You know how some people get a reputation for bringing in stray animals, and whenever a stray wonders into town it gets brought immediately to them?  Well, my house is kind of the equivalent for stray craft supplies.  A pretty sweet deal, I tell ya.

This little pretty came home with me over the summer, from my dear friend Heather…

It’s the Rock-a-Bye Baby Book by Columbia Minerva, Beehive, book number 738, circa 1971.  I did a quick search and there are issues available on both Amazon and Etsy, if people are interested.

Do you see the ducks?!?  Forget the patterns, I’m in it for the duck illustrations.

I’m in love with the Honeycomb Layette (above) and keep wondering if I could adjust the pattern to fit Little Rosebud.  I have such a strong desire to knit a little girl sweater lately!  And absolutely no excuse to do so, as the Wee Girl has, uhm, five?  Mama-made sweaters that currently fit her.  One, Two, Three (yes, that one still fits, just barely, but not for much longer), Four (this one is starting to get a bit small too), Five…..er, make that Six.  Maybe sometime over the winter when the others have been outgrown?

I think this Mock Cable Layette would be the perfect classic baby boy knit.

Oh, but if there is ever to be another baby in this house, the bonnet (!) and sweater from ‘A Smocking Story’ will be the very first thing I knit.

Question: how much would I like to make these for Màiri and Galen?

Answer: so very much!

Moving on to sewing patterns…

I have a box, gifted to me by a lovely blog reader, shortly after the Wee Girl was born, full of vintage patterns for girls.  They were all preschool age and up, so I’m really just starting to be able to make things from them.  Though I did make this using one of them a while back.  Màiri Rose’s Halloween costume was also made from a pattern in that box.  You know, a “vintage” 90′s pattern.

Am I the only one who gets a little freaked out when confronted with say an etsy listing advertising a “vintage 90′s…” whatever?  Vintage, really?  The 90′s?  We’re going there??  I mean come on, that was like recent history, right?  And then I make myself do the math.  On the bright side, turns out I have a decent collection of “cool” vintage clothing, without having to do anything, well, anything short of not updating my wardrobe for a couple of decades (for the record, the cool part is very debatable, in this decade as well as any one that has proceeded it).  At what point do things become “vintage”?  Who exactly gets to make that call?  And while we’re on the subject, when do “classic” songs become “oldies”?  I’d just like to know where the cut off is; might save me a few shocks down the line.

I’m just saying that as a relatively young women (I think I’m going to need a ruling on the cut-off date for that as well….), I like for my vintage to be such that I don’t remember wearing it a first time.  Like the 50′s, remember the 50′s???  I don’t! Therefore it’s perfect.

I guess it’s vintage.  There’s precedence.  People marketing things on Etsy say so.

This little collection is from the 70′s as well.  The one on the left is my favorite, but I think I missed my window for it.  It’s a size 2 and she no longer is.  I think it’s worth making some adjustments so that it will fit, come spring-time.

I find it amusing the Kwiksew never changes.  This one has a copy-write of 1971.  I’m pretty sure you can still buy this exact same pattern from them.  Only the artwork changes.  I’m not knocking it!  Classics are classics.

And oh, the 80′s… 

This one is only notable because I’m pretty sure that the little girl, top row center, was modeled after me in that time period.  Only the hair’s not big enough.  And it needs more neon.  Oo, and maybe a pair of those supper-shiny, slick looking leggings that I coveted so (what on earth were those things made out of anyway?) and a decent pair of jelly shoes.  Yup.  That ought to do it.

But at the moment, I think I have a date with this one: