Everlasting  and  Other  Pillows 
The  correspondent  who  inquired  about 
the  uses  of  life-everlasting  (page  1450) 
may  be  interested  to  know  that  the  dow¬ 
ers,  gathered  when  dry  in  the  late  Fall, 
are  excellent  for  filling  sofa  pillows,  by 
reason  of  their  crisp  lightness  and  faint 
but  pleasant  fragrance.  The  plant  grows 
very  abundantly  in  certain  parts  of  New 
Hampshire,  and  I  was  told  of  one  woman, 
living  near  Sugar  Ilill,  who  slept  on  a 
mattress  stuffed  entirely  with  the  pearly 
blossoms,  whose  white  and  gold  has  given 
them  in  some  places  the  pretty  folk  name 
of  moonbeams. 
Speaking  of  stuffing  pillows,  how  many 
have  utilized  the  fairy  milkweed  down 
for  this  purpose?  Nothing  daintier  could 
be  imagined  for  baby’s  crib  or  carriage, 
and  it  will  last  for  years  without  matting, 
even  when  subjected  to  the  rough  usage 
of  the  living-room  couch,  or  the  college 
boy's  den.  Gather  the  pods  when  thev 
begin  to  burst,  rub  off  (and  burn)  the 
seeds,  and  transfer  the  silk  to  a  case  of 
thin  material,  which,  when  filled  and 
sewed  up,  should  be  hung  in  the  open  air 
for  a  day  or  two  for  the  down  to  cure 
and  expand. 
Another  material  available  for  filling 
cushions  is  the  down  of  the  cat-tails, 
which  make  such  a  handsome  showing  in 
our  swamps  and  inlets.  This  is  heavier 
than  milkweed  silk,  but  equally  soft  and 
luxurious.  The  leaves  of  these  same  cat¬ 
tails  are  used  for  rush-bottoming  chairs, 
an  art  that  is  again  the  fashion,  and  is 
“demonstrated”  by  the  Farm  Bureaus. 
A  cushion  or  quilted  chair  back  filled  with 
cat-tail  down,  for  great-grandmother’s 
rush-seat  rocker,  would  certainly  have  a 
character  all  its  own ;  and  having  done 
so  much,  one  would  surely  add  a  bit  of 
appropriate  decoration.  Pillow  tops  may. 
of  course,  be  as  simple  or  as  elaboi-ate  as 
one  chooses,  but  in  this  case  nothing 
could  be  more  suitable  than  the  popular 
applique  work,  brown  velvet  cat-tails 
and  some  greenish  stuff  for  the  blade¬ 
like  leaves,  on  a  gray-green  slip  cover. 
This  applique  work  is  the  busy  woman’s 
effective  substitute  for  solid  embroidery. 
Milkweed  pods,  too,  would  furnish  a 
lovely  motif  for  a  pillow  design,  and  in 
almost  every  family  there  is  at  least  one 
member  who  is  artist  enough  to  adapt 
nature  to  needlework. 
When  all  your  cushions  are  made,  take 
a  scrap  of  denim  or  other  heavy  material 
and  run  uo  a  bag  measuring  about  6x8 
in.  Fill  this  loosely  with  bayberries, 
which  may  be  kept  in  place  by  a  few 
stitches.  This  is  to  wax  your  iron,  and 
its  spicy,  woodsy  smell  as  you  pass  your 
hot  iron  over  it  will  make  the  weekly 
labor  a  pleasure. 
RACHEL  F.  DAHLGREN. 
Fringe  Mittens 
T  notice  a  request  for  fringe  mittens, 
and  will  give  my  way,  which.  I  think, 
quite  the  nicest  of  any  I  have  ever  seen. 
I  use  black  yarn.  I  have  two  balls  for 
my  mittens  and  one  ball  with  the  yarn, 
three  doubled  or  three  threads  of  the 
yarn  for  the  fringe.  One  needs  a  set  of 
four  large-size  steel  knitting  needles. 
First,  cast  on  the  required  number  of 
stitches  for  the  size  mitten  you  wish,  and 
with  one  thread  purl  a  margin  for  about 
une-half  inch  by  knitting  one  stitch  plain 
and  one  purl,  then  join  the  other  thread, 
and  knit  with  first  one  stitch  with  one 
thread  and  the  next  stitch  with  the 
other  thread,  which  makes  what  our 
grandmothers  called  a  double  mitten. 
Now  after'  you  have  knit  a  few  stitches 
with  the  two  threads,  take  the  three 
strands  of  yarn  and  after  your  needle  has 
taken  the  stitch,  but  before  you  knit  it, 
place  the  end  of  the  three  threads  be¬ 
tween  the  points  of  the  two  needles,  so 
as  to  stick  out  about  one-fourth  to  one- 
half  inch.  Knit  the  stitch  and  the  next 
stitch  the  same,  onlv  bring  the  three 
threads  back,  thus  forming  a  loop  on  the 
right  side  of  mitten.  I  knit  once  around 
the  mitten  continuing  to  form  loops,  and 
to  knit  with  first  one  and  then  the  other 
thread.  Then  the  next  time  around  do 
not  use  the  three  threads  or  fringe  yarn, 
but  the  third  time  around  knit  exactly  as 
the  first,  forming  the  loops  on  right  side 
of  mitten,  and  continue  until  you  have 
finished  your  mitten.  I  •  take  it  for 
granted  inquirer  has  knitted  taittens  and 
knows  how  to  set  the  thumb.  When  mit¬ 
ten  is  done,  take  shears  and  clip  the  ends 
of  fringe  so  they  are  even,  and  you  have 
one  of  the  warmest,  as  well  as'  the  best 
looking,  mittens  I  ever  saw.  r.  b.  c.  g. 
Use  good,  heavy  yarn  for  wrist.  Set 
up  same  as  any  mitten.  Wrists:  Knit 
two  stitches  plain,  two  ribbed,  until  you 
have  the  desired  length  ;  for  a  man’s  size, 
3  or  344  in.  in  length.  For  the  hand 
part,  use  same  yarn  as  for  wrist,  or  good, 
heavy  yarn.  For  fingers,  use  soft,  heavy 
yarn  that  is  not  twisted  much,  five  strands 
put  together  To  knit  the  fringe,  start 
soon  as  the  wrist  is  long  enough.  Knit 
one  stitch  plain,  then  nut  the  five  strands 
of  fringe  in.  letting  one  end  come  out 
about  three-fourths  of  an  inch  on  the 
outside.  Then  knit  one  stitch,  then  put 
the  fringe  through,  knit  one  stitch,  then 
put  fringe  back  through,  leaving  a  loop 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  on  outside.  Keep 
doin'-  this  all  the  way  around  ;  then  knit 
once  around  without  putting  in  fringe. 
Put  in  fringe  once  around  same  as  before, 
then  knit  plain  once  around,  and  keep  on 
like  that  until  done. 
To  widen  for  thumb,  make  two  stitches 
each  time  yon  knit  around  without  put¬ 
ting  in  fringe  until  you  have  the  same 
number  of  stitches  that  you  have  on  one 
of  your  other  needles.  Then  knit  until 
Pit  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
it  is  long  enough  so  the  wrist  will  be 
down  where  it  ought  to  be  when  the  mit¬ 
ten  is  done.  Then  drop  off  on  a  string 
and  set  up  five  stitches  to  form  the  place 
across  the  thumb;  narrow  off  same  as 
any  mitten.  Sew  the  tips  of  thumbs  am. 
hand  where  you  break  off  foundation 
yarn ;  then  cut  the  fringe,  taking  can 
not  to  pull  it  out,  and  cut  smooth. 
R.  c.  s. 
Montgomery  Ward  £?  (9. 
New  Spring  Catalogue 
Our  Friendly  Neighbors,  the  Stars 
It  is  as  desirable  to  know  the  stars  by 
name  as  to  recognize  the  wild  flowers, 
butterflies  and  birds,  and  it  is  easily  pos¬ 
sible.  For  years  I  regretted  not  having 
learned  the  constellations,  but  did  not 
realize  that  I  could  study  astronomy 
without  a  teacher.  Finally  a  pastor  who 
was  an  enthusiast  on  the  subject  recom¬ 
mended  to  me  a  book  entitled  "Astronomy 
with  an  Opera  Glass,”  which  contains 
star  maps.  With  these,  and  even  without 
a  glass,  I  found  that  it  required  only  one 
or  two  evenings  each  month,  "in  the  dark 
of  the  moon,”  to  become  pleasantly  ac¬ 
quainted  with  the  most  important  con¬ 
stellations  visible  to  us  in  northern  lati¬ 
tudes,  and  to  learn  the  names  of  the 
brightest  stars.  Since  then,  as  they 
come  back  to  us  with  the  recurring  se:i- 
sons,  they  seem  like  old  friends. 
After  a  time  I  obtained  a  field  glass 
and  enjoyed  its  marvelous  revelations  of 
star  clusters  and  double  stars,  otherwise 
undistinguishable,  but  it  was  really  of  no 
use  in  tracing  constellations.  Had  I  not 
possessed  good  eyesight,  however,  an 
opera  glass — which  does  not  reveal  so 
great  and  confusing  a  number  of  stars — 
would  have  been  helpful. 
Country  dwellers  have  an  especial  ad 
vantage  in  being  able  to  obtain  an  unob¬ 
structed  view  of  the  heavens.  The  firs, 
astronomers  were  shepherds  and  herds¬ 
men,  who  observed  the  sun,  moon  and 
stars  while  watching  their  flocks  from 
year  to  year  in  the  open  fields.  There 
are  on  record  some  observations  of 
eclipses  and  conjunctions  made  by  Glial- 
deans  and  by  Chinese  more  than  2,000 
years  before  Christ. 
A  friend  of  mine  who  has  always  lived 
in  town  or  city  knows  only  one  conste  la 
tion,  the  Great  Bear,  or  “Big  Dipper." 
although  she  is  in  other  respects  an  un¬ 
usually  intelligent  woman.  She  has  ,rnv 
eled  around  the  world.  Once,  when  in 
Alaska,  she  says,  she  was  feeling  some¬ 
what  awed  amid  the  strangeness  «  f  im¬ 
pressive  mountain  scenery,  when  she  sud¬ 
denly  noted,  hanging  above  a  mountain 
peak,  the  familiar  “Big  Dipper,”  and  was 
thrilled  as  if  by  meeting  an  old  friend. 
How  mucb  greater  would  have  been  her 
pleasure  had  she  known  all  the  visible 
constellations  as  well ! 
The  very  names  of  many  stars  have  a 
peculiar  interest  for  us,  being  handed 
down  from  eai'liest  times.  In  the  Book 
of  Job,  ix,  9,  we  read  of  Arcturus,  Orion, 
and  the  Pleiades ;  and  again,  of  the 
“sweet  influence  of  the  Pleiades”  in  Chap¬ 
ter  xxxviii,  31,  32.  Winter,  which  brings 
a  more  glorious  display  of  stars  than  any 
other  season,  is  a  specially  favorable 
time  for  beginning  to  know  them.  If  you 
do  no  more,  at  least  learn  to  recognize 
the  mighty  hunter,  Orion. 
GRACE  AGNES  TIMMERMAN. 
Bread  Made  with  Homemade  Yeast 
Several  times  I  have  noticed  articles  in 
The  R.  N.-Y.  about  homemade  yeast. 
Perhaps  my  way  will  help  someone. 
Being  born  and  raised  in  the  city,  I 
found  when  I  came  to  the  farm  that  my 
greatest  difficulty  was  in  supplying  my¬ 
self  with  provisions  enough  for  a  week. 
I  was  always  “out”  of  something,  but  my 
greatest  trouble  was  with  yeast.  The 
compressed  would  not  keep  long  enough, 
and  the  dry  yeast  was  so  slow  to  rise  that 
it  never  made  good  bread.  Then  I  tried 
“setting”  yeast,  and  found  it  made  lots 
better  bread,  and  was  cheaper.  This  is 
my  method : 
Boil  two  or  three  medium  potatoes  in 
clear  water  until  very  tender ;  pour  off 
the  water  and  mash  very  fine.  Put  back 
the  water  and  add  enough  cold  water  to 
make  it  about  blood  heat.  Dissolve  one 
cake  of  dry  yeast  in  this.  Keep  a  jar 
just  for  yeast.  (I  always  use  a  half-gal- 
lon  one  for  our  family  of  four)'.  Pu.t  into 
your  yeast  jar  three  tablespoons  of  sugar, 
one  teaspoon  of  salt,  and  the  potato  wa¬ 
ter  and  dissolved  yeast  cake.  Fill  the 
jar  within  about  two  inches  of  the  top 
with  water  that  has  had  the  chill  taken 
off.  Partially  seal  your  jar  and  set  in  a 
place  free  from  drafts.  1  always  set  my 
yeast  at  noon  and  set  my  bread  just  after 
supper.  You  can  tell  if  your  yeast  is 
good  or  not.  Sometimes  mine  runs  clear 
out  of  the  jar,  and  it  always  fills  it. 
When  I  make  my  bread  I  sift  my  flour 
into  the  bread  pan,  add  sugar,  salt  and 
lard,  and  rub  it  all  up  together  while  it 
is  dry.  Then  I  pour  the  yeast  (all  except 
about  two  inches  in  the  bottom  of  the 
jar,  which  is  saved  for  “starter”  for  next 
baking),  over  the  flour,  and  work  well 
adding  more  flour  if  needed.  I  find  tha 
the  first  working  of  bread  is  the  main 
working.  Seal  the  “starter”  in  the  jar 
you  have  it  in  and  set  in  the  fruit  closet. 
Once  in  a  while  in  the  Summer  I  think  ! 
it  advisable  to  add  another  yeast  cnk< 
when  setting  the  yeast,  but  in  the  Wintei 
I  never  do.  I  also  find  that  this  veast  , 
makes  fine  raisin  bread,  and  by  adding  a  | 
few  eggs  (two  or  three)  when  making  up 
the  bread,  you  will  have  some  delicious 
rusks.  In  the  Summer  I  bake  twice  a 
week,  and  most  of  the  time  in  the  Winter 
but  if  for  any  reason  I  do  not  use  my 
“starter”  once  a  week  I  like  to  start  new 
a£ain*  MRS.  F.  J.  B. 
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