Other Christmas Goodies - Be Jealous :)

Here are some other crafty things I got for Christmas I thought I'd brag about share :) 

• Cardigans by Louisa Harding - I've wanted this book for a while and my wonderful hubby got it for me :) I love all the sweaters in this book, but I can say right now the first one I make will be the Viola. Isn't it cute?! I can't wait to make it. Hopefully that can be something I do this year.
• The Handbuilt Home by Ana White - My sister Shannon got me this one since I'm buying a house and all. It's full of plans tom make simple but functional furniture by hand and they all look really easy. I can't wait to make some of them up!
• Sew Serendipity by Kay Whitt - This is another that's been on my list for a while and Shannon got it for me :) It's full of cute skirt patterns and jackets and all kinds of other items. I particularly love the Parisian jacket - One of these days I'll feel confident enough to try making a jacket and this will be the one! Thanks Shannon!

Just after Christmas, I had a little bit of money that was given to my by my Grandparents so I decided to treat myself to a few other books I'd had my eye on. I'm a huge fan of Susan B. Anderson - I learned about her through her Craftsy Classes (of which I have both the Not So Itty-Bitty Giraffe - got it at the pre-Christmas sale - and Wee Ones Knitted Toys), plus I love her blog and I read it all the time. Her designs are fun and quick projects, so I used my Christmas money to snag her 3 books I didn't have on Half.com. I got Spud & Chloe on the Farm, Itty-Bitty Nursery and Itty-Bitty Toys all for $26 including shipping and all of them are brand new! Can't beat that :) And now I'm all set for any of the cute toys I want to make.

These next shots are from after Christmas. Even though I was sick on Saturday, I had to commemorate actually having a Saturday off from work (an incredibly rare occasion) but hitting my local thrift stores. I went to 4 in all and I made out like a bandit! here are some of my favorite items I got just for me :)

• The Harmony Guide To Knitting Stitches - I figured this would be a usedful one to have and at $1 it had to be mine.
• Crocheted Toppers Leaflet - In spite of that oh-so-90s looking photo on the front, I actually really like that sweater. There are 4 or 5 designs that are all very open looking floral styles and they really would fit my lifestyle great. I'll just be sure to not wear my Blossom hat and big hoop earrings when I wear them lol. (Totally kidding, I haven't had a Blossom hat since I was 10 and I'm not a big hoop wearer - just in case you thought I was serious.)
• Leisure Arts Disney Home Pooh - Little Buddies booklet - This was like the holy grail of the day. I love all things Disney, but I LOVE Pooh Bear. He was a clear favorite when I was a kid and the love has just carried over as an adult :) Now I can crochet my own Pooh Bear characters! How sweet is that? What makes this even better - I looked up this book online to see how much it goes for. It's out of print and hard to find so the only seller I found wanted $40 for it! What?! And I snagged mine for $1 - hot damn! IT has a little bit of water damage to the last page, but it's in overall good shape and i can still make out all the directions. I can't wait to make my Pooh Bear! Now to find the appropriate yarn...

Also on my journey, I no joke purchased about 150 patterns (probably more - I didn't count them all). Most of these will go on my Etsy store, but I am always thrilled when I actually find vintage patterns in my size - seriously I have over 1000 vintage patterns and I've only kept maybe 20 for myself and not all of those are for clothing. So, these are the ones I bought just for me :)

• New Look 6816 - I grabbed this for the basic knit top, but when I got it home found out it's missing not only the instruction booklet but also there is only 1 piece of the top in there. Nice. I'm sure I can figure it out since it's such a basic shape and I have the main piece, so we'll see.
• Mccalls 6794 - I just really liked the shape of these bags (plus there are a zillion copies of this for sale on Etsy, so I wouldn't make any money by selling it). 
• Simplicity 5515 - Technically this is sized for men, but that just means it doesn't have a bust dart so it's an easy fix. Check out that collar - yeah baby!
• Simplicity 6340 - Here is another 70s big collar, but I really like the option that has the squared sailor style collar on the back. 
• Simplicity 5259 - This was my favorite from the day - just look at those cover drawings! It's a very simple dress with an a-line skirt - seriously perfect for me. And it has all the pieces :) I can see this one happening very soon.
• Advance 7861 - This one is nothing but 50s collars and I had to keep it just for nostalgia. I'm not sure I would ever have occasion for a detachable collar, but it's just so neat I had to keep it.
• Simplicity 4047 - This was my other favorite from the day. It's actually a reprint of a design from the 50s, but this pattern itself is out of print now and it's hard to find. I bought this one in a ziplock bag - all the pieces are there, but there was no instruction book! Serious bummer. So, I started looking through pattern review and found Laura Mae's version. I took a chance and emailed her to see if she would be willing to copy the directions for me, and (doll that she is) she sent me a pdf of the directions the very next day! Thank you so much Laura Mae! I can't wait to make up that blouse!

So that's just a little snippet of things I've gotten lately. Have you gotten anything exciting? Any crafty items for Christmas? Let us know!