‘This is a real coupon-saver, as any oddments of wool can be used for it, provided their total weight is 4 ounces.’

Most knitting designer brands of the 1940s created their own variation on the traditional feather and fan stitch for garments, with patterns for jumpers or cardigans, and sometimes scarves, appearing in leaflets and magazines, and it is still a favourite today. The pattern given below was inspired by a combination of the best of the many patterns of the time, most especially the one that appeared in the popular Home Notes magazine of 16 February 1946, at the height of the wool shortages. The original uses a 2 ply yarn for even greater economy (adapted here to a modern 4 ply yarn), and had five colours.

Materials

• Modern 4 ply yarn: 330 g (12 oz) total in a selection of colours, of which 2 x 50 g (1.75 oz) in one colour for ribbing and as a ‘key’ colour used throughout for accent rows, 50 g (1.75 oz) C1, and 60 g (2 oz) each C2, C3, and C4
• 1 pair 3 mm/11 needles
• 1 pair 3.75 mm/9 needles
• 1 3 mm/11 crochet hook
• 1 stitch holder or spare needle