Jean Lampe

Despite the cutsie subtitle and its terrible cover design, despite the "gee, whiz!! Ain't these awfully CUTE!!!" book description, this is actually a really good pattern book if you like classic styles and basic patterns, as I do.

Nicely arranged by decade, with illustrations and pix from the original advertisements and/or pattern books, the writing is crisp and informative without being intrusive, and the pattern instructions are arranged very nicely, with clear indications of sizes and materials needed. And the authors carefully show (and suggest) yarn substitutions, helpfully indicating easy ways to make such changes within a pattern, as well as a good general information section at the front of the book. Nicely set-out, decently produced book that only suffers a bit from one of my pet peeves and from an aesthetic consideration/pout of mine.

My formost pet peeve about knitting pattern books is that so many of them appear to have no consideration that there might be a lot of knitters "out there" who might otherwise enjoy their patterns and want to make them up, but aren't 42" in size or less (sometimes FAR less!) While I'm a very experienced knitter and often graduate up a size or two from a pattern, there are lots of knitters who are loathe to do so, and many more who have tried and wound up with disasters. Not a good advert for your book IMO....

ANYway, that's my pet peeve. The aesthetic consideration (aka "snit") of mine? The cover is a real turn-off! Ugly, ugly, ugly, AND (shame on you, editors!!) many of the nicest patterns shown on the cover are NOT inside the pattern book! I know those pix were chosen to show a representation of knitting books from the past, but, really, if you're going to show a lovely sweater on a pattern book cover, then you really ought to include that pattern inside the book, right? If you just want to show off some of your fave pix from the period, then do that along with your initial write-up inside the book! I was very disappointed to not find one of my favorite patterns from the cover not included inside, and suspect I wasn't the only reader this happened to.

But even given those caveats, this is a very good book to keep in your home library. Most of the patterns (except for a couple of really weird 1960s and 1970s ones) are nicely basic, albeit worked in light yarn on fairly small needles, so you've been warned - many of these projects are not for the impatient. But there's a very basic cardigan for women that just cries out to be made up in some super-soft yarn, and a classic mens' v-neck cardigan, and a baby ensemble, and.... (grin)… (mer)

Despite the cutsie subtitle and its terrible cover design, despite the "gee, whiz!! Ain't these awfully CUTE!!!" book description, this is actually a really good pattern book if you like classic styles and basic patterns, as I do.

Nicely arranged by decade, with illustrations and pix from the original advertisements and/or pattern books, the writing is crisp and informative without being intrusive, and the pattern instructions are arranged very nicely, with clear indications of sizes and materials needed. And the authors carefully show (and suggest) yarn substitutions, helpfully indicating easy ways to make such changes within a pattern, as well as a good general information section at the front of the book. Nicely set-out, decently produced book that only suffers a bit from one of my pet peeves and from an aesthetic consideration/pout of mine.

My formost pet peeve about knitting pattern books is that so many of them appear to have no consideration that there might be a lot of knitters "out there" who might otherwise enjoy their patterns and want to make them up, but aren't 42" in size or less (sometimes FAR less!) While I'm a very experienced knitter and often graduate up a size or two from a pattern, there are lots of knitters who are loathe to do so, and many more who have tried and wound up with disasters. Not a good advert for your book IMO....

ANYway, that's my pet peeve. The aesthetic consideration (aka "snit") of mine? The cover is a real turn-off! Ugly, ugly, ugly, AND (shame on you, editors!!) many of the nicest patterns shown on the cover are NOT inside the pattern book! I know those pix were chosen to show a representation of knitting books from the past, but, really, if you're going to show a lovely sweater on a pattern book cover, then you really ought to include that pattern inside the book, right? If you just want to show off some of your fave pix from the period, then do that along with your initial write-up inside the book! I was very disappointed to not find one of my favorite patterns from the cover not included inside, and suspect I wasn't the only reader this happened to.

But even given those caveats, this is a very good book to keep in your home library. Most of the patterns (except for a couple of really weird 1960s and 1970s ones) are nicely basic, albeit worked in light yarn on fairly small needles, so you've been warned - many of these projects are not for the impatient. But there's a very basic cardigan for women that just cries out to be made up in some super-soft yarn, and a classic mens' v-neck cardigan, and a baby ensemble, and.... (grin)… (mer)