spotted

I spotted this little gem of a book from Etsy seller, Duke Street Duchess and knew it had to be mine.
Not often you get a vintage book in such great condition and the patterns and photographs are fabulous.  Here's a little round-up of the those particularly fetching (I could honestly post the whole book but that would probably be wrong....).
Loving the pattern names.















 The knitted menswear section is truly marvellous (gosh, did I just say that!) - each of them look fantastic.
And one or two scary looking babies thrown in for good measure.
Something that I haven't seen for a while (and maybe that's because we're no longer living in wartime) is ideas on re-using yarn.  There's a whole section on how to knit with old yarn, with some rather sage advice : "Not one scrap of wool or woollen fabric, however small, should be thrown away now that wool is so precious." 
 I have never actually knitted a vintage pattern before, I hear it can be a little tricky, but I'm prepared to give a few of these a go.  The knitted ladies vintage jersies and cardies are lovely and fitted.   
If anyone has any experience with vintage patterns, would love to hear any tips and suggestions.

8 comments:

Jesse said...

Ooh! I'm jealous! (Speaking as someone who just spent an entire weekend photographing her vintage pattern collection so it could be catalogued on her pc in searchable folders....)I have knitted vintage patterns, nothing earlier than the '50s yet, but didn't find anything tricky other than no schematic diagram. If you get gauge, it should be fine. Apparently fit is a problem, people allege that sizing has changed, but I don't really understand how 34 inches in 1940 differs from 34 inches in 2011.

strikk handknits said...

Aah, thank you Jesse for your tips. I am determined to give this a go! Hopefully get a chance to catch up over December at The Book Lounge :-)

Catherine said...

Fabulous, go for it! knit something. I have lots of vintage patterns but not a whole book!

strikk handknits said...

thank you Catherine for your encouragement :-)

tanjawilmot said...

love the chap in his ribbed lumber jacket. and are those precursors of the hollywood wave I see there?

strikk handknits said...

ha! methinks you may have spotted something there Tanja :-)

Deniz said...

oh wow! thats such an amazing find!
let us know what you knitting from it..and i am wondering if the 34inches in 1940 turn out to be different...

strikk handknits said...

Thank you Asiye. Will keep you posted. :-)