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The Crown Prince’s Sweater

Knit a sweater from the January/February 2015 issue that was inspired by one worn by Crown Prince Harald of Norway when his family fled the Nazis in 1940.

Laura Ricketts Apr 14, 2021 - 12 min read

The Crown Prince’s Sweater Primary Image

Laura Ricketts’s faithful re-creation of the little red sweater that belonged to three-year-old Crown Prince Harald of Norway. Vintage skis courtesey of the Loveland Museum/Gallery, Loveland, Colorado. Photo by Joe Coca

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.

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