Beeton's Book of Needlework
Beeton's Book of Needlework was originally published in Great Britain
in 1870 by Ward, Lock and Tyler. This facsimile edition published in Great
Britain in 1986 by Chancellor Press, 59 Grosvenor Street London W 1
Samuel Butler's Preface
The Art of Needlework dates from the earliest record of the world's
history, and has, also, from time immemorial been the support, comfort,
or employment of women of every rank and age. Day by day, it increases
its votaries, who enlarge and develop its various branches, so that any
addition and assistance in teaching or learning Needlework will be
welcomed by the Daughters of England, "wise of heart," who work
diligently with their hands.
The recent introduction of Point Lace has brought a finer, and,
apparently, more difficult class of fancy work into general favour.
Ladies may now, however, confidently commence, with our patterns before
them, to reproduce Antique laces; for care and patience, with a
knowledge of Point Lace stitches, are alone required to perfect the
beautiful work, which, as shown in existing specimens of exquisite Old
Lace, constitute the chief glory of women's refined industry in past
centuries.
Instructions in Tatting, in Embroidery, in Crochet, in Knitting and Netting, in Berlin Wool Work, in Point Lace, and Guipure d'Art are prefixed to the pages devoted to these separate branches of needlework. The whole work is interspersed with coloured and other Patterns ... and Designs for Monograms and
Initials for marking handkerchiefs and table-linen. The quantity of materials required for each class of work is also given with every pattern.
The idea of combining a series of minute and exact instructions in fancy
needlework with useful patterns was conceived some years ago by one
whose life was devoted to the inculcation of the practical duties of
woman's life, and to assisting her sex in their daily work of Household Management and Refinement.
View the complete book at Project Gutenberg on the Internet Archive:
Every Pattern and Stitch Described and Engraved with the utmost
Accuracy, and the Exact Quantity of Material requisite for each Pattern
stated
Articles
Roberta McReynolds, I've Heard Aquariums are Soothing: "Have you calculated how much this all cost per ten-cent goldfish we have in there?" I mused ... Okay, so we haven’t quite reached that anticipated level of relaxation yet, but I’m sure we will soon. Maybe after we spackle the sheet-rock and paint the living room
Doris O'Brien, Rooting for Our Roots: Family cads become charismatic figures; ordinary people eking out a living are viewed as unsung heroes who braved adversity; a suffocating shop transport in steerage class morphs into a grand ocean voyage of discovery to the New World
Hobbies Research
The Pew Internet & American Life Project published a survey regarding Online Activities and Pursuits:
A telephone survey conducted in February-March 2007 found that fully 83% of online Americans say they have used the internet to seek information about their hobbies and 29% do so on a typical day. Looking for information about hobbies is among the most popular online activities, on par with shopping, surfing the web for fun, and getting news.
Online hobby research can inspire a person to travel, through activities like historical
tourism, or inspire new experiences at home, like cooking or gardening. The Internet can
provide detailed information about even the most obscure hobby and can connect
hobbyists of every stripe. Taxidermists can find just the right glass eye to complete a
stuffed owl. Collectors can scour far-away troves to find that one quilt, stamp, comic
book, or baseball card they desire.
The Internet has also led to the creation of entirely new hobbies, as in the case of
Geocaching — a hide-and-seek type of game using an interactive website and GPS
technology. Keeping a multimedia diary in the form of a blog is another uniquely online
pursuit.
The Internet plays a crucial or important role for one-quarter of online hobbyists
This growing use of the Internet for hobby information tracks a trend we have seen in
other surveys.
In a survey completed in March 2005, we asked all Americans if they had started a new
hobby or became more involved with a hobby within the previous two years. Some 27%
of Internet users said they had and, of those, 28% said the Internet played a crucial or
important role as they delved into the hobby.
Fantasy Congress
"Fantasy Congress™ offers you the power to 'play politics.' As in other fantasy sports, you — the Citizen —- draft a team of real-life legislators from the US Congress and score points for your team's successes. Join a league and compete against other Citizens, or form a league of your own! Play against your friends, family, bloggers, fellow politicos, or even a sitting U.S. Senator (one could be playing incognito, you never know!). On weekends, move Members of Congress into your active line-up or off your team to strategize for the upcoming week of legislation!"
Now instead of football or baseball fantasy leagues, you can "
create an account, join a league, draft a team of real U.S. Members of
Congress and have fun as you compete to score as many points as
possible. As the Members of Congress you drafted put real legislation
through the lawmaking process they will score points for your team.
"
This is a game that might answer those questions as to where do proposed bills go (in theory) that you so anxiously hoped might pass and conversely, do those petitions you sign ever figure into congress's decision making?
In actuality, the site also draws " from the broadest and most up-to-date database of its kind, it ranks sitting members of Congress by legislative efficacy and other criteria."
Labyrinths & Mazes
The Labyrinth Society, not surprisingly, has a thorough education section that outlines different types of labyrinths. Here are a few classic examples:
Classical three circuit: Examples: Cretan coins of circa 300 to 70 BCE.
Created with a seed pattern of a cross and a dot in each quadrant, this labyrinth has three paths.
Turf labyrinth installation, Valbypark Garden Festival, Denmark.
The Man in the Maze circuit (with seven paths) is located in
Tohono O'dam, Southern Arizona, USA
The Classical 15 path circuit is exemplified by another Danish labyrinth at
Roerslev: Created with a seed pattern of a cross, three right angles, and a dot in each quadrant, this labyrinth has 15 paths.
If, of course, you'd like to make your own labyrinth, that's possible with
a Classical Seven Circuit scheme. On the other hand, virtual labyrinths are on the Web to be toured.
And, the Society's information also include mazes:
The majority of early mazes, however
complex their design may appear, were essentially formed from one continuous
wall with many junctions and branches. If the wall surrounding the goal of a
maze is connected to the perimeter of the maze at the entrance, the maze can
always be solved by keeping one hand in contact with the wall, however many
detours that may involve. These "simple" mazes are correctly known as "Simply-connected."
The hedge maze at Chevening House, England, c.1820, was one of the first consciously designed to provide a more complex puzzle and thwart the "hand-on-wall" rule for solving mazes.
Fortunately, the Labyrinthos Photo Library affords us illustrations of labyrinths, both past and present.
One of the other illustrated sites (slow loading because of the size of the photos) created by Helmer Aslaksen begins with
the Paleolithic period (from 20,000 BC) and progresses through “The 'Imprint, ' a hedge maze design in the shape of a foot in Gloucestershire. Built in1975, it is based on the Minotaur design and portrays the footprint of a Colossus.”
Aslaksen also cites
"The Mirror Maze at Lucerne in Switzerland which uses multiple
reflections to increase puzzlement" and the
"Chemin de Jerusalem, the labyrinth design within the pavement of the nave of Chartres Cathedral which is the earliest surviving example of the medieval Christian design. It is unique because of its central “rose” and the 112 cusps around the outside. Its design is of an 11-circuit labyrinth (instead of the pagan seven-ring cretan one) broken up by a cross laid over the entire design."
Bird and Artist Registries
While looking for a technology news source at the Stanford University Birds of Stanford site, we came across paired registries that identify new sightings as well as original art portraying birds. Both are of interest to those who are 'birders' and just those who admire ornithological art:
The Birds of Stanford "academic reserve is home to many things, some of them icons for the university's identity: laboratory buildings, splendid outdoor sculpture, the Quad, Frost, Hoover Tower, and the Oval. It has also left room for Nature.The Arboretum, the edges of Lagunita, and the "ears" of the Oval — left in native vegetation in Frederick Law Olmsted's original plan — provide pleasant places to walk and explore."
"And the campus is home to about 125 species of birds — and every year students, faculty, alumni and neighbors walk the campus with binoculars practicing one of America's fastest-growing hobbies. In fact the character of central campus receives some of special character from the birds with which we share it: the Cliff Swallows that return each March to nest under the Quad's eaves, the Acorn Woodpeckers with their weird laughs and their nut-storage habits, and the White-throated Swifts who hawk insects high above Green Library. All are part, though for many an unacknowledged part, of the campus as we know it or remember it."
But it is the Artists' Registry that particularly captured our long established but casual interest in birds:
The registry is designed for ornithological researchers seeking original art to accompany their publications and seek to encourage the creation of great, biologically informative bird art, to expand the publication and exhibition of high-end images, and to broaden the audience interested in learning about advances in bird biology and challenges to conservation efforts
For instance, artist
Nicole van Axx uses an impressionistic style of painting birds:
"I try to recreate emotion in the eyes of my models while using as few strokes as possible to indicate character." Her preferred field is birds of prey with highly colored plumage.
Charley Harper employs a minimal realism style, working in acrylic:
"I try to reduce my subjects to the simplest possible visual terms without losing identity, thereby enhancing identity."
Australian
Krystii Melaine is interested in the
larger species, water birds, raptors, hornbills, toucans, owls, parrots & cockatoos, pigeons:
"To capture the essence of a wild creature on canvas, and to share the pure joy of the natural world with others — this is what I live for!"
Enjoy the Artist's Registry.
The Sudoku Obsession
We first we heard about the Sudoku puzzle preoccupation on The BBC's World program, complete with a London Daily Telegraph link. Naturally, the goal was to find other listings for frequent Sudoku puzzles and there are many, one that assumes everyone on the earth has heard of this phenom.
The BBC site defines the name in this way:
Su means number in Japanese
Doku translates as singular or solitary, or can mean bachelor
The object is to
insert numbers in the given grid to satisfy only
one condition: each row, column and 3x3 box must contain the digits 1
through 9 exactly once.
A feature of the London Daily Telegraph's section is Andrew Stuart's Sudoku Assistant, a tool that every solver will try not to use.
"The Sudoku Assistant is not something that churns out a solution in milliseconds, but is a software that will allow you to step through your solving process number by number. If you are learning the more difficult strategies, you can see where twins and other logic schemes might get you past a sticking point. In the spirit of the Telegraph sudoku community, Andrew Stuart has made his code free access and is available to other sites with suitable acknowledgement."
An Australian site provides free puzzles.
Birding Links
The useful
site organized by Robert White of the Bergen
County (NJ) Cooperative Library System published a number of
bird sites. Following Julia Sneden's article, For
the Birds, we thought birders would find them of help, too.
Flight of the Raptor
@ http://www.flightoftheraptor.com/index.html
Recently
I got to see these birds fly at a falconry lecture/demonstration.
It was a lot of fun to watch the birds swooping low over the heads
of the audience, chasing their master's lures, and perching in the
tent before and after the show. The falconer spoke of her respect
for the birds and of their trust in her. The website includes some
pretty nice photos and a list of places and dates where they will
be appearing. If your paths cross I encourage you to go see these
beautiful birds.
The Carolina Raptor
Center @ http://www.birdsofprey.org/
"A non-profit organization, CRC's mission is the conservation of
birds of prey through rehabilitation, research, and education."
Track the paths of migrating raptors, learn about raptor research,
visit WebCams (both live and archived) or just enjoy the photo album.
VINS Raptor Center
@ http://www.vinsweb.org/raptor-center/
VINS stand for Vermont Institute of Natural Science and the Raptor
Center is just one of the things that they do to protect "Vermont's
natural heritage through education and research designed to engage
individuals and communities in the active care of their environment."
There's a lot of information here but not enough photos.
Patuxent Bird Identification
InfoCenter
@ http://www.mbr-pwrc.usgs.gov/id/framlst/framlst.html
"Here we present photographs, songs, videos, identification tips,
maps, and life history information for North American birds." You'll
quickly see that this site is not just about raptors, but if you're
wondering what's the difference between a hawk and a falcon, this
is a good place to find out. If you're not especially knowledgeable
about birds (like me) it may seem badly organized at first so be
patient. If you're looking for a bird but you don't know what family
it's in do what I did: use your browser's Find (Ctrl F). That's
how I discovered that the bluebird is a thrush. Once you get to
the information about a particular bird you'll be pleased. It will
come as no surprise that there are plenty of photos of our national
bird, the bald eagle, but I was surprised at how different the immature
birds look from what I was expecting. I suspect that you'll find
this to be this week's most useful URL."
Gift Books about Dogs,
Mammals & Others
Bark
Magazine has
queried a group of writers, artists and friends about their favorite
books about canines. What appeared was a list that cites old favorites,
new entries and 'time-honored classics.'
We second the nomination
of the Martha Speaks, Martha Calling, and Martha
Blah Blah books for children. We especially enjoy Martha
Blah Blah, in which Martha is a victim of corporate downsizing.
An article on author Susan Meddaugh by Eduplace.com
describes it:
" But make no
bones about it, Martha sniffs out the problem and uses her keen
sense of dog-plomacy to save the day. In the process, she learns
just how much her family loves her for who she is, not what she
can say."
We also can recommend
the paperback Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home
by Rupert Sheldrake a scientist who, for his day job, explores morphic
resonance and holistic ideas in biology. The subtitle of the book
continues....And Other Unexplained Powers of Animals...so
not only are our canine friend's talents enumerated, parrots, monkeys,
ferrets and other small mammals' anticipatory behavior and seemingly
telepathic ways are not ignored. The following Sheldrake statement
is an indication of the appeal of the book:
"For me, the most
mysterious kinds of perceptiveness are those premonitions that
cannot be accounted for in terms of telepathy or subtle physical
clues. In these cases, by a process of elimination, precognition
and presentment, events about to happen somehow seem to influence
animals now, alerting them to potential danger."
"I do not pretend
to know how animals' knowledge of the future might work. But at
the very least, the existence of precognition of presentiment
implies a blurring of what is happening now and what is about
to happen."
Family friends Roy Rowan
and Brooke Janis' book, First Dogs, American Presidents and Their
Best Friends, is replete with interesting facts about our leaders
and their doggy friends. Lincoln's dog's paw prints were treasured
by the President's friends as keepsakes. A portrait of Fido was
taken to remind Lincoln's children of their companion left back
in Springfield substantially predating the attitude in the celebrated
Wegman dog portraits.
While we don't know just
how celebrated George W.'s dogs will become during his White House
tenure the Rowan/Janis book does reveal that Barbara Bush's famed
dog, Millie, was once dubbed DC's ugliest dog.
A picture of Lyndon Johnson's
dog, Yuki, being held by the President in a swimming pool, serves
to soften that well-known image of Johnson holding up his pet beagles
by the ears. In fact, Johnson was so fond of Yuki that he sought
to have the dog included in his daughter's formal family wedding
portrait until Lady Bird declared, " That dog is not going
to be in the wedding picture!"
Articles
"After three or four
years of persistent puzzling, a man can become so expert that he
scorns the pencil and eraser and dashes off his diagrams with a
fountain pen. He may even reach the point where he scorns to look
over the shoulder of the man in front of him who is working on the
same newspaper. At this point, for the good of his soul and the
peace of his neighbors, he should take up the making of crossword
patterns for others to sweat and suffer over.
To put together a plausible
puzzle, with enough expansive words and not too many odds and ends
of vocabulary in it, calls for genius and endurance, three dictionaries,
and enough good luck to take a man across the ocean in a bathtub
with an outboard motor. A man making his first crossword puzzles
is all alone in the world. He walks in a trance, while words rattle
around continuously in the hollow parts of his head. He is liable
to rush off at any moment to paw at a dictionary, and he will chase
a spelling variation through three languages and seven centuries.
He makes patterns and changes them, he runs into traffic jams and
must start all over again, he wrestles with words until he is worn
thin and ragged. By three days of heartbreaking labor, during which
he has offended all his friends, ruined his digestion and lost his
job, he gets a puzzle together and hides it safely behind a smokescreen
of definitions.
Then he discovers that
any high-school student can solve it without much trouble in 15
minutes, after which he either commits suicide or leaves the making
of puzzles to people who have nothing better to do."
From The
North American Review,
1929.
"When San Francisco
resident Valarie Arismendez was trapped in New York City after the
September 11 terrorist attacks, it took five days of traveling to
get home to California. On the last leg of the trip, while driving
from Los Angeles to San Francisco, she stopped at a WalMart and
called a friend to find out what size knitting needles would be
good for a beginner. "I just wanted to be at home, in my own space,
doing something constructive I could focus on," said Arismendez.
She is not alone.
Historically, home crafts
such as knitting, quilting, sewing and decorative arts experience
a resurgence in popularity during times of crisis. Save the blankets
for the boys over there, was a popular slogan used during World
War One to encourage women to join quilting campaigns."
Read Crafting
Through Crisis by Rachella Sinclair |