Vintage Knits: 30 Exquisite Vintage-Inspired Patterns for Cardigans, Twin Sets, Crewnecks and More (Paperback)

by Sarah Dallas (Author) "There's something very sexy about this ultra-feminine lacey knitted camisole..." (more)
Key Phrases: dec each end, toll alt row, working extra sts, Small Medium Large, Rowan Cotton Glace (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Sleek Styles for the Savvy Knitter

This stylish knitwear collection features 30 knockout designs, inspired by original postwar patterns from Yesterknits, the world's largest collection of vintage knitting and crochet patterns. From delicate camisoles to sophisticated jackets, these pieces marry the design details of the forties and fifties with the best of today's yarns and contemporary floral-inspired colors. Inside, readers will find clear, simple instructions and stunning full-color photos of to-die-for pieces including:

sleek crewnecks

lacy, feminine cardigans

textured twin sets

stunning striped sweaters

cabled mittens, Fair Isle gloves

and more!

As a gift for a friend or an indulgence for yourself, Vintage Knits is a must for every knitter's library.

About the Author
Sarah Dallas is a knitwear designer, design consultant, and senior tutor in the School of Fashion and Textiles at the Royal College of Art, London. She has contributed to many knitting books and periodicals. Yesterknits, in Edinburgh, Scotland, houses the world's largest collection -- spanning more than a century -- of vintage knitting and crochet patterns.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Fireside; 1st Fireside Ed edition (August 20, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743224566
• ISBN-13: 978-0743224567
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 8.7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #478,761 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

84 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Actually, maybe a little too modern, but beautiful & useful, January 12, 2003

By	Charles A. Dainoff (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As I sit here typing, I'm wearing the second sweater I've knit from this book's selections, and I couldn't be much happier with the results.

Yes, the book's directions seem scanty and the sizes don't go up past a 38-in. bust; and, like other reviewers, I wish I didn't have to do so much work to decode the color charts. But just try working from a REAL vintage pattern from the 30s and 40s some time. Believe me, this book is much easier to use: the instructions are clear and stripped down to knitter's terminology basics, and the layout is uncluttered and easy to read.

As a realtively new knitter, I've needed a knitting reference book on hand occasionally while working with Vintage Knits, but the better part of the projects here are for intermediate-skilled knitters and are pretty easy and satisfying to complete. As far as yarns go (which for these projects range from fingering- to DK-weight and no heavier), there are cheaper substitutes out there for the recommended brands -- all that's really important is staying in gauge. If you were knitting from actual vintage patterns you'd end up searching for substitutes anyhow.

So here's my one complaint: while I dig the garment choices, color combos and presentation, and I think the very idea of publishing a book of adapted vintage projects is fantastic, the author's gone too far in "modernizing" the original designs. The shaping and sizing are too far from vintage, not nearly as close-fitting as real vintage sweaters and designed with slightly dropped shoulder seams (as opposed to the high-armscye, lightly shoulder-padded originals), making them more slouchy and casual than the tailored, high-Hollywood glamour-look of real vintage. (One clue: as cute as the contemporary models are, the b&w models look even better!)

Most knitters won't care, but frankly why bother to even look for vintage inspiration if the sweater ends up looking "modern"? You'll find pretty, casual-styled, vintage-inspired sweaters on the rack at Talbott's (!). Besides, it seems to me that the point of knitting is to have something unique as well as handmade. It's as though the publisher felt the need to over-compensate for the mistaken idea that "vintage" equals "dowdy" by taking many of the distinctive vintage features out of these sweaters, and in the process actually made them *more* dowdy and less sexy.

That said, I still strongly recommend this one. It's inspirational eye-candy and maybe it'll encourage knitters to go off in search of other resources for vintage knitting. Call me a tramp, but I'll take a vintage "sweater girl" sweater over anything modern any day.

45 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars a narrow (& I do mean narrow) audience; a discontinued yarn, May 13, 2003

By	Quickbeam (Oconomowoc, WI USA) - See all my reviews

I like this book and a few of the patterns...but please be aware that the sizes are quite small and allow for little ease in the modern style. I have adapted 2 of them for a similar size and greater ease and that has worked well.

Two major quibbles...one design called for beading but did not specify what type of beads. I spent two hours in a bead store with bead professionals who said the type of beads in the picture aren't made to fit that style of yarn. Also, there could have been more instruction on beaded knitting...this isn't something most knitters have a lot of experience with.

Second, although this inevitably happens with every pattern book, I was dismayed to find that almost every pattern uses Rowan's Botany, a discontinued yarn. You expect that when you get a book years after publishing but not so soon after release. As it is, the reader will probably never be able to duplicate the shading in the pictured designs as the yarn no longer exists.

To end on a positive note, I do find the patterns well written overall with nice designer touches.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Warning, October 21, 2002

By A Customer

While these patterns are beautiful, there are at least two major problems with the directions. Every sweater in multiple colors has a color key that does NOT have the symbols coded to match the pattern grid. Unless you want to compare the color photos with the grid and color it in yourself (risking errors), you might as well skip at least five of these projects. The next project I selected said "Change to moss st and continue..." There is no description in the pattern or the book of the moss stitch. These are the obvious problems at first read -- I fear starting a project for those errors that may be less obvious. The color key problem was identified by a reviewer on September 4, 2002 at publishers website, along with a plea for assistance. It appears no one has responded. Again, the patterns are absolutely lovely, just poorly written.