This pattern is one of 27 patterns from The Vintage Shetland Project and is now also available as a single PDF pattern.

Pattern Notes

Mary is a recreation of a mid-twentieth century sweater located in the Shetland Museum archive. Mary was originally created by Mary Abernathy of Lerwick and is a design heavily influenced by the elegant and embellished garments of the late 1950s and early 1960s, worn by movie stars such as Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner and Doris Day. Beads are cleverly used as decoration within a traditional OXO motif, replacing a multi-coloured yoke with highly decorative beads, to create a necklace-like effect, framing the wearer’s face.

Mary echoes fully fashioned shaping, a technique used in machine knitted knitwear to shape individual pieces before being joined together. Instead Mary is knitted in one piece to the armholes when shaping is introduced. The yoke is then knitted in the round with beads knitted in at the same time. Yoke decreases are carefully placed to avoid spoiling the beaded pattern. The sleeves are picked up and worked downwards finishing just above the elbow.

The pattern includes instructions to knit Mary in a range of sizes to fit from 32-54 inch (81-137cm).

The same sample is shown in the photographs is the first size worn with 5cm (2in) of negative ease to give a ‘sweater girl’ fit. Alternatively for a slightly less fitted look, choose a size with approximately 3-6cm (1¼–2¼in) of positive ease.

Mary is knitted using Fenella, my 2 ply vintage weight yarn, in Limoncello, the same shade of yellow as that chosen by Mary Abernathy to knit her original version, but would look spectacular in any colour. Choose beads of a contrasting colour to ensure the pattern stands out.

The pattern contains charts for the beaded yoke plus comprehensive written instructions as well as a clear schematic diagram.

Yarn
Susan Crawford Fenella 2 ply, 100% British wool (124m/135yds per 25g skein)
7 ( 8, 9, 9, 10, 11, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 15) skeins Limoncello

Gauge
30 sts & 40 rows to 10cm (4in) over stocking stitch after blocking. We obtained this gauge using 2.75mm (US 2) needles.

Suggested Needles & Notions
2.25mm (US 1) circular needle - 40cm in length
2.25mm (US 1) circular needle - 80cm in length
Set of 2.25mm (US 1) DPNs
2.75mm (US 2) circular needle - 40cm in length
2.75mm (US 2) circular needle - 80cm in length
Set of 2.75mm (US 2) DPNs
Stitch markers
waste yarn or stitch holders
Spare needle

Techniques
Knitting in the round, following a chart; knitting in beads; Picking up stitches; Decreases; Blocking to shape

To find out more about The Vintage Shetland Project please visit my website