Mabel Lucie Attwell knitting patterns

After yesterday's post about 1920s baby and maternity wear, Marigold (from Mellow Fruitfulness blog) pointed out that the illustrations were very similar in style to Mabel Lucie Atwell, and she also told me that Atwell had designed knitting patterns for Jaeger. And here is one! Children's Woollies, published circa 1925, featuring Atwell's Jaeger Twins on the cover.

Originally part of Leach's Sixpenny Knitting Series, this hard-to-find pattern is now worth slightly more than sixpence. A copy had been sold at Bloomsbury Auctions this year as part of a small collection of children's books for £400. Better start saving, or praying to the Jumble Sale Fairy...

Brown jumpers

Brown autumn jumpers. Here, two 1970s families model a variety of shades of brown, from yellowish to deep russet. Perfect camouflage if you are planning on hiding in a pile of leaves and jumping out and scaring people.

Children always look slightly uneasy in knitting patterns like these. You can tell that those people aren't really mummy and daddy. That little girl on the Templetons pattern is thinking "I'm holding a stranger's hand!" The little boy on the Ladywood pattern is having to pull off the double whammy of putting his hand on a strange girl's shoulder while looking amused that fake daddy is looking at fake mummy. Give him an Oscar!

1970s playsuits

An easy way to make your child overheat on a sunny day - the 1970s knitted acrylic playsuit.

"Shimmering on the holiday scene in their dashing seashore sets - colour glow stripes for the trouser suits, worn over classic sweaters in the contrast colour. Super shimmery looks in Patons Promise".

If you run around and get too hot in this combo, what do you do? Take the jumper off and just wear the tank top and trouser all-in-one, I suppose.

Maybe these were designed for British seaside holidays, where you were more likely to be huddled behind a windbreak in the rain. That would make more sense.

1940s child's beret and loveheart hat

This 1940s school girl looks ready for anything in her striped beret with matching socks! Her rough-textured blazer and softly-curled hair are so typical of the period. The Juliet Cap, on the other hand, looks very modern in both shape and motif design. I can see this looking wonderful worked in pink with a red heart motif.

Cap, beret and socks are all worked in 3 ply oddments and are suitable for a girl aged 8 - 10 years old. Measurement from centre of crown to edge of beret is 6 inches, width all around edge (slightly stretched) is 20 inches.

Chick hat for children

Five quirky children's knitted hats from what looks like the early 1960s (or, to be precise, four quirky hats and one standard pom-pom hat).

The yellow chick embellishment is incredibly cute and easy to make - make two yellow yarn pom-poms, one small one for the head, and a larger one for the body. Sew the head onto the body then trim to give the chick a good shape. Work two french knots in black cotton for the eyes and add a tiny pointed piece of black felt for the beak. Sew a few loops of yellow wool to the back of the body, making each one about 1 inch in length, then cut the loops to make a tail.