Here’s an example of a book available at this vintage crochet site. There are so many wonderful antique crochet books available there. Nothing for free that I could find, but well worth a browse.
http://www.heirloomcrochet.com/hcduff.html
Here’s a wikipedia.org article about the crochet designer who is the focus of the website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Lucy_Duff_Gordon
Another site that is full of antique crochet books and leaflets for sale is:
http://www.ivarose.com/bear_brand___bucilla___glossilla?b=1
Also, check out this blog for a lovely ‘shoulderette’:
http://stitchybritches.blogspot.com/2008/08/crochet-time-to-make.html
Scroll almost to the bottom of this collector’s site to see a couple of vintage hook holders – commercial quality I think:
http://www.hamiltonweb.us/latest-editions.htm
Finally, here’s a site where you can download some oldies for free. Can’t go wrong with that. Just remember that some books do not use US terminology so stitches may differ and other terminology changes with time. Rather than lunge headforward into a vintage pattern thinking you don’t need to make any adjustments or adaptations, one might do better to research a bit first. Hope you enjoy these vintage goodies:
Great resources to have! Haven’t tried any vintage patterns yet, still waiting to get more used to the techniques brush up on my skills before I take the plunge, haven’t been crocheting for an awful long time.
I recently purchased a crochet pattern book on Ebay from 1912. I was very excited to get this book until I opened the cover. The book was published by Columbia Yarns. It suggests using only Columbia wools and I don’t know what yarn would be comparable to it since I cannot see any. I also don’t know some of the terms that they use throughout the book. The patters are beautiful, the4 end results are amazing, I just wish that I could use these patterns. I am a very skilled crocheter but his one’s got me stumped. PLEASE HELP ME, ANYONE!