It feels strange to write about fall and winter knitwear in the middle of spring, but with some new Inis Meain models up on their webstore, it’s hard to not get excited. All of my sweaters from them have been exceptional. They’re remarkably soft, but hardly pill, and they’re so densely knitted that you never have to worry about them losing their shape. My oldest Inis Meain sweater is probably about six years old now. That’s not a terribly long time for a good garment, but with proper care, it looks just as good as the day I bought it.
Included in the new batch are some flecked “Donegal” sweaters that are made to resemble Irish tweeds. These were available for a brief season a few years ago, but were then replaced with a set of really expensive cashmere sweaters. The merino-cashmere blends are priced much more affordably, thankfully, and presumably have the thickness that such a design warrants anyway. There are also some buttoned mock-neck Arans with handsome cabling designs, as well as a moss stitch Gansey sweater with a buttoned shoulder. I imagine the second might be useful for layering underneath a boring coat.
Perhaps most interesting is the mock neck cardigan you see above. I recently tried the navy zip cardigan that’s on sale at East Dane, but was disappointed to find that, when compared their buttoned cardigans, the tension in the zipper pulls the collar too far back. No Man Walks Alone is apparently working on a new cardigan design with Inis Meain, and I’m told it will be made available later this year. Here’s to hoping it’s something like this model, but with a button closure.
