I had a notification earlier this week that a book I had reserved was awaiting collection at our local library. Nothing unusual in that at all, we’re very frequent frequenters (!) of our library and with 3 home-educated children the reservation requests are plentiful! Expecting another pile of ‘Beast Quest’ books, a much longed for ‘Tin Tin’ or an obscure book on Sea Otters or the weaponry of the ancient Aztecs (9, 6 & 3 year old boys have peculiar reading habits 😉 ) I popped in earlier today only to find this waiting for me…
It’s Barbara Walker‘s ‘Treasury of Knitting Patterns’. First published in 1968 – and this does indeed appear to be an original edition!
It’s such a well used – and yet almost perfectly preserved – copy. It’s just a delight to thumb through. The flyleaf is inscribed, “Dedicated to the creative knitters of the past and the creative knitters of the future”.
And what a treasury it is! Page after page of swatches, carefully photographed, just a few in colour and the instructions for each with relevant info on ‘multiples’ etc.
Endless possibilities, hours of browsing to be enjoyed. It’s a good job it’s an ‘extended loan’ so I get to keep it for 6 weeks! It’s so encouraging that it’s still such a popular book that I’d forgotten I’d reserved it, the wait has been so long.
The chapters cover ribbing, colour-change patterns, lace, cables and so much more. I would love to own a copy of this but I just checked out everyone’s favourite bookseller and it’s seemingly out of print with used copies going for a pretty penny! I’ll just have to make the most of this borrowed treasure and trust that the library realise what a gem they are custodians of…
It even smells of 40 years of knitters… Very slightly musty with a hint of Lily of the Valley 😉
making things with beautiful yarn 
Oh my goodness – how fantastic !!
And Im a Home Edder too !
There are a lot of us about if you know where to look 😉
My question doesn’t relate to the book, albeit a great book. But more to do with how do you have time to home tutor 3 children and run a business?
Hi Sara, It’s not always straightforward but as Chris and I share running the business and the educating it’s actually often easier than being tied to what might potentially be 3 different schools and two ‘bosses’! Unfortunately, it’s the knitting that usually has to suffer when time is short – boo!
Looks like a nice book. It might be worth looking on http://www.abebooks.co.uk, I’ve got some good second hand books there.
Ooh, thanks for the tip – I’ll keep an eye on that site too!