[knotions wayback] The Pictorial Guide to Modern Home Knitting

The copyright page just says “Copyright F440”. Googling it, it seems to have been written in 1939. I can absolutely believe that!

Based on the “scent” of the pages, the alternative ways to say things (more on that in a bit), and the fabric-wrapped hardcover (the fabric is how the book was distributed, not something that an owner added later) and many other oddities, this book is so entertaining to read! I don’t know if I’d ever make something from it, but the entertainment value is high 🙂

Now that you’re curious, I’ll share a few pages…

In this example, we see that they called a bathing suit a “bathing costume”.

Also interesting is that it only came in one size. Hmm – just one size? Surely, women came in lots of sizes even back in the 30s.

At least they give measurements for that size:

Brassière to fit 32 to 33 inch bust

Shorts center front length 14 inches and leg inseam 3 inches

If you get past that shock, don’t miss the fact that the measurements are missing a few keys: waist, hip, cup size and I’m sure a few more. But they did tell us the gauge (called tension) of 6.5 sts to 1 inch. Well, they gave us half of the gauge. Row gauge in this case is VERY important. Even though the instructions are given in inches (as in, work for 1.5 inches), different row gauges could cause both pieces to be, uhm, see-through. And I don’t think that was a “feature” in 1939.

See? Entertaining.

Next page, there’s no word for DPNs

Since they didn’t have a word, they just got their point across by describing it as “needles, pointed at both ends”.

Now We See where the Preference of Wool Comes From…

Just look at what we have here.

A whole page dedicated to Wools (ok). But “Wools” actually lists some things that are really weight – fingering and Double Knitting (DK). Then we have #3, which is a Wool String (I honestly don’t know what this is, but in 1939 it was a “new variety”), a Boucle, a “Tweed effect wool” that “if too thick, it is difficult to handle” (apparently they didn’t have large-gauge needles in 1939).

And then we look at the next page, and it’s basically an “everything else”.

Well, everything else at the time. So, we have silk, artificial silk, mercerized cotton, silk and wool mixtures (and they explain that they make up into “very attractive lingerie”) as well as “plain cotton yarn” which is good for “summer jumpers and children’s garments”.

These things are definitely entertaining, but keep in mind that in 1939, many women wore gloves and gauntlets when dressing up. It was a very different time.

I only shared a few pages, and I had TONS to pick from. But I kept it at 3 because I figured that was enough.

Oh, and my mom gave me this for a (I think Christmas?) gift because she knew how much I wanted it. This was maybe 10 or 15 years ago, but it’s still going strong. And who needs Hulu when they have this book to entertain them.

BTW, if you want your own copy, I saw most of them for sale for around $40. And there’s another one on Home Needlecraft too. I think that one’s going on my Christmas list. There’s no telling how many hours I can get from that one too.