So pretty! No, these aren't Dolls of All Lands, they're Duchess Dolls and the box would have read "Dolls of All Nations". Hopefully, whoever wrote the country names on the cardboard are all correct, it looks like they are. They're in wonderful condition, but without the full box lid & bottom, the value does go down some. I just sold Gibson Girl and Cowboy in box on ebay and got $15.00 (plus shipping), but I think I just got lucky. It seems they're not as desirable these last few years. But if it were me, if you do use ebay, start around $10.00. And yes, all from the 50's. If you can, gently pull down at the back of their tops and you might be able to see their mark, I've attached a picture of that, but note, this date is a copyright date and those first ones had painted eyes, the sleepy eyed ones came out in the 50's

Welcome back! I learned to knit as a child and didn't pick it up again until a few years ago when the kids were grown. Boy, has the knitting world changed. The internet has made yarns, tools, knitting information and patterns much more widely available. I buy most of my stuff online now because there are better choices and prices. Some sites to check out are Elann.com and Knitpicks.com. The expensive needles you mentioned may be Addis. They are very slick for fast knitting. Bamboo works well for slippery yarns but not for grabby ones. You can try the Inox needles which are also metal coated or the interchangeable sets at Knitpicks which are very reasonably priced. If you're not allergic to wool, there's lots of superwash, soft wools available now that are much nicer to knit with than acrylic. Re: gauge, if you're having trouble getting gauge, you may want to switch to a smaller needle. As for row gauge, if the pattern specifies lengths in inches, then the row count shouldn't be a problem. However, if the lengths are specified by number of rows, you'll have to do some math to make adjustments. Have fun!

Thanks Sharon - that's a great idea that I never even thought of. I love this place - so many great people with so many great ideas!~

I have remembered this thread because recently I have been adding to another collection. When I was nine years old, back in the days when girls simply did not read science fiction, my Dad bought me a couple of Edgar Rice Burroughs novels. I was hooked from that point on. In the past few months I have been buying hardback editions of older science fiction, the golden era books from the 1940's, 50's and 60's. That was how I came to have a copy of City handy for the first lines thread. I already had a gathering of my favorite SF&F novels from the past three decades, but I decided I wanted to have a representative selection of older SF that I first read as a child. My selection criteria is strict - did I like the books when I first read it? On re-reading, not all have not stood up to the test of time. I'm afraid to say that ERB is one such author, and there are others, alas. But others I still do enjoy, and I am delighted to have on my shelves.