A few months ago Bletchley Park launched a campaign called Knit One, Post One , asking for knitters to knit items from original 1940’s patterns, to be used to set dress some areas of the park, including the famous codebreaking huts! It sounded like an incredible opportunity for a nerdy knitter like me to be involved in the work of this amazing heritage site, in a teeny, tiny way and I was so pleased to be selected from the many people who applied.
My first task was to find a pattern. I decided to make a hat as hats from that era have always seemed very glamorous and, also, I thought I had a reasonable chance of getting a hat finished by the deadline! There are lots of patterns available online so I started trawling the internet for an authentic 1940’s pattern and eventually settled on this one.
The pattern calls for 4-ply yarn, which I have never actually used before but a bit of research suggested that 1940’s 4-ply was similar in thickness to modern double knit yarn so I headed off to my local yarn shop to squish some DK and make my choice. The only stipulations were that the yarn was to be no thicker than DK and it should be in a colourway that would have been available at the time i.e, not neon, self-striping etc. I settled on a lovely light blue Peter Pan yarn in a nylon/acrylic mix and got to work!
I don’t usually bother with a tension square but I thought it might be a good idea for this project. Luckily, my gauge was fine, but I actually decided to start with the scarf, just to be on the safe side. After a few false starts, and LOTS of frogging (this was my first remotely lacy project), I really got into the swing of the pattern and it flew off my needles
I was really happy with it and decide to attempt the hat. That worked up quite quickly too, but as I have a HUGE head I wasn’t sure that the size was right, so I ordered a mannequin head from ebay. Here is the set – I am so chuffed with it!
I love vintage clothes so I think I’m going to make a set for my self, once I can figure out how to adjust the hat pattern for my aforementioned massive head!
I filled in the relevant paperwork and sent it off to Bletchley Park and a few weeks later I received a free season ticket in the post and last week I received an email from them which featured my hat and scarf in the banner photo.
It doesn’t get much more exciting than that in a geeky house like ours. My husband works as a software developer so even he has taken an interest in this project! Now I just need to arrange my visit so I can see them in their new home – can’t wait!
Carry Yarn Regardless 