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I have a wonderful little collection of vintage knitting pattern booklets, once belonging to my Great Aunt and Grandmother, whose knitting needles recently came into my possession. 

I am as taken with the beautiful patterns as I am with the historical context of the booklets themselves and the messages from the era. The warnings incorporated into the covers are little short of amazing - 'Don't help the enemy! Careless talk may give away vital secrets.' My father related another that had read 'Loose lips sink ships.' It's difficult to imagine knitting books being produced with such covers now, is it not?

Also found amidst the pages, scribbled notes from a long ago project, possibly in my Grandmothers hand. As well as a message from Patons and Baldwin encouraging women to keep knitting for themselves, using the odds and ends from their stash, as a way to help the war effort. 

I have a few more favorite pages to show you tomorrow.