Free Library Find

I popped into the Free Library bookstore on Friday and as usual made a dash directly to the arts and crafts books. They had a few new knitting books -- one on knitting tips and the other, The Urban Knitter. I couldn't really get enthused about either one and was on my way out when, nearly around the corner, I spotted this little book sitting on top of the others. The spine was really boring -- scientific, almost. I'm not sure what made me pause to pick it up. Maybe its size -- it's small, about 4" x 6".

Look at the cover. Dull, right?


What language is this, anyway:


Once I looked inside it was clear what it was/is. A knitting book of patterns, in Czech as I found out (published in Prague, 1972), composed entirely of knit and purl patterns. No increases. No decreases. No yarn overs or ssp's. Just knits and purls.



Yes, you're seeing this correctly -- OVER 200 DIFFERENT PATTERNS of k/p straight up. Amazing.

The photographs aren't very good, but see the charts below the illustrations? (Clicking to a close-up helps a lot.) I've no idea what they are. An internet translator tells me that "Poznamka," up at the top, means note. And then the actual note says something about the reverse side for #240. "Rub obrace" in #232 means reverse turns. Hmmm.

Of course, I'm interested in what else Zdenka Pudilova has written, and whether this is part of a series of books of knitting patterns. Or whether the poor Czechs thought they only had knits and purls to work with.

It's missing one signature (some 45! patterns) but for $3.50 it's quite a bargain.