Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Learn How to Add a Vintage Touch to Your Knit Wardrobe

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vintage design workshop

Ane is the winner.

Lots of knitters love to use vintage knitting patterns or to work from patterns that are inspired by the patterns of the past. Vintage patterns tend to have less ease and more details and shaping than many of the patterns of today, and they can be really fun to knit but are not without challenges.

The patterns of the past didn’t include the level of detailed instructions you will find today, to the point that it can even be difficult to find compatible yarn or to understand what size of garment the original pattern would make.

Vintage Design Workshop is an amazingly detailed and inspiring book for vintage knit fashion lovers. Geraldine Warner takes you through all the steps to understand and work from vintage patterns, from where to find patterns to how to choose yarn, adjusting width, length, armholes and sleeves, necklines and stitch patterns.

All that would be plenty, but there’s also a trove of information on adjusting modern patterns to have a more vintage feel, from adding shaping and changing sleeves to adding shoulder pads, buttons and Fair Isle motifs, to name just a few.

A full dictionary of patterns for sleeves, collars, necklines, pleats, pockets, cuffs, trims and edgings makes it possible to modify any pattern to have a vintage feel.

I should mention there are no full garment patterns in this book, so you need to be comfortable with adjusting patterns and/or writing your own to get the most out of this book.

Sound interesting? I’m giving away my copy this week, so leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, July 30, if you’d like a chance to win it. I’d love to know what you like about vintage patterns or if you’ve ever knit from a vintage pattern before. There’s a project in my colorwork book, the slip stitch tweed top, that feels vintage to me in style, color and pattern, but it’s not strictly vintage.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

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Comments

  1. Many of my patterns date from the fifties to the seventies so probably are considered vintage! I return to them again and again, especially baby cardigans as I like their style better than modern patterns.

  2. I’ve knit from Seventies patterns, but would love to adapt some from earlier. This book looks helpful!

  3. I looove vintage style! One of my favourite things to knit and wear are shrugs, which also seem to be quite a usual pattern to find in vintage pattern books 😀

  4. I love vintage it gives me a timeless look and fine yarns to use, I like to use natural yarns and want wear from the time I take creating, I’m not looking at throwaway fashion. Many vintage patterns are more like dressmaking in the way darts and seams are used in structure allowing you to be forgiving to areas and highlight others. Couture at my price.

  5. I haven’t knit from vintage patterns. I like the style, so would love to try some.

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork. 

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn. 

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look. 

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me. 

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. 

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.