Cowichan Sweater

COWICHAN SWEATER, named for the COWICHAN First Nation of VANCOUVER ISLAND, is a bulky sweate hand-knitted from sheep's wool in natural colours of white, grey, brown and black. Before contact with Europeans, the Cowichan wove blankets and clothing from MOUNTAIN GOAT wool and the hair of a specially bred woolly breed of dog. They were introduced to knitting by white settlers after 1850 and a distinctive sweater style gradually emerged: it has a shawl collar, and the maker uses a 2-colour Fair Isle technique in which the unused colour is carried along the back of the work between design units. In 1999 about 2,000 Coast Salish (see SALISHAN FIRST NATIONS) knitters were active, mainly on the Cowichan RESERVES around DUNCAN, and the sweater has become a distinctive symbol of BC for TOURISTS and locals alike.