Reconstructin an old Crochet pattern from an old photo

Only from when the instructions make absolutely no sense - so a photo at least gives a hint. . .

One possibility - if you have access to a scanner - scan in just the shirt part at as high resolution as possible (remember if it's not on your computer - you'll have to be able to move it - these files can get very, very large - won't fit on a floppy - so a CD burner would be helpful) and you should be able to enlarge quite a bit!

Another way - if your computer has a USB port - is to get access to a digital camera and take a high resolution photo of the photo (this makes it easier to get the picture onto your computer). . . might not be able to enlarge the resulting picture quite as much - but probabally enough!

Good luck with your project - sounds like fun!!!

Sonya

But Sonya i have no pattern , i just found this letter several years ago in a bundle of photos ...The photo is from 1924/5 quite brownish ,,, i am not sure a home Computer can deal with it ,, i may ask in the Museum Photo Archive , they have better equipment . Thank you for your advice ,,, mirjam

Try first, of course, to see what you can see with a magnifying glass. What a treasure that would be, to be able to reconstruct a similar shirt. My old German Great Aunt Amelia used to say in her very broken English, "just show it to me, honey, and I can see what 'hooks' to use..." She called crochet stitches "hooks." Thanks for reminding me of her and her great talent to copy any crocheted thing.

No I have never done that, but I have tried other reproductions. Do you have Adobe photo shop. I do use it for looking at weaving patterns etc. for reproducing. Get a good photographer to make a copy to work from, so you do not loose are damage the original. Load your picture on your computer into a good Graphic software and start working with it.

Good luck

Els

Mirjam, It is also possible to become a detective. I am sure that your Grandmother used a pattern. Many of these old patterns are now being reproduced....Interweave press for instance. It is maybe possible to trace the pattern.

(remember you are talking to a researcher, who has traced many for odd items in her working days...LOL)

Els

Not for crochet, but I have enlarged a photo of a scrap of ancient knitting so that I could count the stitches, to get the colorwork pattern. (Some of the oldest surviving knitting is the finest gauge.) It worked as long as the original was clear and the enlargement didn't get too fuzzy.

If the photograph is small, I think using a film camera might be better than digital, if you can get real film printing - when I have tried to enlarge digital images, there's a point where they just dissolve into fuzzy squares. As others have said, when using digital, use the finest resolution possible, even if you have to do it in small sections.

=Tamar

"Mirjam Bruck-Cohen" skrev i melding news: snipped-for-privacy@ar.news.verio.net...

Mirjam,I don't know ifyou can get the photo so clear that you can"read" the pattern. We had a photo from MY mother, less than a year old. We have tried copy it years ago (by a photographer), the result was not convincing. Now I tried to do it on my scanner, it was MUCH better! But then we gave it to an "expert", the picture could be blown up much more, and was very clear! I would ask a Photographer who have the "right" machines. (They are much better than our newest "amateur machines"!) They will tell you if the result can be good enough! At least you will get a very good copy in addition to the original Photo! AUD ;-))

ALL the original photos and letters have been given to the Archives of Dutch Jewery in the Ghetto Fighters Museum. i kept Fresh new copies . As all the original material needed treatment. It was the best way.

Dear Elsje ,, actually i am a dettective in all this materials i am translating editing. And as much as i am facinated by this pattern , i have to put my priorities in line . Find details about people decide about chapters , open an index card for every name mentioned and note where each person is mentioned , some of the letters contain coded messages. Some use Old Dutch , German or Yiddish , or use a mix of all three ,,,And some French is thrown in as well ... Abbrivations of `Official` matters , make me pull my hair out at times ,,, asome of the letters aren`t dated , thus i have to see by contens [if possible[ where they belong. But i don`t close my mind i look whereever i can at old pics ,,,, patterns , maybe ???? mirjam

Ahh Mirjam I understand your plight, It was merely a suggestion. Also did your family not run the Marion magazine in Holland.....maybe the pattern came from there.

Els

I haven't done it, Mirjam, but I'd love to see what you accomplish.

Kather> I have a wonderful photo of my mother as a 3 year old , walking

Elsje, The Marion magazine was published after the war , and named after me [my birth name ] Because my Great uncle was so happy a baby was born to the family. The Marion was a Sewing mag. the Handcrafts were published in the ARIADNE mag. also published only after the war. The Crocheting Grand ma was my mother`s mother , and At the time she made it , she still was in Breslaw , and i don`t think she had a clue she will ever live in Holland at all . Being Zionist at the time , they were on their way to Paris , hoping to move to Israel , but life decided otherwise.... I am though very happy with you advice , it helps me not to loose hope , that someday i will be able to reconstruct it .... i have some other Textilic ideas , that will also be expressed in my art.[based on the documents and letters. And last , but not least , i don`t think of this as a plight , in fact i am blessed to have found all those dicuments and papers . That have provided me with some insights about my Murdered Family members , and how they all were such Loving persons who coworked to save my parents, out of the purest love . mirjam

Thank you Katherine for your trust in my abilities !!!! mirjam rote:

Well, I know you can do it!

Kather> Thank you Katherine for your trust in my abilities !!!!