1940's Knitting - Wartime Farm Fair Isle Pullover

Now I know this blog is all about free patterns, be they of the knitted or sewn variety, but today I wanted to share with you a pattern that I certainly think is worth spending your pennies on.

Did any of you see the BBC's wonderful Wartime Farm?

If you did you'll no doubt of noticed Alex Langlands fancy fair isle pullover, I certainly did!

Peter Ginn, Ruth Goodman & Alex Langlands the BBC's Wartime Farm Team
(Photo Source)

Now its never been a hardship for me to stare at Alex, as my mum would say he is rather 'dishy', but in this series, I found it was mainly his Fair Isle Pullover that I was ogling. The knitter in me was drawn to the intricate fair isle, so I spent a lot of time trying to get a better look at the pattern. This pullover had such an effect (it was in every episode!) that even my Dad mentioned how 'smart' he thought it was!

So you can imagine my delight when just before Christmas I read on the lovely Charly's blog Landgirl 1980 that she had been contacted by the queen of Vintage knitting Susan Crawford to help her gain the necessary permission to re-create the 'Official' Wartime Farm Knitting pattern meaning that we can all have our very own versions of Alex's fabulous pullover!  It appears that Susan had become as obsessed as I was by the pullover and had found within her (very envious) collection a pattern from the 30's which was clearly the inspiration for Alex's version you can read all about her detective work here.

Buy the Pattern Here

But not only have they created this fabulous Fair Isle pattern, in every size you could possibly need, but you'll also be giving to a worthwhile cause. The ladies have chosen to donate half the money from every sale to the Women's Land Army Tribute, who are raising money to create a long overdue monument to the Girls of the Women's Land Army!

The pattern costs a mere £5, with a whopping £2.50 of that going directly to the WLA Tribute, so purchasing the pattern should definitely leave you with a warm and woolly feeling inside and out - though the 'out' might take a little longer to achieve :)

Wendy x

I should point out that this is not a sponsored post, I am purely posting because I think its such a great idea and a worthwhile cause, oh and because it combines my love of knitting (slow though it may be) and of women's wartime history!