If you are knitter, or perhaps the offspring of one, you may have a collection of old, vintage knitting patterns in your possession.

As we all know, once items pass over into the vintage category, they can become valuable.  And if you do have some old knitting patterns you may be wondering whether or not they are worth any money.

I have recently been on the lookout for a particular old knitting pattern, and whilst scouring the pages of Ebay and Etsy I discovered that certain knitting patterns do seem to be in demand and are commanding pretty good prices.

Please read on to find out how much your vintage knitting patterns may be worth.

Please note that this article is based on my personal opinion and is not financial advice., The article contains some affiliate links.

Who buys vintage knitting patterns?

There are 3 key buyers for vintage knitting patterns:

• Collectors
• Resellers
• Knitters

If you want to sell vintage knitting patterns, be aware that there is quite a buoyant market for them.  Assuming that you are selling original vintage patterns and not copies, I would say that the best place to sell them is Ebay.  You can see here how many vintage knitting patterns are currently for sale on Ebay, and I know this is the go to place for many buyers to look..  At the time of writing, I don’t see any particularly competitive auctions going on.  However, if you have the right patterns, you can certainly have some good luck when buyers from the 3 categories just mentioned are all fighting to buy your collection. You can also ask for buy it now prices, both on Ebay or Etsy, if you want to receive a set fee for your items and not risk an auction going wrong.

I recently bid on a bundle of old Stitchcraft magazines on Ebay, like the ones in the main photo.  I would fall into the knitter/collector category and I do enjoy leafing through vintage patterns and magazines for inspiration.  The bundle concerned contained 42 magazines, and many were from the WW2 era.  They sold for 107 pounds, which is the highest I have ever seen vintage knitting patterns go for.  I think it was the wartimes copies that pushed up the prices.  This bundle of 8 Stitchcraft magazines sold for 43 pounds, which is also a pretty good price.

I am guessing it was either a collector or reseller who won the Ebay auctions for these particular vintage knitting patterns.  Perhaps someone such as this Ebay shop, who sells copies of Stitchcraft magazines.  They would make their money back several times over from the original investment, I would imagine.

Vintage knitting pattern sellers such as Subversive Femme also sell these magazines but in PDF form on Etsy.  I would imagine that such resellers may well push up prices for vintage knitting patterns, should they compete in an auction.

So, if you have the right sort of vintage knitting patterns, they could be worth quite a bit, either now, or in the future.

What sort of vintage knitting patterns make a lot of money

I think that for a vintage knitting pattern to be worth a lot of money, it has to be highly collectable and somewhat rare.  WW2 era and before, and from what I have seen stylish adult knitwear patterns seem to be the most desirable.  Baby patterns are also sought after, as many knitters knit for babies.

My daughter is an artist and she told me that some patterns are sought after for the interesting and historical artwork on the front cover.  Twiggy modelling on knitting patterns, for examples, can make them desirable to collectors.

Personally, I like to purchase knitting patterns which are in a vintage album.  These can be found on Ebay, and are often obtained by the sellers from house clearance companies.  I have seen such albums on sale for around 40 pounds and over.  I think the maximum I have personally paid is 28 pounds.  I buy these because they remind me of my Gran and I want to look after the collections of people who have passed on, which is what many of these items sadly are.  I will keep and treasure them forever and don’t buy them as financial investments.  

For a vintage knitting pattern to be worth money, they need to be in excellent condition, preferably not creased or ripped.  They need to be readable as some buyers intend to knit them up and not just collect or sell on for a profit.

The knitting patterns also have to be desirable if they are to be worth any money. When thinking about your vintage patterns, are they something people will want to knit?  Is the design timeless? 

I bought these Golden Hands Knitting and Crafts Magazines which were published in the 1970s.  They cost about 25 pounds for the entire collection.  To be honest, they are interesting but there aren’t many patterns that I will actually knit in there.  I can’t see these books ever being worth much money.  1970s patterns never seem to fetch much, it is definitely stylish WW2 and pre war patterns that are the most sought after, and therefore most valuable (based on what I have seen, anyway.

I believe that interesting, vintage knitting patterns are worth holding onto because I think they will increase in value as time goes on.  I have based this statement on the recent bundle that went for over 100 pounds.  This is the first time I have ever seen vintage knitting patterns fetch so much money in an auction.

Here is a Stitchcraft baby knitting pattern booklet that lives in my collection.  A valuable antique of the future? Maybe. If I ever see David Dickinson’s TV show in a town near me I may well take some vintage knitting patterns along – I can’t see the the experts there being able to properly value them though because they really are quite niche items.

It is true that things are worth what people will pay for them, and that rare and difficult to find vintage knitting patterns may well become more and more desirable, and therefore worth more money, over time.

Have you got any vintage knitting patterns that you think might be valuable?  Tell us about it in the comments you might find an eager buyer!