The Crown Prince’s Sweater

I based this pattern on the sweater that Crown Prince Harald wore when he and his family fled Norway during the Nazi invasion in 1940. It has a slightly longer ribbing and cuff and a slightly wider neck than are usual in today’s sweaters. Thus, you may wish to decrease the length of both the waist and wrist ribbing by 1 inch (2.5 cm) for each size.

Debbie Gremlitz, owner of Nordic Fiber Arts online yarn store, feels that Crown Prince Harald’s sweater could have been knitted with Rauma’s Strikkegarn, the same yarn that I call for here. The Rauma company was started in 1927 and was going strong in 1940. Its medium red #174, however, was introduced only within the past twenty years. The warmer folk red #124, which I call for here, is the shade seen in all the early patterns and appears closer to the scarlet of the Norwegian flag, which became the country’s official flag in 1821.