Score!

Look what I got:

I went on a drive yesterday, visiting garage sales north of the city. That is something I never, ever do. Needless to say, it wasn't my idea, but I am oh-so-very-glad I went. I didn't even spy these - my friend did. What can I say? A fellow that knows what I like may be worthy of a little more of my time. I was impressed - he even paid for them. A whole $1.75.

What made me sad were all the others I left behind. Some of them were so ratty that the pages were stuffed into plastic bags. The whole pile was sitting on the DRIVEWAY, underneath the $0.25 table. I could have, very easily, bought them all, but I tried to pick the ones that were the least damaged and appealed to me, at least a little.

I want to quote from the inside front-cover of Columbia (the colour one):

Times have changed... Yesterday we spent long hours and many
dollars creating hand knit fashions.... Today time is money and
nine times out of ten, each is frankly in short supply.

New ideas now strike our fancy...
Quick-Knits - often made on larger needles with heavier yarn in lacey
patterns (really, a stitch of this kind saves nine)... Bolero - start today
and finish tomorrow...Two-Piece dresses in Half-the-time - you make the blouse and the the skirt can be knitted for you.

Fashion plays into our hands, so look for... Stoles, shorter
jackets, abbreviated sleeves, interpreting the time saving sheath silhouette,
slender from top to toe... knitted in those heavenly yarns by Lees.

Several times over the past few months, I've read knit-blog entries blasting designers for using novelty yarns and enormous needles to make trendy items and then marketing the product as "not your grandmother's knitting." Well, this particular pattern book was published in 1951, and the patterns are very trendy, for the time (and stunning, in my opinion).

Maybe some of us are knitting more like our grandmothers than we think.