KNITTING CORNER

Taranaki Daily News, 31 March 1934, Page 21 (Supplement)

KNITTING CORNER

A KNITTED CARDIGAN.

“An easily-knitted cardigan, please ! ’ writes a Wendy girl. And we hope all of you will be pleased with the smart little coat Goblin Artist has sketched. It takes about six ounces of “double knitting” wool, and is made on a pair of number six needles. Begin at the back. Cast on fifty stitches,. and knit two inches in a twoplain, two-purl rib. Then . work in garter-stitch (rows of plain knitting), for twelve inches, which brings you to the ' back of the neck. Next row, knit fifI teen stitches, cast off twenty stitches, and knit the next fifteen. Knit back along the next row. When you come to the end of these fifteen stitches, leave them on the needle for the time being, and go back to the first fifteen. Knit them with a spare needle, or, if you haven’t one, put the other set of stitches on to a big safety pin till you’re ready to knit them. You’re now going to work the right front. Knit two rows plain. When you get to the neck-end of the next row, increase by working into the back, as well as the front, of the last stitch. Do the same with the first stitch of the next row, and continue thus, increasing only at the neck-end of each row, until the slanting line you’ve made is about eight inches long. It is quite easy to increase; put the needle into the front of the stitch in the usual way and knit it, then put the needle into the back of the stitch and knit another, instead of completing the first stitch only. When the slanting line is eight inches long, continue in plain knitting without increasing for four inches, and do the last two inches in ribbing to match the back. Now go back to the left shoulder, and work in the same way, increasing at the neck edge, and completing the left front to match the right. The sleeves are straight strips of knitting Measure nine inches up from the back edge of the cardigan, and pick up the stitches along the side for ten inches..

Work in plain knitting till the sleeve is long enough, and finish with two inches of ribbing for a cuff. Do the other sleeve in the same way. Press the garment under a damp cloth, then join the side-seams and underarm 1 seams. Stitch press-studs to the front for fastening, sew two big buttons on top as trimming, and work a /row of double crochet all round the front opening and back of the neck. Double knitting wool stretches a lot when made up, so the finished cardigan should be quite big enough for a girl from ten to fourteen years old. If you think it will be too large or too small, cast on fewer or more stitches when you begin, and adapt the measurements accordingly. Wendy’s Dressmaker. TINY WRITING. I expect many of you think it rather clever to get a whole letter, containing all your news, on four sheets of paper. But have you heard of the man who once wrote 60,040 words on one side .of a postcard ? He was an English dentist, and he held the record for the number of words written on a postcard. There are, however, many other examples of clever penmanship. A Bulgarian wrote 12,000 words on a postcard, and a man from Brussels wrote a life of Napoleon on a card the same size as an ordinary picture postcard. In the library of the University at Jerusalem, there is another rather ■wonderful postcard upon which a young Jew wrote 11,367 Hebrew words. In the library of the Queen’s famous doll’s house, there is a sample of very small writing. On a circle of cardboard the Lord’s Prayer has been written six times, though the circle is only half-an-inch in diameter. In engraving, many men have performed wonderful feats, including the carving of all the letters of the alphabet on the head of an ordinary pin. The most remarkable of all tiny writing, however, was done by. machine, a Fellow of the Microscopical Society having invented a machine that could write so minutely that the writing was invisible to the naked eye. This machine was later destroyed by its inventor, although no one seems to know why! MORE WORK TO DO. South Africa is giving a fine lead to tire less developed countries of the world. Thousands of unemployed are to be settled on the land to carry out important irrigation schemes, tire first big national attempt to help agriculture by conserving the regulating rainfall. One of the largest schemes, costing about four millions, is expected to provide land for 6000 settlers and work for 3000 white labourers. The Government is determined to prevent another disastrous drought, for during the last one millions of cattle and sheep perished. Many of the schemes will be connected with harnessing the Orange River, the Nile of the south, which, like its Egyptian sister, leaves rich deposits of •soil after floods.