Our mid-century forebears may not have gotten everything right (why was so much of their food encased in jelly?!), but they sure could whip up a homemade garm. Back then, a lot of folks knew how to work a crochet hook or a knitting needle, because store-bought woollens were pretty darn exxy. So, home-crafters turned to mags like The Australian Women’s Mirror, which was stuffed to the gills with cute, cosy and colourful crochet and knitting patterns, alongside short stories, advice columns (“Is deceiving your spouse ever right?”) and recipes for nibbles like jellied cucumber salad (see what we mean about the jelly?). Nowadays, thousands of those patterns are available for free in Trove’s digitised magazine collections. But if you don’t feel like digging through archives, the National Library of Australia has thoughtfully curated some of the best ones for their books Vintage Knits and Vintage Crochet.

Here’s what to keep in mind when you peruse vintage knitting and crochet patterns:

DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE Take it from someone who spent many happy hours on Trove ogling vintage fashion illustrations instead of writing this article: access to so much crafty goodness can feel a tad overwhelming for the yarn-obsessed. There’s decades of inspiration to explore, and it’s a true pleasure to let yourself meander willy-nilly through the years. See where you wind up! You might happen upon a 1937 pattern for a knitted men’s “jerkin” (a collared cardigan with adorable flap pockets) or an utterly glamorous, ribbon-tied “bed-cape”, designed in 1954 by a Mrs Ruby Walmsley from Croydon, Victoria. Ooh la la, Mrs Walmsley! There’s cool stuff for other types of makers, too, like hand-sewing hints and a “jaunty hat” pattern from 1934.

MEASUREMENT MATTERS For pete’s sake, did everyone alive before 1960 have a 32-inch bust? Of course not! But it can feel that way when you’re flipping through vintage patterns from earlier decades (note the use of imperial measurements, too). Many are written for only one size, and some don’t include gauge or tension (how tight your stitches are, which will affect the final size of the make). Though patterns designed for bigger bods were unfortunately harder to come by, long-time Trove enthusiast and volunteer (aka “Voluntrove” — how cute?!) Katalin Mindum has compiled a list of knitting and crochet patterns for larger women, which you can find on Trove’s site. Vintage Knits and Vintage Crochet will help with that, too, as both books include handy tips for making the patterns more size-inclusive. For example, Vintage Crochet updated an original 1954 pattern for a “gay motif cardigan” (pictured) to include metric measurements, and instructions for adding extra squares to increase the size.LEARN THE LINGO English-speaking people of yesteryear loved to call everything “gay”, meaning bright or cheerful, one of the many linguistic double-takes you make when you read vintage mags (see the “gaily colored” blanket pictured above). But that’s all part of the time-travelling fun. Maybe you can adopt some Katherine Hepburn-esque expressions to go with your handmade mesh scarf (pictured) or your crochet pillbox hat and matching handbag (from a 1939 issue of the Mirror). They also wore a zillion delightful-sounding styles and accessories we should really consider reviving — “little muffin hats”, anyone? This applies to the patterns themselves, too, where you might see phrases like “thread around hook” to mean “yarn over”, in modern parlance.

TEST IT OUT Are you usually too impatient to swatch? Are you whimsical with instructions? Prepare for a rather sassy setdown from a 1954 column on knitting: “Once I knew better than the people who make the patterns, with the result that there was always something wrong somewhere.” Burn! This same writer is in favour of swatching every make to test tension, which is a great idea, and especially important when using vintage patterns. They can describe things a little differently, and you want to make sure you actually understand their pattern instructions before you angrily toss another wonky sleeve onto your UFO (unfinished object) pile.

PURLS OF WISDOM Vintage pattern instructions can be pretty sparse, even for relatively experienced crafters. Thankfully, 21st century makers can turn to the internet for help. There’s heaps of online blogs that can help you with deciphering crochet abbreviations, substituting yarn types and translating needle sizes. Yay for technology!CURATION IS COOL If you want to do a little less sleuthing and a little more making, pick up Vintage Knits or Vintage Crochet, two books curated by the National Library to make vintage patterns more accessible to the modern maker. That means they’ve been tested and updated to use modern yarn, and published alongside contemporary, full-colour photographs of the finished products. Vintage Crochet features clothing, accessory and homewares patterns from as early as 1888, including an adorable flower bonnet (pictured) from a 1967 issue of The Australian Women’s Weekly. Similarly, Vintage Knits contains 25 updated patterns from the 30s, 40s and 50s, along with information about the social and cultural history of knitting in Australia. Happy making!

This article was created in partnership with Trove, an online resource chock-full of vintage craft, run by the National Library of Australia in collaboration with hundreds of Trove Partner organisations. Get hooked on history by exploring Trove’s incredible range of knitting and crocheting patterns, or picking up their curated Vintage Knits and Vintage Crochet books.