Interweave SKU: EP11496

Knit this sweater inspired by a garment in the Columbia Yarn Book from 1923 Featuring a front center motif with repeated visual elements on the sleeve hem and shirt hem, this sweater is worked separate pieces and seamed. (Interweave)

Charts and Schematics can be found here.

Finished Size: 37½ (41, 43) inches (95.2 [104.1, 109.2] cm) bust circumference

Yarn: Rowan Wool Cotton, 50% merino wool/50% cotton, DK weight, 123 yards (112.5 m)/50 gram (1.8 oz) ball, 8 (9, 9) balls of #956 Coffee Rich (MC) and 1 ball of #900 Antique (CC)

Yarn Weight: #3 - Light

Needles: Circular, 24 inches (60 cm) size 4 (3.25 mm) for edgings and size 5 (3.75 mm) for body and sleeves or size needed to obtain gauge

Notions: Crochet hook size E/4 (3.5 mm); stitch markers; stitch holders; tapestry needle

Gauge: 22½ sts and 32 rows = 4 inches (10.2 cm) in St st on larger needles

Originally Published: Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits 2014

I adapted this Peasant Blouse from a knitted garment in a 1923 Columbia Yarn Book. The original garment was knitted up the back, over the shoulders, and down the front, eliminating shoulder seams. The border on the short cap sleeves repeats the bottom border. I chose to knit both the back and the front from the bottom up so that all pattern stitches, cast-on edges, and shaping match. I grafted the shoulder tops together to eliminate shoulder seams. The slightly shaped garment will flatter most figures, and the wool-and-cotton yarn will be comfortable except in the hottest weather.

In the Columbia book, only one size is provided, and the knitter was on her or his own to alter sizes, aided only by brief general suggestions at the back of the book: “One of the features which many workers consider a quite insuperable obstacle is that of changing sizes. In reality it is the simplest possible operation if a few plain instructions are carefully followed.” These introduce the concept of gauge and measurements with examples that made me grateful for the information and sizing found in today’s publications.