old crochet patterns

perhaps recognizable to you, old patterns intrigue me.

with much pleasure i have tried some because they are good material to practice my skills.

next to that they are available for free and again, it’s fun to make them. 

see earlier post here: old patterns with new yarn

but today i saw something on freevintage.com that i could not estimate whether it was beautiful or not.

it sure doesn’t look very modern…

daisy chair set pattern – free vintage crochet pattern from star variety show, book no. 21.

next to me on my desk was a hook and some leftover yarn and …. voila, what do you think?

beautiful, isn’t it?! i think it is a nice motif to try with thicker yarn too.

motif of daisy chair set

motif of daisy chair set

 

 

you might also like to test patterns and have leftover yarn or yarn that you have used for other projects and which can be reused. tip for a rainy day!

here are the links to my pinterest boards for vintage patterns, i hope you find something to your liking.

• crochet vintage: blankets, tablecloths, squares, doilies and more
• crochet vintage: bags and hats
• crochet vintage: dresses, shawls, vests, footwear

enjoy!

have a lovely weekend!

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vase cover with doily bottom

hello, nice to see you here:)

we have had a number of festive days and it’s finally spring in the netherlands, the sun shines!

friday i made a cover for a vase i received as a gift a few years ago. the limescale i did not get properly removed, not even with brutal methods. i have combined two types of mercerized cotton from my stash: phildar coton 3 (colors: ciel and perle) and scheepjes isis (color: no name).

vase cover made of 3 colors mercerized cotton

vase cover made of 3 colors mercerized cotton

vase cover made of 3 colors mercerized cotton

 

for the bottom i used the first 8 rows of an old pattern and from row 9 i customized the cover.

doily bottom

doily bottom

doily bottom

 

honestly i’m not very happy with the result, i love smooth and sleek covers more like the ones for my other vases.
which do you prefer?

i do love the doily bottom, it is from: 3 piece “shells” set – crochet charm with famous dmc cottons – dmc corp. 1950 and you can find the pattern in the web archive.

wish you a great week!

on the windowsill

detail vase cover

top edge vase cover

detail vase cover

 

 

favorite patterns

 

for the new week to start, no story today about how things are going with the blue diamonds blanket but something different.

 

short list

a few times i was asked whether i have favorite patterns but i always found – and still find – this question difficult to answer. but i thought i just make a short list of patterns i worked with and i love to publish on my blog and here they are in random order. 

 

SQUARES

 

sunny spread crochet pattern designed by ellen k. hormley

i think this is such a great pattern for a square, it is made by so many crocheters in a variety of colors and color combinations. it seems that with this pattern you can’t go wrong whether you are making a blanket, a bag, a pillow or coasters. i will surely make this square again in the future.

• see here for my attempt
• you can download the pattern here
• log in on ravelry for more inspiration here 

 

circle of friends square that is designed by priscilla hewitt © in 1999

for this pattern holds: go nuts because it will always be beautiful – at least i think so – whether you make it all white or combine a variety of colors.

• the circle of friends is one of the patterns of my white blocks cushion cover with the embroidery stitches, you can see it here
• the original pattern of this square you can find in the webarchive 
• and if you like, you can take a look on ravelry for some inspiration

 

 

FLOWERS – DOILIES

 

celtwich

i have used old patterns that i found in the webarchive, especially the doilies are a source of pleasure. the center of an old doily is often a beautiful flower or a flowery motif and it gives a surprising effect when you use acrylic or wool instead of very thin yarn/thread. a small flower has suddenly a whopper size.

• i’ve written about this before, see here
• you can find the patterns in the webarchive, see here
• also for celtwich patterns you can find much inspiration on ravelry

in the past i have sewn these motifs – among others – on bags and scarves, here are two examples:

 

 

FILET CROCHET

filet crochet i also like but i have done this less frequently than other types of crocheting and i have – as far as i can remember – not used patterns for my projects. although the internet is loaded with patterns for filet crochet, no links here 😦  

if you do not have (much) experience with this type of crochet then these links might be useful. you will find them at the bottom of the blog post.

 

STITCH PATTERNS

 

ripples

of course i also like ripples. below a few links for some patterns that i love.

years ago, i have combined two ripple stitch patterns of mypicot and made this bag. the quality of the picture is bad, sorry about that.

 

• this is the link to the patterns, look for the numbers 1005 and 1006 

• another pattern that i really like is that of lionbrand for lace ripples, see here  (log in required)

also a few years ago i made some blankets including this spring green example of acrylic yarn. alas i can not remember which stitch pattern i’ve used only that it was for a pullover or vest.

• an internet search brought me to this pattern for the antigua throw of caron and don’t you think the blankets seem a bit alike?

 

last but not least:

the spider stitch pattern of mypicot.com

recently i made the spider blanket and before a spider bag with the same pattern. i love the gorgeous stitch patterns in diagram on mypicot.com, they are almost all equally beautiful. i am a fan and also a member of the mypicot club although i visit the site far too little.

• the spider stitch pattern is number 2032 and you can find it via this link

 

versatility

the reason i so appreciate these patterns is because they are versatile. you can with you own creativity and the yarn of your choice do anything with it. versatility is something that i love.

my choices are maybe not a huge surprise and the patterns are probably familiar to you but i hope you love them too!

do you have a favorite pattern?

 

have a great and creative week!

old patterns with new yarn

not long ago i showed you these motives that i’ve crocheted a few years ago. some of them i made using very old patterns and i’ve learned a lot of that. 

the generations before us and the generations before them crocheted impressive works. the women learned to crochet and developed their skills and designed themselves, without books, magazines, let alone the internet. 

there are many patterns preserved. so if you like me, can’t or won’t buy expensive books for your own good reasons, don’t worry just look on these sites, but it takes time and there are no pretty full color pictures.

• antiquepatternlibrary.org
• angelfire.com/folk/celtwich/
• beeton’s book of needlework

a while ago i came on angelfire.com/folk/celtwich many times because old patterns were gathered there. but for all sorts of reasons the lady had to quit. fortunately, these patterns are still accessible to us.

it’s nice to crochet old patterns with contemporary yarns. you can do many different things with your try outs like framing them,

decorating bags, back pockets, knees and elbows on clothes. i made a few doilies of thick acrylic yarn for someone who, with textile hardener, made bowls of them.

to give you an idea, below is an example of a motif (with a counting error) that is actually part of a lace tablecloth. with acrylic yarn and crochet needle 4 mm, it looks very different. if you would follow the complete instructions you could make an interesting bedspread. or a couple of extra rows on the motif and voila you have a cushion cover.

the name is sunburst splendour no.7533 (1942).

you can find the patternfor this and a many other motifs on my pinterest board with crochet vintage patterns

anyway, i hope you have lots of fun with these old patterns.

the making of…

happy new year

 

2006 – 2008 were stressful years and the more stress the more i was crocheting. i could not really find patterns in dutch so i learned to understand patterns in english. mostly i used old patterns for doilies because i think they often have beautiful centers.

later i found diagrams that i could not understand and there was not much information available as it is now, although it is only a few years ago. i gradually got the hang of it, and now i prefer diagrams above written patterns.

i have done all practicing with a yellow shade (curry, mustard) acrylic yarn and the motifs are in a cardboard box in a closet. on the photos you see about the half of them.

wobbly

recently i woke up in the middle of the night with the idea of ​​making some sort of card for new year’s day.

the next day i formed words with the yellow motifs on the ground but it did not fit in the picture (only new did), so i made parts of words. i wobbly stood on a ladder with my camera and the light went from sunny to cloudy.

the second photo shows you a part of the first result and i am sure you can imagine i was not happy about it. 

then i e-mailed jeroen who is a photo expert to my opinion: “please help?!” he mailed back immediately: “mail me your pictures”. 

by the way, that was christmas day… 

a few days later i emailed jeroen again: did you forget about my pictures? … whine, whine, whine… as if the man has no other activities. the next day i received an email from him with these results. quite amazing!

thanks again jeroen!

 

see my best wishes blog post