a Stitch in Time

I was going to show you one more of my finished jumpers - based on a pattern from this book - but I got a little carried away. Tomorrow's another day, now it's time to watch the football.

For my birthday - half a year ago already - I got a Stitch in Time, a book full of rewritten vintage patterns. There is an enormous amount of gorgeous patterns in this book, but the "modernised" adaptations leave a lot to be desired. I've knit one jumper out of this book so far, and I've been very glad that the original patterns are included as well, because the rewritten versions have the odd mistake and are sometimes sized a bit strangely.

In fact, I think the word "rewritten" might be a bit too much to say, because the book simply copies the original instructions with some of the math changed for another yarn or a bigger gauge. Before I had seen this book from the inside, I had expected the patterns to be rewritten according to the current standards - even though I sometimes find those too elaborate - and more importantly, I was dreadfully disappointed that the allover lace pullovers did not have any charted instructions for the pattern repeats. This does not mean that it is a bad book, it is simply not what I had expected based on the description.

The pattern writing is actually not even my main issue, because I am proficient enough to work from the minimal instructions that are common in vintage pattern. More disappointing is that the sizing on the patterns seemed really off sometimes. The modern photographs all show the garments with a huge amount of positive ease, whereas the original photos show much tighter garments. The models are thin and gorgeous, but one specifically seems to drown in much of the clothes. She can't be much more than a 34" bust (about my size, probably even thinner), but she is consistently wearing the size made to fit a 38-39" bust.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend this book, but only if you are comfortable using vintage patterns, because the adapted versions are still by no means as elaborate as patterns released nowadays. Further, I'd encourage everyone to look at the photos of the older versions before deciding which size to knit, because you wouldn't want to end up drowning in your jumper.