1940s, Knitting and a few thoughts

A little Poole Pottery vase filled with flowers from the garden. Our garden is wild and lush at the moment and the best entertainment is watching our two young cats ambushing each other and play fighting.

I have been spending hours listing items to sell on Etsy. busy packing sold goodies into boxes and bags and sending them off. I have just listed a huge bundle of 1930s embroidery patterns, so gorgeous. Someone will have fun with them I'm sure and if they don't sell I might start embroidering again. It is a craft that I love. Here's a few of them

Aren't they lovely?

I have also had my mind on knitting and now have quite a few Vogue Knitting books in my store. I have quite a large hoard of them here. When I was going through them I found this pattern which is, I think, from 1961. It is such an unusual and beautiful design. So autumnal and I love the colours

And I found this, I am sure that it is Jean Shrimpton. What do you think?

When I got to the 1960s editions, after 1962 I don't know what happened to Vogue Knitting but the quality went down so much in my opinion. I didn't even list the magazines as I didn't like the patterns at all. Anyone reading this who would like them just contact me here or on Twitter @ruralidyllic  and you can have them.

When I was listing I saw that there are so many PDFs of patterns. I really thought that PDFs, especially of Vogue patterns, was copyright infringement. I have even seen a government statement about it. I wonder what the knitting companies think about it? It's allowed on Etsy but not allowed on Ebay.

I have been doing some knitting and am knitting this little cardigan from a Debbie Bliss book

 It's in Baby Cashmerino. Oh my, I really love that yarn, so soft and good to work with. I love knitting with colour and fair isle is my absolute favourite to knit

I have also been looking through my pile of 1940s magazine clippings

Gorgeous party dresses. These are from 1939, who would know that we would be at war for the next six years? Dresses were going to start being very skimpy when rationing came in.

A page full of adverts

That Neweys ad is a bit strange. Going a bit over the top for fastenings!

I also have instructions for keeping your chintz crisp and fresh

And a great idea for a baby carrier that could be utilised today

Are you doing your bit? To save fuel? With some very good hints and tips, most still relevant today. Our grandmothers were very wise

There are also patterns for this stylish sweater and cute baby's outfit. If you would like the patterns, contact me either here or on Twitter at @ruralidyllic and I will try and make a PDF for you (oh the irony) and if you have got this far, thank you so much for reading. I always welcome comments and if you do I promise to visit your blog and follow you.