While working as a vintage clothing dealer, combing through estate sales and eBay listings, longtime knitter Kristen Rengren amassed hundreds of knitting pattern booklets from 1920 through 1960. Now a knitwear designer, Rengren brings us the result of her combined passions in Vintage Baby Knits, a charming collection of more than 40 contemporary updates of timeless baby patterns. Projects range from small, quick-to-knit items like hats, booties, and shrugs to larger, more challenging designs for sweaters, onesies, and dresses, including a lace christening gown. Beautiful photographs capture a bevy of adorable babies and toddlers wearing these knitted treasures. Also included are sidebars on baby fashion and knitting culture in this bygone era, and a complete reference section. Destined to be a classic itself, Vintage Baby Knits promises family heirlooms for 21st-century babies.
This is a simple collection of well written retro-style baby knitted patterns for a wide variety of garments. There are lots of different styles and garments from which to choose. Construction details and measurements are included in schematics/line drawings, so knitters who wish can change stiches or gauges relatively easily with the same sized garment results.
Most of the garments are very simple in design, construction, and detail. There are practical items (soakers, hats, etc) and heirloom garments (christening robe). All the patterns are accompanied by one or more color photos.
Four stars. This collection is full of classic knitwear for babies and young children. There are some nice patterns here which would be suitable for charity knitting as well.
