Digitized Knitting Magazines

The same folks who maintain the internet’s Wayback Machine as part of the Internet Archive are constantly uploading archival material and making it freely available. This is great news for knitters and other crafters, who can search for magazines from 1800 to the present.

You can find Knitting Magazines within an easily searchable site. You can search for knitting, crocheting, needlework patterns, and related articles from 1800 through to 2018.

"The Internet Archive was founded as a nonprofit in 1996 by Brewster Kahle “…an American computer engineer, Internet entrepreneur, internet activist, advocate of universal access to all knowledge, and digital librarian.[4] Brewster founded the Internet Archive, the Internet Archive Federal Credit Union and Alexa. In 2012 he was inducted into the Internet Hall of Fame for his accomplishments...Wouldn't it be great if you could put all the published works online? The Internet Archive is trying to become useful as a modern-day digital library.” Brewster Kahle

If you’re new to knitting, you'll find the Patons magazine 'Learn to Knit' helpful. It's a great place to start. To access it in the Magazine Rack, click here: Patons’ Learn to Knit edited by Sue Whiting or on the thumbnail photo below. 

Magazines give us a snapshot of a particular time and place. Some cover a wide range of topics while others hone in on a particular niche.

There’s nothing quite like spending some free time flipping through a magazine, getting exposed to new ideas or lost in reading about hyper-focused interests.

The folks at the Internet Archive have given us a way to be transported back to see what the graphics, writing content, writing style, styling, trends, and opinions were, from the Victorian Age, through the World Wars, the 1960's, and to the present.

Once you click on a magazine in The Magazine Rack, you’ll get to the full layout of the original magazine.

You can do a virtual flip-through by clicking on the right hand side page to go forwards, and clicking on the left hand side to go backwards.

You can do an advanced search by title, creator, description, collection, media type, date, and date range.

Among the magazines you can flip through are Peterson’s Magazine, Locomotive Firemen’s Magazine, Gatcomb’s Banjo & Guitar Gazette, The Strand Magazine, The New Yorker, The Economist, The Nation, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Art of Design, to name a few.

The Knitting Magazines rack is filled with 859 digitized knitting magazines, including: Patons, Crochet Today, Knit Now, Love Knitting for Babies, Jane Austen Knits, Anny Blatt Bebe Issue, Lets Knit, Interweave Knits, Burda Knitting, Knitters, Verena Knitting, Piecework, Creative Knitting, Family Circle Easy Knitting, and Filati Handknitting.

     · Don't miss: For more free knitting patterns, have a look at 35,000 Free Knitting Patterns. 

Want more resources? Visit our Crafting Resources page and our curated list of 25 Best Selling Knitting Books. 

Enjoy the vast resources of The Magazine Rack!

Illustrations via Peterson’s Magazine, January to June 1888