Sometimes it helps to be devious - er, creative...

Dating mail order patterns can be tricky.  If you've got the mailing envelope, sometimes you get lucky with a date on the postmark, or a postage meter that can be narrowed down to a particular timeframe.  Sometimes all you've got to go on is hairstyle in the pattern illustration.  And sometimes, you can find a way to get sneaky...

The one i'm listing today has no date, a postage rate that doesn't seem to narrow things down much, and a hopelessly blurred postage meter number (yep, you can try to look up the meter number - there are folks who collect and track metered postage as a hobby, and they're online too).  My knee-jerk reaction to the illustration was that it was late 1970s - but could i pin it down at all?

The dress style is the sort that might crop up in a wide range of years, so no help there.

But it turns out, this pattern, from Grit, also advertised a bunch of craft booklets on the back of the envelope.  There, i hoped, was my ticket.

A few quick searches later, i found copyright dates of 1977 and 1978 for such titles as "Thrifty Crafty Flowers" and "Envelope Patchwork Quilts" - bingo!  Enough to suggest that my initial guess was probably pretty close...

Morning on the mountain

The chickens aren't even up yet.  I'm not (mostly) a morning person, but it has certain compensations - like this view down from our place.

Just so you know

...the only reason this pattern is going to the shop rather than my own personal stash is that i know i just don't like to wear straight skirts, so if i made it up, i wouldn't wear it enough to justify it.  It's even close to my size; i wouldn't have to grade it much.  Your good luck...

Tempted?  See the listing here.

Books within reach

We're a bookish lot, here.  Just for grins, here's a short list of the ones that are in the top layer or so, scattered around the living room:

Wolf Hall (by Hilary Mantel, 2009, historical novel; a Christmas present from my equally bookish sister)
Songs for Service (shaped note edition, undated, but the individual hymns have copyright dates, the latest of which seems to be 1915; a flea market find, pounced on by a pair of musicians)
Chemistry of Powder and Explosives (1943, on loan to the spouse from a friend)
Kai Lung Unrolls His Mat (by Ernest Bramah, 1927/1928, a well-worn paperback copy, on loan to me from a friend)
Good Omens (by Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett, an only-slightly-mangy paperback; we have not yet managed to drop it in the bath)
Putting Food By (5th edition; another Christmas present that hasn't quite found a home on the shelf yet)

What volumes are littering your tables?

Not going anywhere

...not until this melts a bit more, anyway.  The 11" of snow is now 5" of packed slush, at least on the road, and the road's at a 30% grade.  So we'll sit tight while it works on melting today.

 It's awfully pretty, though, while it lasts!