Fiber Monday 214: Lost In Pattern Wonderland

I can't  figure out what to make, guys, and it's driving me bananas.

It's not that there isn't anything I want to make - I just can't figure out what I want to make or where I want to pull the pattern from!

Sure Ravelry is brilliant for patterns, and I've used it many times and will continue to do so, but boy... sometimes you just find something at your local library and think to yourself "I need this".

A truly lovely book that I will own one day!

I picked up Designer Crochet by Shannon Mullett-Bowlsby at the library around two weeks ago (time to return it - boo!), and while I don't always quite get what she's throwing down (my foundation single and half-double crochets are awful), I really, really want to make everything in there. In every size. In every color. It's all so pretty! And comfy looking! I just wanna make these patterns forever!

Now, conversely, I also picked up a book a few days ago from the "Free" bin in the entryway of the library, which is a marvelous resource for both novels & nonfiction, and sometimes it even has movies or music!

This book... Can you tell what era it's from? Because it's really, really obvious what era it's from...

Welcome to 1975 Hell, everyone!

Am I going to make everything in this book someday? You betcha. Is it all going to be hideous and tacky as heck? Definitely. Is it going to be in completely random colors that make 0 sense? Probably. That's how I roll. I'm a garbage person :P

So I've had two very cool books to work from, and I just haven't gotten around to them. How awful m I? I'm pretty awful. But I have an excuse!

See, recently, I've started following this lady named Bernadette Banner on YouTube. I'm very easy to lead, so of courses I fell down the historic-crafting-rabbit hole, and eventually, her gorgeous work on historic dress lead me to the Antique Pattern Library online.

What is the Antique Pattern Library?

This is a free online resource of old (and I mean old, we're talking 1800s in places) patterns of all sorts that have been digitized, mildly edited for clarity, and collected in convenient PDFs. I was shocked and pleased to learn that a large portion of the late-1800s crochet patterns came from my home state of Maine, and I've been smiling nonstop as I recognize family names from the pattern credits. I'm currently looking at Needlecraft, Vol. VII, No. 8, April 1916, which was a monthly magazine out of both Augusta, ME and New York, NY. It's chock-full of interesting patterns that I'm going to be playing around with. Right now, I'm looking specifically at the lace, since I would love to buy a bunch of spools of cotton and just... generate a buttload of lace edging for A) future projects, B) because it's pretty, and C) in case I find someone who needs some for a project so that I can D) sell it.

I've gone capitalist. Oops. My bad.

Anywho, I really do look forward to doing more crochet work that I can show you, but until then, feel free to thank me for sending you into the Twilight Zone of pattern-hunting, because I can guarantee, once you start poking around the APL or Ravelry, you will never fully return.

You'll always be wondering what the next page of patterns could be...

But for now,

Go Enjoy Something!
FC