Fifty cents doesn't buy much these days. (That sounds like the intro for a sales pitch of some kind, but no fear, I'm not trying to sell you Liberty Mutual life insurance or guilt you into a donation with photos of sad-eyed puppies.)
Ahem. As I was saying, you can't get much with fifty cents, unless you're at a yard sale-- and sometimes not even then. But last Saturday, I lucked out at a library book sale and got a hefty treasury of knitting patterns for just half a dollar.
A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by Barbara G. Walker. Isn't it a beauty? ;o)
But seriously, there are a lot of patterns in there. It's 398 pages long (including the index), and though I can't find a stated number of patterns included, there must be hundreds of them (since there are often two patterns per page). ETA: Ok, I see it on the back of the book, now. There are "700 pattern stitches, both traditional and original".
This book has so many different kinds of patterns, too! Knit-purl combinations, slip stitch patterns, slip-stitch color patterns, mosaic patterns, fancy color patterns, fancy texture patterns, twist-stitch patterns, cables, cable-stitch patterns, yarn-over patterns, eyelets, lace, lace panels and insertions, borders, and edgings! Goodness knows how many of them I'll ever actually try, but just having this book in the house makes me excited about the prospect of knitting.
This copy was published in 1970, I think, but there's a newer edition still in print. (It's currently listed new on Amazon for $30, used from about $25.) Also, this is the second of four similar treasuries. (It seems like the first two are the more universally popular of the series, though, and the third and fourth may contain charts-- which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. Apparently some of the reviewers on Amazon don't like the charts at all. On the other hand, some were complaining about the lack of charts in the first two books, so...)
I haven't looked through the whole book, yet, but just flipping around briefly, I photographed a couple of patterns that drew my attention-- The "Medallion with Cherries" above and the "Candlelight Pattern" below.
It seems that I gravitate toward oval shapes in knitting. (g) (Actually, I already knew that about myself. I like oval, leaf, or "eye" shapes in crochet, too, but they seem to be less common there, except in doilies. I once tried to make my own eye-shape motif, but when I joined them together, I realized that they automatically got pulled into diamonds-- and always would, unless I made a filler motif or series of stitches to remedy the problem. Too much work! ;o))
To anyone reading this who has any of these treasuries (or checks them out from a library), this blog may be interesting: The Walker Treasury Project. One of the possible shortcomings of the books is that the photos, while fairly clear and well-lit to show the texture of the stitches, are on the small side and are not in color. The contributors to that website are working on sharing large, color photos of the stitch patterns from several of this author's books.
Ahem. As I was saying, you can't get much with fifty cents, unless you're at a yard sale-- and sometimes not even then. But last Saturday, I lucked out at a library book sale and got a hefty treasury of knitting patterns for just half a dollar.
A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, by Barbara G. Walker. Isn't it a beauty? ;o)
But seriously, there are a lot of patterns in there. It's 398 pages long (including the index), and though I can't find a stated number of patterns included, there must be hundreds of them (since there are often two patterns per page). ETA: Ok, I see it on the back of the book, now. There are "700 pattern stitches, both traditional and original".
This book has so many different kinds of patterns, too! Knit-purl combinations, slip stitch patterns, slip-stitch color patterns, mosaic patterns, fancy color patterns, fancy texture patterns, twist-stitch patterns, cables, cable-stitch patterns, yarn-over patterns, eyelets, lace, lace panels and insertions, borders, and edgings! Goodness knows how many of them I'll ever actually try, but just having this book in the house makes me excited about the prospect of knitting.
This copy was published in 1970, I think, but there's a newer edition still in print. (It's currently listed new on Amazon for $30, used from about $25.) Also, this is the second of four similar treasuries. (It seems like the first two are the more universally popular of the series, though, and the third and fourth may contain charts-- which can be a good or a bad thing, depending on your perspective. Apparently some of the reviewers on Amazon don't like the charts at all. On the other hand, some were complaining about the lack of charts in the first two books, so...)
I haven't looked through the whole book, yet, but just flipping around briefly, I photographed a couple of patterns that drew my attention-- The "Medallion with Cherries" above and the "Candlelight Pattern" below.
It seems that I gravitate toward oval shapes in knitting. (g) (Actually, I already knew that about myself. I like oval, leaf, or "eye" shapes in crochet, too, but they seem to be less common there, except in doilies. I once tried to make my own eye-shape motif, but when I joined them together, I realized that they automatically got pulled into diamonds-- and always would, unless I made a filler motif or series of stitches to remedy the problem. Too much work! ;o))
To anyone reading this who has any of these treasuries (or checks them out from a library), this blog may be interesting: The Walker Treasury Project. One of the possible shortcomings of the books is that the photos, while fairly clear and well-lit to show the texture of the stitches, are on the small side and are not in color. The contributors to that website are working on sharing large, color photos of the stitch patterns from several of this author's books.