Vintage Knitting Resources

You know I adore history, and I knit when my body will let me. When I can’t knit, there is always the pastime of looking at knitting patterns…and the cross-over hobby of researching and perusing historical knitting patterns. Here’s some pretty and fascinating resources I’ve found. If you enjoy this as well, have fun. If you have ever made anything from a historical pattern, or deconstructed one, I would love to see and hear all about it!

• List from Lady Godey’s Book at UVM.edu

• Several patterns for items of many different types, including doll clothes and needlework tools, from the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, from the Tudor Files website

• 1940’s knitting patterns from the Victoria and Albert Museum in the UK

• 18 vintage patterns from the 1950’s

And finally and mostly, the Knitting History Forum’s complete list of resources

As for free books online, Gutenberg has, as of this posting, 25 books that return for “knitting”. Some of the most notable are:

• My Knitting Book by “Miss Lambert”, published 1843

• Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton’s Book of Needlework, published 1870 (all kinds: tatting, embroidery, Berlin work, guipure d’art, knitting, crochet, netting, and point lace)

• The Ladies’ Workbook by Unknown published 19th century

• The Ladies’ Work-Table Book by Anonymous published 1844 (knitting, netting, crochet, embroidery, “plain and fancy needlework”

• The Lady’s Album of Fancy-Work by Unknown published 1850

• Corticelli Home Needlework, 1898: A Manual of Art, Embroidery and Knitting