This very attractive jerkin is made in many colours to match everything in your wardrobe and is a good design for using up oddments of wool. It is knitted in a simple Fair Isle check pattern, in some bands of the pattern the checks being set in alternate positions, giving a most original effect.

This cheerful pattern lends itself to an infinite variety of colours. The model has been recreated using the colours suggested in the pattern, as they offer a most attractive combination of wine, blue, green and rust against a yellow background, with the addition of a fourth contrast in duck egg blue to reach the required quantities. The neckline is a simple solution, avoiding complicated calculations of stitches, by being squared off.

Sleeveless tops, also known as pullovers or jerkins (later as tank tops in the 1960s), had become most popular as an extra layer of warmth when wool wasn’t available in sufficient quantities to knit long-sleeved garments. They were most often worn over a neat shirt or blouse and especially favoured for wearing with suits as they were not too bulky for the closely tailored styles of the fashionable jackets of the time. The squared neckline of this pattern became especially popular after the war and is seen in a number of patterns of fashionable Fair Isle design.

Materials

• 200 g (7 oz) MC
• 75 g (2.75 oz) dark contrast C1
• 75 g (2.75 oz) medium contrast C2
• 25 g (0.9 oz) second medium contrast C3
• 75 g (2.75 oz) third medium contrast C4
• 25 g (0.9 oz) second darker contrast C5
• 1 pair 3.5 mm needles
• 1 pair 4.5 mm/7 needles