The Gay Bolero is a stylish and very unusually constructed jacket and a fascinating knit which results in an extremely striking garment.

Knitting commences at the centre front bottom edge and is constructed around a mitred centre point. The back is worked in striped ridges from the bottom up. The gathered sleeves create an elegant, tailored detail whilst allowing extra room in the sleeves for layers underneath. like most boleros of this type, The Gay Bolero is designed to be worn open and can be worn slightly oversized as shown in the photos as more of a jacket or closer-fitting as more of bolero. It looks wonderful styled with a vintage style tea dress and also with pleat front trousers teamed with a blouse or turtle neck underneath for a real Katherine Hepburn look.

The Gay Bolero is knitted using Excelana North fingering weight a soft, fingering weight 100% British wool, spun for us in nearby Yorkshire and dyed in-house by Susan and her team. Shown here in two colourways using shades Saharan Sand and Land Army Green , and the second colourway using Limestone and Coral Lombard. The Gay Bolero would also look fabulous in many other colour combinations such as Dark as Night and Alabaster for a nautical look or Charcoal and Sheffield Steel for monochromatic sophistication.

Our model Becky is shown wearing the third size in the Saharan Sand and Land Army Green colourway, and Lucy is pictured wearing the first in the Limestone and Coral Lombard colourway.

The pattern includes instructions for nine sizes to fit chest measurements between 76cm (30in) and 157cm (62in) and contains clear written instructions plus a comprehensive schematic diagram and sizing chart.

Yarn kits are available at Susan Crawford Vintage.

Yarn
Susan Crawford Excelana North fingering weight
100% British wool, 75% Cheviot, 25% Bluefaced Leicester (159m / 174yds per 50g skein approx)
3 (3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 7, 8) skeins, shade Limestone or Saharan Sand
3 (3, 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6) skeins, shade Coral Lombard or Land Army Green

Gauge
28 sts and 60 rows over back stripe pattern (unstretched). We obtained this gauge using 3.25mm needles.
28 sts and 40 rows over back stripe pattern (stretched). We obtained this gauge using 3.25mm needles.

Suggested needles
3.25mm (US 3) needles

Notions
Removable stitch marker

Techniques
Mitred Corners
Setting in sleeves
Garment construction
Sewing up and finishing a garment
Blocking