The Giant Jersey
'The Giant Jersey' of Geraldine is a shop specialising in the manufacture of
pure New Zealand woollen knitwear. Michael and Gillian Linton have been operating
the business both with retailing and manufacturing in Geraldine since March
1993. Prior to that the business was run from their home in Peel Forest under
the name Kapai Crafts from 1985.
All of the knitwear produced at 'The Giant Jersey' is made on hand operated
knitting machines, this is a process known as 'hand framing'. Every garment
is individually made and meets strict standards of quality and performance.
The Jersey - 'The Giant Jersey' takes its name from the jersey that graces the entrance wall. It is an enormous 16 ft from wrist to wrist, 7 ft high, 5 ft wide and weighs 5.5 kg. It is made up of a patchwork of the patterns and colours acting as a sampler for many of the designs available at 'The Giant Jersey'. The jersey itself has been recognised by The Guinness Book of Records and is indeed the largest jersey in the World!
The Range - Since their move to Geraldine 'The Giant Jersey' have considerably extended their range of hand-crafted New Zealand wool knitwear. There are over 30 designs with 24 colours available, in a large selection of styles and over 600 jerseys in store to choose from. Michael designs all the patterns with input from the rest of the family. Designs range from the classic Guernseys to Tartan and Sheep,. The styles include crew and V neck jerseys, button to the neck and V neck cardigans, sleeveless pullovers and cardigans, drop shoulder, raglan and set in sleeve jerseys to the ever popular Guernsey jerseys and cardigans.
Made to Measure - 'The Giant Jersey' can make to your specific measurements, ensuring that you get the exact style, colour, design and size that you desire.
Perendale - 'The Giant Jersey' uses only the best
quality New Zealand 4 ply wool to make their high quality knitwear. For this
reason they have chosen a Perendale blend, a genetically improved breed with
superior wool characteristics.
High bulk and resilience are the most important features that distinguish Perendale
wool. Bulk is the characteristic that gives wool its lightness, warmth and wearability.
Research undertaken by the International Wool Secretariat shows that Perendale
wool has 20% more bulk than other wool. Perendale wool has a natural crimp or
waviness. Perendale wool is crimped in three dimensions, as a coil, whereas
most wool is crimped in one plane. This gives the wool, bulk, high resilience,
elasticity and added warmth with no extra weight.
The Perendale wool used in their garments is fully-worsted which gives greater
strength to the yarn. The superior properties of Perendale wool gives the finished
garment improved qualities of shape retention and long lasting wearability along
with increased warmth and softness.
Mohair - 'The Giant Jersey' also carries a large range of hand knitted Mohair/Merino jerseys, cardigans, hats and scarves. This range is produced by a small team of highly skilled hand knitters. The 'Touch' Mohair/Merino garments are produced in a number of different styles and come in a wide array of colours. The fibre used in these garments is a blend of merino and superfine kid mohair which creates an amazingly light, soft and very warm garment.
Medieval Mosaic - Visitors will soon realize that this unique knitwear shop is famous for more than its world record Giant Jersey. Michael has dedicated many years to re-creating the Bayeux Tapestry as a mosaic. This mosaic, which graces the back wall of 'The Giant Jersey' workshop, is made from 2,000,000 pieces of spring steel. The mosaic measures 138 ft (42 metres) long and weighs in excess of 630 lbs (287 kg). Over 25 years in the making this truly amazing work of art is a experience not to be missed whilst visiting Geraldine.
Postcards and Stamps - Due to the popularity of 'The Giant Jersey', Michael and Gillian decided to produce a postcard of the jersey. This postcard has recently been complemented with a set of Giant jersey postage stamps.
'The Giant Jersey', a 'KiwiHost' business, has excelled in creating a friendly and interesting shop that stands out by having things guaranteed to interest all ages.
Click here to see more of Geraldine