Yes, I know. It has been a ridiculously long time since I did any blogging. I could make excuses or give you pages of explanations but I think I will spare you the gory details and simply say I wasn’t feeling well. Now, let’s move forward.
I’ve been doing a lot of reading lately thanks to the encouragement of the adult summer reading program at my local library. I do much of my reading on a Kindle now so I am constantly searching for inexpensive reading materials.
During one of my searches, I discovered some public domain knitting and needlework books. I have been wanting to read them for ages, if for no other reason than the historical value. I’ve also wanted to do try skill-building exercises for knitting and crochet so this seemed like a perfect opportunity to explore these “purls” from the past. These books are generally written in somewhat archaic language, reference unfamiliar terms and tools, and have few, if any, illustrations. So this should be an interesting challenge. Some of my crafting buddies have volunteered to be guinea pigs to join me. So, let the adventure begin.
We decided to start our adventure with the book The Ladies’ Work-Table Book Containing Clear and Practical Instructions in Plain and Fancy Needlework, Embroidery, Knitting, Netting and Crochet
If you would like to join the adventure, I am hosting a Something Old/Something New Knit and Crochet-along. We will be chatting here, on Ravelry and Facebook. I will be posting updates to explain out-of-date terminology, give modern-day tool substitutes, up-to-date wording of pattern instructions, and other useful tidbits as we go along. Hopefully, I will end up with some projects that I can use for Nerd Wars and Starfleet Fiber Arts Corps.
So, feel free to join us on the adventure into vintage knitting books.