My mother was cleaning out a bookcase yesterday and came upon a few old crochet books. I’m proud to say that they now live in my bookcase. I know that they are old enough to be public domain, and I plan to scan them all in the near future. And I will not be charging $8.95 a piece to share them with the rest of the world.
 |
| From vintage |
I also got most of another book of edgings. There’s no cover; it goes from page 3-14, then 19-30.
What’s most interesting to me is that amongst all the edging patterns there are several pages without instruction. I guess the author just wanted to inspire crocheters with really complicated designs? Or maybe she just wanted to show off? I wonder if that might be the key to finding out who the designer is…
Those pages with just the pictures remind me of the "sample" books you find for stitch patterns from that era. They were often cloth pages with actual bits of crochet done in thread work.
Many crocheters of that era didn't read patterns, they read the fabric. That is actually how I learned to do patterns from my grandmother. Though nothing quite as elaborate as those.
Enjoy your treasure.
Wow, those are fabulous! My grandmother couldn't read a pattern but could reproduce just about any crochet fabric she saw. Maybe that's how this worked?