As A Kid, Way Back In The Late 1950s,

almost everyone's mother, auntie and grandmother knitted, 

and the recipient gladly accepted the jumper, scarf or whatever, even if it did not quite fit, but nowadays I seldom see a shop selling knitting wool, (they used to be everywhere), and even less knitting patterns, so here is a treasure trove of knitting patterns, in The Online Knitting Reference Library,

just a few of the many patterns that can be found in the Knitting Reference Library, resources digitised by the Library Digitisation Unit, University of Southampton, and they are all here, so no excuses, here is the perfect summer project to while away those hazy, lazy summer days, take up knitting!