With the Irish love of tea, most Irish households have a tea pot somewhere. Though these days there is little time to make and enjoy a pot of tea with hectic schedules all around, for those tea lovers out there you know there is nothing like a cup of tea made from a pot!

So we’ve been selling the perfect accessory for this in the Aran Tea Cosy. Handknitted in Dublin by Joan our very talented knitter, the tea cosy pictured above is made exclusively for the shop and retails at €29.99. It’s made using a wool mix so it’s soft and machine washable. It also fits small to medium size tea pots. It would also stretch over a larger size.

We are obviously biased and love our own knitters honeycomb pattern but we found this little beauty on Pinterest and love the combination of stitches and bobble head top.

As well as looking adorable, a wool tea cosy really works to keep a pot of tea warm and it’s a great momento to take home for visitors to Ireland as well as all the Irish living around the world, this is a lovely reminder of home!

Here is another example of an aran tea cosy we found on Pinterest, but we think you can’t beat Joan’s design that looks like the tea pot is wearing a little Aran Sweater adorable!

What an iconic picture of men carrying a currach boat over their heads on the Aran islands. We are very excited to be hitting the road today and heading into the West to visit the famous Inis Mhór , the largest of the Aran Islands. We felt on our 20th Anniversary on business this year it was about time we visited the home of the Aran Sweater.

We look forward to seeing the sights and we’ll be picking up some extra special stock from the Aran Islands.

We’ll have some new shots of our own for next week!

This week we are going to suggest some ideas for the diffferent kind of Arans on offer in our store. Above Stephen is wearing a machine made Merino Wool Vest, this sleaveless sweater is a classic design with honeycomb and diamond stitching on the front. What might have been considered an older gentleman’s sweater is now worn by all ages! A men’s style, women have also bought this. While traditional in style, the Aran Vest is getting a very contemporary following. Retailing at €59.99 made by Carraig Donn.

If you want something for the chillier summer evenings, then the full Aran sweater is for you. Made here using Merino Wool, it’s soft and warm, it will take you into the evening, in the garden or at a festival . While it maybe July for our Irish customers you know what it’s like in Ireland after 7pm, you’ll need something heavier to wear if you want to stay out. Machine made here in Ireland by Arancrafts retails at €69.99.

Finally the hand loomed Donegal Aran above modeled by Stephen. A heavier pure new wool Aran hand loomed in Donegal by Rossan knitwear. The hand loomed Arans are a chunkier style , more wool is used in making them and they are extremely warm. You can see how differently the honeycomb stitch looks on a handloomed Aran. Retailing at €89.99.

Check out our shop on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKxX_omGt0Q and tell us what you think!