Picture heavy post!
Please be kind in your assessment of the pictures. I was trying to take photographs of older magazine pages. They should, at least, give you the general idea :)
Oh the stuff you run into when you least expect it! First there’s this:
This was published in 1941 and could be yours for the grand sum of 10 cents :) All the patterns stipulate bone crochet hooks or needles in sizes that don’t seem to make sense but which I’m sure were perfectly clear to the crafter of the time. Measurements are given for everything so it would only take a little experimenting to determine hook/needle size. Figuring out what size the yarn is might be a different issue. However, if I want to make a blanket, chances are very good that I’ll be using worsted weight yarn so I’d size my hook based on that.
The blanket on the left is called Symphony in Red and I like it just the way it is. The one on the right is called Harlequin and, while I’m not big on triangular motifs, I could see them being useful once in a while. Different colors though - way different!
These are a bit of a puzzle :) The one on the left, called Two Tone clearly has at least three colors - red, purple and yellow. The one on the right, called Sea Shell is made with a round-the-corner shell stitch - an interesting technique with a pretty result. The colors aren’t anything like sea colors. Unless you’re talking lobster…cooked :)
The other item I ran across is this:
This magazine was published for fall/winter 1979. A little more recent than the blanket pamphlet, but still a while ago. This happened to be focusing on ethnic (mostly far eastern) styles and has a lot of ideas I’m looking forward to exploiting :)
For example…
...I wouldn’t really want this crocheted tabard, but the longevity symbol on the back is very interesting. When I first looked at the pattern, I searched for the chart - and of course there wasn’t one :) Charts typically didn’t accompany patterns in the late 70s. But that’s fine - the directions are all written out and I can create my own chart from them easily enough.
This jacket is a crocheted raglan worked from the top down. It wouldn’t need any changes at all - even in color - except for some creative fiddling for modern sizes. The pattern is written for small/medium and medium/large. Unfortunately there are no measurements included. Anyone remember what medium was considered to be in 1979? Heheh… But the pattern is simple enough and the embroidered motif on the back (and fronts too, if desired) are gorgeous and relatively easy.
All that really needs to be changed here are the colors (in my opinion, of course). The slit sides and the bell sleeves are perfectly consistent with current fashion. This is knit in mohair on size 8 needles and again, some creative fooling around would be necessary to fit the garment properly. While gauge is given here, the pattern is presented for sizes 10, 12 and 14. Not only does that leave smaller and larger women out, I can guarantee you that those sizes, in 1979, bear little resemblance to those sizes today :) But the pattern is relatively simple and shouldn’t be too difficult to size up or down as needed.
Again, what snagged my eye was the Yin Yang symbol and that’s probably what I’ll take from this pattern. It will have to be charted, but that’s fine.
And now I’m going to have a closer look-through on these two lucky finds :) There’s a piece about a salt sculpture and I want to see what that’s about!
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Cool photos. The difference in color schemes between then and now is amazing. It is neat how you can use so many of those for inspiration in new projects.
Lydia - I have always loved old patterns. I learned to crochet using pamphlets and magazines from the 30s and 40s - and there was some beautiful stuff in them too :)
isn’t there a saying about ‘everything old is new again’? i must say i hope some of those color combos never again see the light of day but the patterns certainly do have features that are quite in line with what’s in the mags today-
before the great conflagration that took away everything, i had a collection of very old needlecraft brochures and craft magazines (was there something called ‘workbasket’?) that went back for years and years- a friend had gotten them from her mom and passed them along- i seem to remember lots of the items featured as being overly-afflicted with the ‘cute factor’ but there were some really pretty things as well, and i wish now i could look at the shawl patterns again-
stay happy-
Barb - Oh heavens - some of those color combinations are dreadful - and I say that as one who once thought they were…erm…outta sight!
I also remember “Workbasket” and some of the older one had some very nice things in them. But I also remember it as a magazine where, if you weren’t careful, you were apt to encouter a recipe for Great Aunt Julia’s pumkin-tuna surprise :)
Is the lady on the cover of Needle & Craft wearing a skein of yarn on her head?
I love looking at old magazines for inspiration, but wow! the colors that were in back then…
Rete - Good spot! I didn’t realize that until I saw the “pattern” for it in the instruction pages :)
Yeah, the colors were something else :) Which leads me to wonder what folks will think of current color preferences in, say, 28 years?
Sea-shell because the light-red/orangy colour makes a ‘C’-shaped pattern down the sides?
Some great bits of inspiration in those old magazines. :-)
Cabe - LOL! That must be it!
