Retro Surprise
The next book I’m sharing with you is a title I either picked up at Sam Weller or at the Salt Lake City library used book sale.
It’s a collection of designs from British knitwear designers of the 80’s, although Kaffe Fassett has two designs in the book and he’s not British. It actually looks like the common thread is that all the sweaters are knit from Rowan yarns.
Most of the pieces are hideous by today’s standards (well, they’re hideous by any standard). Like this floral nightmare from the cover:
Or this bobble-encrusted sweater - cardigan or pullover, your choice!
And I got a chuckle out of the description on this one
which reads:
Hmm . . .there’s nothing quite like the designer warning you that knitting the sweater might be a waste of your time.
So, by now you’re probably wondering why I plunked down a perfectly good $1.00 for this book and allow it to occupy much-needed space on my bookcase.
Well, even a blind squirrel editor finds an acorn every once and a while.
Check out this hidden jewel of a vest by Kaffe Fassett tucked away in the pages of this otherwise worthless book:
Moral of the story. Don’t judge all books by their covers.
View blog reactions
Susan | knitting
That vest is definitely worth $1 … and, really, for the entertainment value, I’d say that book was worth every penny! And, really, this is why I still have pattern books from the 80s in my library, too … you just never know what’s in there!
Oh, and that cover sweater? It’s not even so much that it’s hideous on its own (which it is), but that they matched it with the most appalling pants EVER! They could at least have had the decency to put it with something solid, so it would stand a chance. Even for the 80s, that’s a bad, baaad thing to do to a sweater.
Which came first? The hideous sweater, or the hideous matching pants?
hah! Love it.
Send that one to Stitchy McYarnpants, although I think I had pajamas like that cover outfit once…..
That book is on my Amazon wish list
Isn’t Persian Poppies in it?
I think your new book needs my knitting magazines to keep it company.
How good are you to have found a gem in that book. I wouldn’t have picked it up!
i’ve just gotten all my ‘retro’ and ‘vintage’ out of storage. i love browsing them.
marie
Thanks for posting these — what a hoot! The bobble sweater is ummm horrible but the top floral sweater…. all I could think was how long it would take to make it.
But of course the KF vest stands out as a classic!!
It just goes to show we shouldn’t get rid of old things, sigh. I knitted for a long time and then switched to quilting, and got rid of a lot of knitting patterns which have now come back (Penny Straker stuff comes to mind) LOL
Hey, I think I have that one! I’m pretty sure it was one of my mom’s library sale gems.
Wow. That vest is nice. I have a copy of “Glorious Knits” by Kaffe, and I haven’t been able to see anything quite as nice in there. I’ll have to go back and look it over again . . .
Lots of fugly, but the vest is worth the eyepain.
The vest definitely makes it worth the $1. But I didn’t think that first sweater was a floral one. At first glance I was wondering why ameobas were used as a design feature.
Wow. I think this one deserves one of those butcher paper covers to hide the shameful hideousness of those cover shots. Really, when I first glanced at that floral spectacle I thought it was an all-in-one jammie thing of something. Double yikes!
I would’ve pd the $1, too. I love vintage knitting magazines & patterns - you’ve seen my amusing collection!!
Oh boy oh boy! That one bobbled sweater reminds me forcefully of those little pastel candy “dots” on long, narrow rolls of waxed paper. I don’t remember what they were actually called, if not “dots”, but you know the stuff I mean, yes?…