At the Wordsworth Trust’s Museum in Grasmere, Cumbria, two beautifully intricate, hand-knit gloves rest quietly in a display case. The museum has no provenance for this unique pair of fringed gloves; but they are labelled in the display “George Walton, Deepdale, 1846” and have “G. Walton, 1846” knitted into the cuffs. This makes them the oldest extant, dated Dales gloves.

The 188-page book that contains this pattern details what we can discern about the mysterious history behind these intricate gloves—and so much more about the history of knitting in northern England.

This pattern allows you to create your own modern version of the historic George Walton gloves. In the original pair, there do appear to be minor inconsistencies between the left and right glove. The reconstructed pattern that we’ve provided here is taken from the left glove—and reversed for the right, as a result!

Instructions and alphabet charts are included so that you can substitute a different name on the cuff.

Materials
Jamieson & Smith Shetland Heritage (100% pure Shetland wool; 120 yds/110m per 25g ball)
• MC: Flugga White, 2 balls
• CC: Peat, 2 balls

US#000/1.5 mm needles, configured for circular knitting
Yarn needle