Some Girls Wander

Humpty Dumpty Knits

I shall file this vintage Humpty Dumpty sweater pattern away in my brain under the "Completely Silly, Random, and Wonderful" category.
The back part of the knitted narrative is the real killer (literally and figuratively).

(via this shop)

Libris Lunaria

(I just posted this on the big blog, but I wanted to include it here for the folks who only frequent this blog)

Upon finding her on the ol' internets, one of the first things I noticed about Francesca was her incredible collection of beautiful vintage illustrations - both archived on her blog, and hanging up on her walls. I longed for a whole big garden of flower images from her What Genus Are You? series of posts. And now it looks like my dreams are coming true, because...

She is currently hard at work embarking on a new, beautiful print-shop dreamily called Libris Lunaria !

You can read all about it here.

Candystripes

30's/40's striped day dress - vintage
Tights - JCrew
Suede pumps - Kathryn Kerrrigan

When I was in college, my Faulkner professor was a Southern gentleman who used to wear seersucker suits and was irreverent and hilarious and really wonderful. At the time I took that class, I was in a bit of a rag-doll, striped-stockings-and-socks phase. When I ran into my professor a few years after graduation, he said "I hardly recognized you! Where are the red and white stripes?" Then he said, in his great drawl: "They are your signatuuure."

This a very roundabout way of telling  you how I've been searching for years for a great red and white striped dress. You can imagine how happy I was to find this one, in the perfect size, in great shape, and from my favorite era!

I've only had it a week, and I've already worn it twice - I think it will be in heavy rotation from now on!

Gentleman Goose

I recently found myself in posession of this quite dapper and fantastic (if a bit shabby) goose fellow. I am just helpless in the presence of the tiny top-hat and red felt vest. I think he is currently my favorite toy I own.

He needed some serious surgery, but I repaired him as best I can. I don't dare try to wind him, though, for fear of his fur flying clean off.

I found a nice new (old) painting/drawing table a few weeks back, and so  I've got a little line of things that I really love lining the back (along with the funny planters I'm using to hold my brushes and pens and drawing doodads).

And among them is Mister Goose, who I think will be very good company.

Animal Children, Updated

I felt so awful about having crummy photographed images from the lovely Animal Children, who just deserve better than that. I've completely updated the original post with scans (courtesy of a new scanner!).

And there's a couple of new pals I couldn't resist adding to the post, too.
That boar boy?! C'mon.

Quilty

So, this pup is the lucky treasure I was yammering on about in my last post.

It's a really, really good 30's-40's quilt with beautiful fabric choices and a very sweet level of shabbiness and mends and things. It's also backed with a rather unexpected seashell-colored worn cotton that is a nice thing to fold over.

The madcap replacement patches where it has been mended are my favorite thing about it (as pictured on the right).

I also love the color-families the quilt-maker chose for different areas.

Reds & Pinks:

Pale & Deep Blues:

And (my favorite) Aquas, Greens & Blacks:

I've gathered up a nice little stack of old quilts over the years, and while my embroidered "State Birds of America" quilt is still my favorite find (I would post a link to a picture of it, but Typepad's not doing links right now for some reason), this newbie is very certainly one of the best ones I have.

Cozy season, come along whenever you want.

Good Luck Day

 

I had really good old-things luck last week at a place I never have any luck. I suspect that maybe I had the good luck specifically because I was talking such smack about the place on the way there.

Lo and behold, that beautiful parrot tray jumped into my hands, and so did the chipped metal lunchbox (which reminds me of my early 80's childhood somehow). An armful of dresses in the nicest prints...they were just falling into my lap. I stacked all the dresses & things up before I washed them, since they looked so pretty all together.

I didn't even show the best thing I found that day, because it deserves its own post.

Pictures of that best thing, very soon!

Yellow Hearted Peonies

 
Linen dress - vintage
Tote - my own (Black Apple!)
Shoes - Jose Seanz
Cardigan - JCrew

I recently found this sweet, simple Summer dress in this little shop, and I wanted to be sure to wear it a few times before the Portland Fall sets in for good. The print is so perfect to me! And though I think it's probably from the 70's or later (not eras I usually collect) those scattered peonies made it so good, I couldn't resist.

 

Summer is at the end of its wick here, and it felt like it only just arrived. It's not my favorite season, but the quick way it comes and goes here is hard to get used to. I need to wear all the light floral dresses a few more good times before it's time for tweeds and wools!

Animal Children (Revised)

Animal Children: The Friends of the Forest and the Plain

By Edith Brown Kirkwood
Illustrated by M.T. Ross
1913

I found this copy of Animal Children at Powell's last week, and very nearly jumped for joy. It was a really, really good price, too - so that made me all the more pleased!This book is the only one in the "Little anthropomorphised Items/Creatures" series (like Bird Children, Flower Children, etc.) that isn't written by Elizabeth Gordon. It is illustrated by the same person, so the images have the same kind of beautiful madcap quality the others do.

Here are some of my favorites of the animal children :

(I think Bobcat & Lynx might be one of the weirdest illustrations of all time)

 

 
(Prairie Dog & Deermouse are suspiciously similar!)

 


I saved my favorites: The Bears, The Reindeer (those pinks & greens!) and The Bats for last. That bat in the big black hat is just the best. I wonder if Marcel Dzama has seen it? I think as a noted bat fancier, he might appreciate a bat in a cowboy hat.

You can find it in its entirety here on Gutenberg, and probably more places online, too. The colors are a little funny in the Gutenberg version, but you can read all the little poems at least!

Alameda Treasures

 

            

Here are some of the little things I took home from a really fun, really good treasure-hunting morning with Ms. F. We kept doing the frenzied running up to each other: "Oh my god! Look at this for you!" thing that is a sure sign of a good old-stuff-hunting day. There was so much to love and sift through, I could've come back with bags and bags and boxes and boxes if we'd had the time and the space!

The Eiffel Tower blouse is probably the most special treasure I got that day (Francesca grabbed and thrust it into my hands with enormous, excited eyes) and it's now all altered + taken in to fit me nicely. Also high on the special-o-meter, the Little Jack Rabbit book is from a series I didn't know about by the author of the Billy Bunny books (which are some of my very favorites!) And that Snow White + Rose Red was snapped up because of the incredible color, and, of course, that excellent bear. The gingham dress is probably 80's pretending to be 50's, but I think it's going to be so sweet with cardigans this fall.

Huzzah!