Sorting my Vintage Crochet Books

Do you love looking through vintage crochet books or mags?

So do I!

And I've built up a small collection, which I enjoy browsing through. I've put some pix below.

One thing I want to do is crochet at least one item from each of my books/mags if possible - usually there is a motif I think I can do, for example, or a little edging.

Here is just a taste of what I've been looking at.

The Home Art Crochet Book

Published in 1912 in London by "The Office of the Girl's Own Paper and Women's Magazine," this is the first book I encountered that was written or edited by Flora Klickmann.

The Cult of the Needle

Flora edited this one, too - its from around 1914 as far as I've read - and inside there are descriptions of all kinds of lacework - no detailed patterns, but rather an overview of the whole craft.

Stitchery No.3

Fascinating info here - words of wisdom about life in general, tops for pincushions, ideas for bags with pictures "for the Clever Worker to Copy" - slippers, lace, beads - the list goes on and on! There's no date on my copy unfortunately.

Weldon's Motif Crochet Leaflet

Some wonderful designs in this small leaflet, which I think is from the late 1930s.

There is a round motif made in two parts - interesting! Plus pyramid and wheel motifs, and a filet flower square.

Cronit Star of Bethlehem Motif

The only problem with getting into these books and mags is that you begin to pick up all sorts of things that you will probably never use - although they do give me lots of ideas, which is also very enjoyable!

I mean, I like making mats, but have never yet attempted a curtain:

The bedspread here must take an incredible amount of work:

I just loved the title of this one: Salvage Your Scraps!

Another good reason to treat yourself to some of these publications is that you never quite know what you're going to find in them.

Modern Crochet Made Easy - now featured on my vintage page :)

And again - Modern Crochet, the cover now looking so out of date - and yet, with a fine hand and some lovely yarn, this piece could look super special in the right place:

Going by the decimal price, I think this leaflet may be from the early 1970s:

Sometimes it's the arrangements of the pattern parts that fascinates me - a starry shape with flowers in between, or a circle with little flowers around the edge:

There's a lot more to say about vintage crochet books and all the different publications I have in my collection, but that will have to do for now!