Free Vintage Patterns on the Internet
The Kitchener Bitch is posting free vintage knitting patterns on her blog. Go to her site and see for yourself. In addition to being a fabulous knitter, she has a vast knowledge of all things vintage from her days as a dealer of vintage clothes. (She still has some snazzy duds in her basement and if you ask her nicely, she may let you go shopping down there.)
This got me to thinking about vintage knitting patterns and how they never seem to work out as I hope. I have a whole box full of vintage patterns and I have tried a few out, but they always end up looking too modern. I can match the gauge and fiber content of the original yarn, but I can't replicate that "folded in a hope chest for the last fifty years" look that all my real vintage sweaters seem to have. Maybe I expect too much. Or maybe the problem is I am viewing the items in color (as opposed to faded sepiatones.) I can't find the site from which I printed a bulk of patterns. I stumbled upon it awhile back, during the internet's lower school years, and haven't visited the website this century, so it is entirely possible the website has ceased to exist or has changed beyond recognition. So I cannot show you a side by side comparison of pictures of my finished objects and pictures of how the objects were supposed to look. Of course, all this talk of vintage knitting is causing me to wonder if any of my finished objects live up to my expectations.
In addition to the Kitchener Bitch, there are some other rocking websites offering free vintage patterns. Glamarama has some amazing sweaters as well as patterns for baby soakers (I gave up on the cloth diapers a few months back, but I keep saying that we will start them up again when Julian approaches potty training.) Yesterknits allows you to order one free sample (and I am planning on ordering the cross over jumper.) Yarn Lover's Room has vintage lace. All this talk is making me wonder what the heck I am doing sitting at the computer.
This got me to thinking about vintage knitting patterns and how they never seem to work out as I hope. I have a whole box full of vintage patterns and I have tried a few out, but they always end up looking too modern. I can match the gauge and fiber content of the original yarn, but I can't replicate that "folded in a hope chest for the last fifty years" look that all my real vintage sweaters seem to have. Maybe I expect too much. Or maybe the problem is I am viewing the items in color (as opposed to faded sepiatones.) I can't find the site from which I printed a bulk of patterns. I stumbled upon it awhile back, during the internet's lower school years, and haven't visited the website this century, so it is entirely possible the website has ceased to exist or has changed beyond recognition. So I cannot show you a side by side comparison of pictures of my finished objects and pictures of how the objects were supposed to look. Of course, all this talk of vintage knitting is causing me to wonder if any of my finished objects live up to my expectations.
In addition to the Kitchener Bitch, there are some other rocking websites offering free vintage patterns. Glamarama has some amazing sweaters as well as patterns for baby soakers (I gave up on the cloth diapers a few months back, but I keep saying that we will start them up again when Julian approaches potty training.) Yesterknits allows you to order one free sample (and I am planning on ordering the cross over jumper.) Yarn Lover's Room has vintage lace. All this talk is making me wonder what the heck I am doing sitting at the computer.
posted by alimum at 8:55 PM
1 Comments:
Thanks for the plug! New stuff will be up there all the time... as fast as my little fingers can type them in.
One thing that may contribute to the vintage look... what are the yarns you're subbing? Modern machinery means that a whole lot of new textures and plies are available in yarns that just didn't exist 65 years ago. The closest thing would likely be to mess around with the traditional British yarns, such as Jamieson & Smith or Harrisville Designs stuff. These yarns are made out of good old fashioned Shetland, and they have more of the characteristics of the vintage sweater yarns I've seen - they may have more of the vintagey, homespun feel that you're looking for.
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