but I never thought of those shirts being knit sweater/shirts. The example looks too bulky to work and climb rigging in - though that would have been comfortable at our December Fort King George event.

[Mary Diamond]

Huh… though I must say, woodworker that I am, I was intrigued by your initial description of a “wooden garment” 😄 Wonderful video, thank you for sharing it!

I just saw a post about a knit waistcoat for King Charles 1, dated 1649 (purported to be worn for his execution) - it would seem there may have been a wider range of knitwear than we imagine. While the link below is not the original post I saw, it does have more information included… Further research brought up the following, of which I note the quality of the knit, and fine work, as the below were made of silk. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1251930/Was-waistcoat-Charles-I-wearing-beheaded.html

https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O10383/jacket-unknown/

https://collections.glasgowmuseums.com/mwebcgi/mweb?request=record;id=36162;type=101

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/84229

That said, your video reference being Dutch, perhaps “nailbound” is actually nalbind? A bit of information can be found here, and the stitch looks rather like that of the sweater in your video. However, knitting is well outside my skill set, and I am only looking at the visual pattern.

https://nalbound.com/a-brief-history-of-nalbinding/

Below: King Charles 1 knit waistcoat

[madPete]

That waistcoat is both gruesome and captivating at the same time.

Truly a piece of history if its authentic and by all accounts appears to be.

[michaelsbagley]

Plymouth Plantation sells (or used to) a book on knitting patterns. As my wife is an avid knitter, I grabbed a copy for her some years back.

I did get a pair of the gunnister gloves out of the deal, but not one of the Charles 2 knit torso covers out of it (the Plimouth book cites it as a knit waistcoat, not a shirt), but whatever you call it, it would be a comfy warm thing to wear.