The sweater shown in the photo was donated to the Knitting & Crochet Guild collection more than 30 years ago, in 1994. We have the matching pattern, too - in fact, probably the copy that the sweater was knitted from, though that wasn't recorded at the time of the donation.
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| Don Maid leaflet no.212 |
The leaflet has clearly been kept folded in four for a long time, and mended with Sellotape (not a good idea for a long-lasting repair). But the instructions are just about legible, and there isn't another copy in the collection.
'Don Maid' was a brand of knitting wool manufactured by Donisthorpe & Co. of Leicester, a very long established spinning company, dating back to the 18th century. Knitting wool was a minor part of their business, starting just before World War 2 with knitting wool for children's clothes, under the label 'Little Pals'. The company seems to have seen the end of clothes rationing in the late 1940s as an opportunity to extend their range of knitting wools and patterns and hence introduced the Don Maid brand.
We currently have just 17 Don Maid leaflets in the KCG collection: a few children's patterns, numbered between 1 and 18, and the rest adult patterns, numbered from 201 to 246 - I suspect that the gap in numbering reflects two different ranges of numbers for children's v. adult patterns. Don Maid leaflets aren't common, and I don't think that many were produced after no. 246, published around 1952.
Judging by the dates when Don Maid patterns with numbers close to 212 were advertised, Don Maid leaflet 212 was issued in 1949. Our sweater is described in the leaflet as a Sports Jersey. The pattern instructions are to knit with 2 strands of 3 ply wool, held together, making a double knitting (DK) thickness, and that is how the sweater is knitted – the two strands are easily seen in the floats on the stranded knitting sections. I think that Don Maid knitting wool was only made in 3-ply at that time, judging by the other leaflets in the collection and Don Maid ads I have seen. Many spinners had produced DK knitting wool before WW2, but it had disappeared during the war, and was not reintroduced until the 1950s. Even so, Donisthorpe & Co. evidently thought that a pattern for a sweater in the equivalent of DK wool would be popular - and of course would sell a lot more wool.
The sweater is knitted on size 7 needles (4.5mm). The body and sleeves are in brioche stitch, i.e. on a multiple of 3 stitches, plus 1:
Row 1: Slip1 purlwise, (knit 2 together, yarn over, slip 1 purlwise) to last 3 stitches, knit 2 together, slip 1 purlwise.
Row 2: Knit 1, (yarn over, slip 1 purlwise, knit 2 together), to last 2 stitches, yarn over, slip 1 purlwise, knit 1.
This gives a very soft, warm and squishy fabric.
The stranded colour bands are the most noticeable feature of the sweater. The bands round the yoke and cuffs are knitted in with the rest of the sweater, but the bands along the raglan seams are knitted separately and stitched in place when the sweater is made up.
It was very different from most 1949 knitwear designs, and I think could be worn now, with minimal adaptation. I have only recently studied the sweater in the KCG collection in detail and realised how distinctive and unusual it was for its time - it's now one of my favourite pieces.
