I have a number of collegiate knits from the 30s-50s, and man do they need some love . I imagine there are some pros out there that people rely upon to fix such items. Are there indeed people that are well known for this? Anyone you'd recommend? Bonus points if they're in Southern California as that would save on shipping, but I'd absolutely be willing to ship around the country if the work is superb and the price is right. Thanks so much!
You mean reknitting to repair holes? invisible mending on knitwear? Or do you mean darning, which is not so invisible? I darn my own knitwear, but haven't attempted reknitting yet. I am a skilled knitter, and have books that show how this kind of reknitting is done. I don't know anyone who does it professionally, but I'm not in the USA. I can tell you, the finer the yarn, the harder it will be to repair. And of course the larger the holes the more work it is. Invisible mending on woven fabrics is a skilled and therefore expensive job. Similar on knitwear I expect. If you are searching 'invisible mending' and 'reknitting repair' are good search terms, though be aware invisible mending is more commonly refering to weaves (it is used for knits too though). Annoyingly you tend to get lots of results about 'visible mending' too, which is an interesting trend but not what you want!
Here is a pic of a sample hole, they’re all pretty much like this (though perhaps smaller). No idea what I’m looking for as far as technique.
Have you put them through a freeze against moths? It looks like thickish yarn which helps. If they were mine I'd be attempting home repairs, either darning or attempting reknitting, but that doesn't help you. Matching the yarn is an issue too.
This is informative, and they're in California. https://www.knitweardoctor.com/knit-repair They do reweaving too (invisible mending on woven fabrics), should you ever need that.
