Interweave SKU: EP9415

Finished Size: 8¾ inches (22.2 cm) wide and 11½ inches (29.2 cm) long

Yarn: Rowan Pure Wool Aran, 100% wool yarn, worsted weight, 186 yards (170.0 m) /100 gram (3.5 oz) skein, 1 skein of #675 Sage

Needles: Double pointed, size 6 (4 mm) or size needed to obtain gauge

Notions: Stitch markers; twill tape, ¾ inch (1.9 cm) wide, 28 inches (71.1 cm) long; tapestry needle

Gauge: 20 sts and 29 rnds = 4 inches (10.2 cm) in St st

Originally Published: Unofficial Downton Abbey Knits 2013

British and Americans alike knitted and sewed “comforts” for the men of the Army and Navy during World War I (1914–1918). Official patterns included articles for troops in the trenches and for injured soldiers and sailors in hospitals. Hospital stockings, knee caps, wash cloths, bandages, and covers for hot-water bottles would have been among the articles knitted for injured officers in the hospital established by Lady Grantham at Downton Abbey. This pattern has been adapted from a World War I knitting pattern book to fit a contemporary plastic hot water bottle, which is remarkably similar in size, shape, and color to hot water bottles made of rubber during World War I by the B. F. Goodrich Company.