Colourful Bolero
Printed towards the end of WW2, in an era of extreme shortages **, this is knitwear designed with a view to using left overs or even maybe "pulled back" wool.
Despite that I think it looks really attractive - and is a very interesting design being knitted sideways.
Instructions. Instructions for one size. Pattern:1st row (wrong side facing): Purl.
Repeat these 12 rows throughout. BackThe bolero is knitted sideways. With No 10 (3¼mm) needles, cast on 90 stitches and work 5 rows of the pattern. Now increase at the beginning of the next and end of every following
row at this side until there are 108 stitches, and 23 rows are done. Work straight until 2 more complete patterns are done, and then work
1 row of the next pattern, which brings you back to the top of the shoulder.
At the beginning of the 10th row cast on 16 stitches, and then finish the shoulder to correspond with first side, casting off 37 for the armhole and decreasing on every row thereafter until 90 stitches remain. Finish off with 5 rows straight. There are 15 patterns in total across the back, omitting the last 2-row white stripe. Left frontWork as for back, but cast off 26 instead of 16 stitches on the shoulder. Right frontWork to correspond with left front. [Editor's note: They
are assuming rather a lot here and expect you will work this out for yourself.
You could continue to work the in the same sideways direction: as you
have just cast off at the centre front, so you could cast on for the right
front at the centre front which would mean casting on 119 stitches - then
casting on 26 at the shoulder, and completing the shaping as you did for
the back. Neck RibbingJoin back and front shoulder seams. With No 10 (3¼mm) needles, and front of work facing, pick up and knit 80 stitches across the back of the neck. Work in k1/p1 rib, decreasing at each end of every alternate row 5 times. Change to No 12 (2¾mm) needles and continue in rib, decreasing as before until 48 stitches remain. Cast off fairly tightly in rib. For each front section pick up and knit 44 stitches in the same way,
and decrease 5 times on alternate rows at the side edge before changing
to No 12 needles. Then decrease as before until 22 stitches remain. For each shoulder piece pick up and knit 42 stitches across each shoulder and then shape as for back, casting off the remaining 10 stitches. [Editor's note: It may or may not be obvious here but you are knitting on the sides of a rectangle here and decreasing towards the middle; when you sew these together you will have mitred corners - you can just see this in the photograph.] Front BordersWith No 12 (2¾mm) needles, cast on 13 stitches and work a length
of k1/p1 rib long enough to go up the left front. To make a buttonhole: rib 5, cast off 3, rib 5; on the next row cast on 3 over those cast off in the previous row. Continue strip for the length required, then cast off in rib. SleevesWorked sideways in pattern. With No 10 (3¼mm) needles cast on 13. 1st row: Pattern to end. Repeat 2nd and 3rd rows 3 times more. 10th row: As 2nd. Repeat 12th and 13th rows 15 times more, then the 12th row again. 87th row: Pattern to the last 2 stitches,
k2tog. Repeat 87th and 88th rows 15 times more, then 87th row again. 120th row: k2tog, pattern to end.
Repeat 122nd and 123rd rows 3 times more, leaving 13 stitches on the
needle. This finishes the 11th coloured stripe. Making UpPress work lightly on wrong side under a damp cloth. |
Materials3 ply yarn: 1 oz in main shade (M) plus 1oz each in 5 different shades of the same wool, or odd balls of different colours to make up this amount. [Editor's note: Looking at the photo and instructions, presumably one of these colours needs to be white.] Pair each No 10 (3¼mm) and No 12 (2¾mm) needles. Tension32 stitches to 4 ins on No 10 (3¼mm) needles. Size mattersTo fit chest 33-35 inches; AbbreviationsTwist A: Knit into back of 2nd stitch on left-hand needle, then knit into front of 1st stitch, drop both stitches off needle together. Twist B: Knit into front of 2nd stitch on left needle, then knit into front of 1st stitch on left needle, slip both off together. k2tog or p2tog: work 2 sts together to decrease. A word on the woolSusan Crawford, who specialises in vintage knits, offers lovely Fenella wool which "knits up to that elusive vintage ‘3 ply’ tension". Jamiesons have an excellent range of colours in "2ply laceweight" which states: This yarn can be used in vintage patterns which call for "3ply yarns". John Arbon has some wonderful laceweight that looks suitable. Disclaimer
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** The 'Make Do and Mend' campaign - which is currently quite a well known slogan from WW2 - was launched to encourage people to make their existing clothing last longer. Clothes care was a key part of the Make Do and Mend message. Shortages of basic materials and consequential clothing rationing necessitated imaginative use of materials; this included recycling and renovating old clothes, and the innovative use of home-made accessories, which could alter or smarten up an outfit. You see a lot of these ideas in magazines of that era appearing as little knitted collars and cuffs or just inexpensive embellishment ideas. This type of pattern continues from its humble beginnings well into the 1950s - and not surprising since although the war ended in 1945, clothes rationing did not end until 1949.
Rationing worked by allocating each item or category of clothing a 'points' value which varied according to how much material and labour went into its manufacture. Each person was allocated a fixed number of coupons to "spend" when they purchased clothing. In 1941, at the inception, adults receive 66 but this allocation shrank as the war progressed: to 48 in 1942, 36 in 1943 and 24 by 1945. As for knitwear specifically - a jumper, for example, used up 5 coupons and socks 1-3. Making your own knitwear did not help much since knitting wool was also rationed (almost pro rata) with two ounces of knitting yarn requiring one coupon; however, with essentials such as boots and overcoats requiring 7 coupons you can see why people were reluctant to spend any coupons at all on knitwear when they could reuse old "pulled back" yarn.
One interesting result of this evolved from the fact that "mending cards" of yarn were not rationed at all - presumably to encourage the make-do-and-mend mentality. They were traditionally dull buff or grey colours being intended to darn mens socks. [I have inherited many of these cards which sit at the bottom of my work basket - commercial socks are much tougher these days]. However during this period the commercial yarn companies started to produce "mending cards" in all kinds of wild colours which fitted perfectly with multicoloured designs such as this bolero, or the ubiquitous Fair Isle sweater patterns of the period. The influence of rationing some items and not others could be seen much wider than just in knitting yarn in that people would find ways of using many different or less usual materials for clothing if they happened to be "off the ration".
The popularity of multicoloured sweaters, and specifically Fair Isle, was very much to do with being able to use smaller amounts of yarn from different sources and make a garment that looked fresh and new, rather than the collection of oddments which it really was. Sewing patterns were also offered with this in mind - I have a lovely blouse pattern from the period with terrific square shoulders and nipped in waist that is designed to be made in 2 fabrics out of "2 of your husbands old shirts" with the pattern pieces shown laid out accordingly on the shirts, (noting that men's shirts of the period were positively voluminous).
