1940 knitting patterns

That will mean knitting in 3ply westendgirl

Try ebay or Ravelry?

A friend of mine knitted a baby's lacy shawl in 2 ply!
More patience than me!

Check out Ebay and Etsy for vintage patterns, or hunt around your local charity shops.

I love them too, but my hands can hardly cope with double knit these days, let alone 3 ply . And they take so long to knit, I'm not even sure I'd live long enough to see the finished garment .
Etsy is a very good source of vintage patterns. In fact I'm sure I've got one or two myself, inherited from my mother's vast supply of patterns (I wish now I'd kept all of them ). I'll have a rummage round for them later - got to pop out in a minute. If I find them I'll let you know.

Thank you all for the tips.

You could try these sources :

freevintageknitting.com/

www.thevintageknittinglady.co.uk/aranLadies.html

thevintagepatternfiles.blogspot.co.uk/

I too got rid of all my patterns once my girls had grown up and now have to buy them for every single thing I want to knit and they are soooo expensive now .

Good luck with your search and if you do go ahead, do come back and share the end result please

Could you try some charity shops? A couple of local ones sometimes have them.

I saw a few of these old patterns and the sizes only went up to a 34" - 36" chest!

A result of rationing no doubt.

Jalima do we know each other? I make 2 ply shawls for first babies. I have patterns which cost 1/-! Love them, so delicate and pretty but I do make them in machine washable yarn.

I used to have a lovely book with lots of 40s patterns, I have just searched through my bookcases and can't find it, what a shame as the jumpers were lovely.

I have a couple of old books from my mum with patterns for ladies and the chaps in them.

Nonnie it wasn't me who made the 2 ply shawl (although I may have a pattern inherited from DM or MIL)
I am too impatient.
It was a friend who knitted one - she sent it to a royal baby!

Apparently they should be able to go through a wedding ring