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:: Knitting and Dressmaking :: 
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304 
Learning to Knit. 
<4 AT - OUR soldier will die of old age be- 
1 fore you finish that muffler,” said 
Mrs. Avery laughing. 
“Well,” responded Marjorie, “at any 
rate I shall learn to knit.” 
Suppose we begin with something 
smaller than Marjorie did. Get a ball of 
coarse, soft-finish darning cotton and a 
pair of steel needles, about as large as 
the lead in an ordinary pencil. To learn 
PLAIN KNITTING ON FACE CLOTH. 
plain knitting, you can make a face-cloth, 
or if you prefer, a dishcloth, by using a 
ball of string. Unwind about two yards 
of cotton, then near the ball make slip 
noose, slide it over one needle and draw 
close; this represents the first stitch. 
Pick up the thread from the ball with 
forefinger of left hand, bring round fin¬ 
ger until it forms a loop, crossing thread 
leading to needle. Now insert the needle 
in this loop, put your two-yard end over 
the needle tip from underneath and draw 
thread through loop on finger, holding the 
new loop on the needle, drop the finger 
loop. This is casting on a stitch. Con¬ 
tinue until you have 00 stitches on the 
needle. After casting on the last stitch, 
tie the end of thread in a double knot 
with ball thread and cut off an inch or 
two from last stitch. 
To Knit. —Take the second needle in 
right hand, insert it through last stitch 
cast on left hand needle, with point com¬ 
ing out underneath that needle. With 
the right forefinger, put thread over in¬ 
serted needle tip from below. Draw this 
thread over needle through stitch in a 
loop, then slip knitted stitch off left hand 
needle. Continue across. This is some¬ 
times called garter stitch and gives the 
work a ridged appearance as you really 
knit first on one side, then on the other. 
Just keep on knitting until the face-cloth 
is square, then bind off. 
To Bind Off. —Knit the first two 
stitches as usual, then insert end of left 
hand needle on front side through first 
stitch knit and slip this first stitch over 
the second stitch and off right hand 
needle. Bind off loosely. Continue 
across. When you have only one stitch 
left on the needle, break off your thread, 
draw end through last stitch and pull 
tight. Finish the face-cloth with a little 
crocheted scallop. Next you must learn 
the seam or purl, which is the knitting 
stitch back side to. Get a skein of brown 
mixture Scotch knitting yarn and a pair 
of No. 10 steel needles. Cast on 00 
stitches and knit across plain once. On 
the second row, knit two stitches. 
To Seam. —Bring thread around under 
right hand needle to the front of needle. 
Insert end of right hand needle through 
front of third stitch, end pointing away 
from you. Put thread around end of this 
needle from the front. Draw this thread 
through third stitch in a loop on needle 
and slide seamed stitch off left hand 
needle. For the second seam stitch, you 
will not need to bring thread to front of 
right hand needle as it is already there. 
After seaming two stitches, bring thread 
to back of right hand needle and knit two 
stitches. Continue across alternately 
knitting 2 and seaming 2. Keep on until 
you have a strip five inches long, then 
bind off and sew up with wool. You can 
put in an occasional stripe of color if you 
wish to vary your work. To join another 
color, lay the end of color along with the 
wool you are knitting and knit two stitch¬ 
es double, then drop body color, knit 
stripe, pick up body color, knit two 
stitches double, then break off color. 
These wristers are the kind women are 
knitting for the Bed Cross. Now try 
something a bit harder but first you 
should have a pair of short needles for 
knitting lace. Cut a fine, long needle in 
halves and put heads of sealing wax 
on the cut ends. Or you can put on tiny 
corks. Get a ball of fine knitting cotton 
and follow these directions for a band to 
hold back muslin curtains. In linen 
thread, this is pretty as an insertion. 
Curtain Band. —Cast on ten stitches 
and knit across plain. On second row, 
slip the first stitch from right hand needle 
to left hand needle without knitting, knit 
second stitch. Put thread over right 
hand needle twice as if you were to knit, 
that will make one extra stitch and bring 
thread to the front for seaming. Now 
seam 2 together, over once, seam 2 to¬ 
gether, over, seam 2 together, knit 2. 
Continue this until band is the desired 
length and bind off. Lastly, try some lace 
for a flannel petticoat, knit it of silka- 
teen. In linen thread, it is nice for corset 
covers as ribbon can be run through the 
holes near the edge. 
Lace. —Cast on 14 stitches and knit 
across plain first row. Slip 1, knit 1, 
over twice, seam 2 together, over, seam 2 
together, over, seam 2 together, knit 4, 
over twice, knit 2. Second row—Slip 3, 
knit 2. seam 1, knit 4* over twice, seam 
2 together, over, seam 2 together, over, 
seam 2 together*, knit 2. Third row— 
Slip 1, knit 3, repeat between stars, knit 
S. Fourth row—Slip 1. knit 7, repeat be¬ 
tween stars, knit 2. Fifth row—Slip 1, 
knit 1, repeat between stars, knit 8. Sixth 
row—Bind off 2, knit 5, repeat between 
stars, knit 2. Continue to desired length. 
After this you should be able to follow 
ON THE WRISTER; -'SEAM TWO.” 
any ordinary directions in fancy work 
books or magazines. Narrowing means 
knit two stitches together. 
EDNA S. KNAPP. 
My New Spring Dress. 
ARM WOMEN AND FASHION.—It 
has been said that farm women do 
not care about the fashions, and that 
even if they did they have no money (in 
most cases) to be fashionable with. Now 
I have always taken exception to this or 
similar statements when I have heard 
them, for the reason that I think it an 
injustice to the farm women. I will ad¬ 
mit without dispute that farm women 
are far too sensible, taken as a whole, to 
attempt to follow fashionable fads in 
dress, which is really a far different thing 
from the first statement made above. 
Just because a woman happens to live 
on a farm is there any reason why she 
should not like to have what few dresses 
or waists, hats or coats she has during 
the year dainty and pretty? And is 
there any reason why when making a 
new skirt or waist the former should be 
made five or six yards around the bot¬ 
tom, when the fashion calls for two or 
two and a half yards, or that the latter 
should have large puff sleeves when the 
fashion is for snug-fitting ones? 
Concerning Materials. —Then too, 
the lack of knowledge as to what mate¬ 
rials are suitable as well as practical 
from the standpoint of durability as well 
as price is one reason why farm women’s 
clothes do not look better than they do. 
For instance, this Winter broadcloth was 
the most fashionable woolen fabric, but 
of course there were other kinds of 
cloths worn as well. For the woman 
who could afford to spend but one dol¬ 
lar a yard for her cloth it was in much 
better taste to spend that money for a 
serge, as you can get a good quality for 
that price, whereas you could only get a 
very cheap, shoddy broadcloth, which 
even when new would look cheap but 
would be dear as to wearing qualities; 
whereas the serge if made simply but 
well cut and after the prevailing mode 
would show good taste and knowledge of 
what really good dressing means. And 
the hat that goes with the dress—a cheap 
velvet with imitation ostrich feathers 
would not delude anybody but would sim¬ 
ply be an imitation of the real thing; 
whereas a good felt with a simple quill 
or feather ornament (made from chicken 
feathers), of which there are a sufficient 
variety to suit everybody’s taste and 
purse, would be in good taste as w T ell 
as practical. Take children’s clothes as 
another example. For -the young child 
or the girl in her ’teens, if but one good 
dress for Sunday and gala occasions can 
be had in two years by far the prettiest 
and most economical would be a white 
lawn, for there is nothing that wears 
or washes better, and .there is nothing 
that will permit of as much making over 
or altering, for you can always match 
the cloth near enough that it will not 
show, and lengthen skirt and sleeves or 
widen waists by a judicious use of lace 
or embroidery insertion, and each time 
the dress is washed and ironed it looks 
just as good as new. Of course the light- 
colored lawns or those sprigged with col¬ 
ored flowers, are very alluring, but they 
will be all faded out the first season, so 
when economy is the watch-word pass 
them by. 
Trimmings. —However, do not trim 
dresses with a lot of coarse lace or em¬ 
broidery, but if you only have a small 
amount of money to spend buy enough 
fine lace or embroidery for the neck and 
sleeves and use tucks of various widths 
for the trimming on waist and skirt. For 
a little girl’s skirt of thin material did 
you ever make a four-inch hem, then 
leave a half inch space, then a inch wide 
tuck, then a half inch space, then two- 
quarter inch tucks with a quarter inch 
space between, then a half inch space and 
another inch tuck? It is very simple to 
make and the effect is very pretty indeed. 
Little Girl’s Clothes. —For the lit¬ 
tle girl’s best Winter dress, white pique, 
linen, or linon suiting (this is a cotton 
woven to look like linen and is known by 
different names at different stores) are 
the best materials, as practically the same 
thing is true as regards altering. They 
are very pretty when buttonholed around 
the neck and sleeves with perhaps a lit¬ 
tle spray of hand embroidery on the front 
of the waist and sometimes the belt. The 
linon suiting can be had for 12 or 13 
cents per yard, pique from 85 cents up 
and linen from 35 cents up. Usually un¬ 
der these dresses are worn outing flannel 
slips when the weather is very cold, and, 
of course they can be left off when it is 
warm. 
Everyday Dresses. —For women’s 
house dresses and children’s school dress- 
CURTAIN BAND IN WHITE: LACE IN COL¬ 
ORED SILKATEEN. 
es there are, besides ginghams of various 
qualities, percales at 12 and 15 cents, one 
yard wide, which come in dark colors as 
well as light, having sometimes about 
the same designs as calicoes, but they will 
outwear two calico dresses. Galateas at 
15 cents a yard come in plain colors as 
well as all sorts of stripes and some 
checks. This material is about as heavy 
as ticking and is used a great deal for 
little boys’ wash suits as well as girls’ 
dresses. It would also be an excellent ma¬ 
terial for farm women’s Fall, Winter and 
Spring work dresses, as it wears and 
washes so well and if it fades can be easi¬ 
ly made like new with a 10-cent package 
of dye. Of course there are romper 
cloths at 35 cents, which is similar to 
February 27, 
a fine linen weave, only quite heavy, and 
kindergarten cloth at 25 cents which is 
a very heavy material in plain colors and 
stripes and plaids, the weave being fine 
and close. Then there is ripplette in all 
kinds of stripes and checks and colors. 
In one store where I was looking at them 
they had 41 different kinds, the price 
being 15 cents a yard—such pretty com¬ 
binations of colors in the striped material, 
and such pretty checks. 
Silk And Woolen Fabrics. —If the 
dress is to be of wool there are crepes 
of various kinds (the difference principal¬ 
ly being in the roughness or smoothness 
of the weave) from 75 cents per yard 
up; covert suiting from $1.50 per yard 
up, 54 inches wide; poplins, both woolen 
and mercerized, ranging in price from 
89 cents up for the latter, and 98 cents 
up for the former. Then there are any 
number of different woolen fabrics which 
have no particular name, striped or 
checked, which sell for one dollar per 
yard up. For the country woman who 
has a woolen dress which could be made 
over (and it really is quite easy this 
year to make them over on account of 
there being so many yokes and tunics on 
the skirts and the jumper effects in 
waists) I would advise for the new dress 
some kind of a silk, and that either a 
foulard or a crepe de chine, for there is 
nothing that will give the service that 
these two silks will. The former can be 
had for $1.50 per yard in a good quality 
and while sometimes you can get a crepe 
de chine for that price also it is pretty 
thin. It would be better to pay $2 per 
yard and get a good firm quality. This 
washes beautifully and also dyes well, al¬ 
though of course worn places or where 
there had been pleats, etc., would show. 
Foulard, of course, after it becomes soiled 
can be cleaned easily with gasoline. 
Either of these silks can be made as 
plain or as elaborate as desired. If made 
like a plain shirtwaist suit they are suit¬ 
able, and none too dressy, for the after¬ 
noon sewing circle, etc.; while with an¬ 
other skeleton jumper of the silk with 
lace or net blouse for underneath one is 
prepared for any social event that may 
take place. Now I can imagine a great 
many people after reading the above 
statement will say that I am extravagant 
in my ideas. Not at all, for what I have 
suggested is both economical as well as 
practical. The idea of having good 
clothes hanging in the closet and only 
to be worn on state occasions is entire¬ 
ly obsolete. For one thing a great 
many of the dyes used now-a-days cause 
fabrics to deteriorate more or less with 
age. For another, the styles change so 
quickly that it is too expensive as far 
as time and work are concerned, let 
alone trimming, to make over dresses 
more than two or three times at the out¬ 
side. The best dressed women of mod¬ 
erate means are the ones who buy one 
suit or dress when a new style is launch¬ 
ed and wear it practically anywhere and 
everywhere until it is worn out. In the 
city and town where they do not drive 
this one dress or suit is usually the coat 
and skirt suit, and if she is a wise woman 
she puts her money into quality of mate¬ 
rial and cut rather than into elaborate¬ 
ness of make and trimmings. Then when 
she goes shopping in the morning with a 
plain tailored shirtwaist and a simple hat 
she is properly dressed. 
Goats And Dresses. —For the farm 
women who have to drive everywhere, the 
suit is not so practical as the long coat 
and a dress. What I said above about the 
suit is equally true about the long coat; 
have the quality of the material as good_ 
as possible, the cut perfectly plain, ex¬ 
empt possibly for a velvet collar and cuffs, 
or a little bit of braid, or a few but¬ 
tons as trimming, whichever happens to 
be the prevailing mode, but have the col¬ 
or of the coat harmonize with all the 
dresses you have to wear underneath it, 
for no matter if it is a full length coat 
usually a little bit of the skirt shows 
below, and when the colors clash it spoils 
the effect of the whole, no matter how 
handsome the coat may be. The hat and 
gloves, should of course, also harmon¬ 
ize with the coat. If the dress is a Win¬ 
ter one the skirt should be made separ¬ 
ate from the waist so it could be worn 
with shirtwaists, and the waist belong¬ 
ing to the skirt on more elaborate oc¬ 
casions. If the material used in making 
the skirt is of good quality and the skirts 
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