Despite the ice and snow on the ground, and as much as I want to get to the rest of my sweater queue (once I finish my neglected Bellows), my thoughts are starting to turn to my warmer-weather wardrobe challenges. Which brings me back to my Hole & Sons wool and my wish for it to become something quintessentially British: namely, a vest. It’s the perfect thing for spring, and if I want to wear it this spring, I better get started. I’ve been thinking I’ll just tweak a classic v-neck cardigan pattern but have been sort of dreading the stockinette, so I decided to conduct a little research for inspiration and/or a particularly interesting pattern, and golly, would you look at this gem?!
The Spiral-Spun Waistcoat is a WWII Jaeger pattern (a knit-it-for-the-troops design — “choose air force blue or khaki wool”), available as a free download from the Victoria & Albert Museum, with an allover texture that is just interesting enough while remaining timeless. It might be exactly the thing — I shall have to swatch and see.
Just thought I should mention we call what you’re showing a picture of a waistcoat, if it was without buttons and the front was all in one piece it would be a sleeveless pullover- for us a vest is what you call an undershirt. Thought I should mention it from ove there in Suffolk, England
Yep, hence the pattern name. 😉
That is awesome.
Correct, a vest is an undershirt! Don’t we have all have words that twist and turn? And I do think that waistcoat is very classy and did you check out the price for that wool????? Whoo Hoo
I had to consult Wikipedia to find out a d is a penny, but where does the d come from?
From the Latin word “denarius,” apparently! An ancient Roman coin that probably would have been use in Great Britain under Roman rule. If the pre-decimal penny was used from the 18th century, turning to Latin to abbreviate the amount would make a lot of sense.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_%28British_pre-decimal_coin%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denarius
Love this bit of history and would love to knit it for the historical aspect alone – it’s a dandy!
This is so timely for me Karen. I have been swatching my Hole&Sons and wondering what to make with it with gauge I am getting. Thank you for this post.
And you’ll have to find “buttons the size of a shilling”!
This would be fun to knit, I think. The ‘d’ for pence is originally Latin from Denarius. There were 240 d in one pound (libra, or l) up til 1971, when the decimal system was instituted in England.
Here is a link to a needle conversion chart for British and American sizes. Our systems of numbering are reversed.
http://www.yarnfwd.com/main/needleconv.html
Thanks, Carol!
Thank you for the link to that site! I saved the site as a favorite and I’m definitely going to be knitting several things on there, including both the men’s waistcoat and the women’s one. I LOVE vintage patterns and I’m always on the lookout for either actual vintage patterns or modern ones with that classic feel.
Oh thank you for sharing – my husband is requesting a vest in gray. This may be the one.
The women’s version ‘waistcoats for warmth’ from the same site is also lovely with a shaped hem.
What a find!! The shaping on the shoulders look like it would be very flattering as well.
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