Women and the Home

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16780, 8 July 1922, Page 17

Women and the Home

CONTRIBUTIONS BY SPECIAL WRITERS

A CURE FOR NEURITIS. This has proved to be wonderfully efficacious in painful attacks of neuritis, which have resisted every other Treatment. Thoroughly saturate the affected part in pure, olive oil. then -warm a piece of linen at. the fire, till it is so hot that it is almost scorched. Place the linen on the oiled surface, and allow it to remain until all the moisture has been absorbed. Repeat three or four times, and wrap the limb neck, hand or foot, as the case may he. in an old. soft pices of silk. The relief is instantaneous. Care must be taken to cover completely the surface with oil, otherwise blisters will form and only real linen, no matter how old, must he used. This treatment may he repeated several times daily, in severe cases, but an application at bedtime is generally ail that is needed. The oil penetrates and feeds the exhausted nerves, while the beat clrivs out the inflammation of the sheath of the nerve which is the primary cause of neuritis. MANAGEMENT OF HUSBANDS. To get. happiness for herself and for her husband a girl must be taught as much as possible about the psychology of men, -ays a- writer in an English exchange. The average girl knows very little about men, and much of her knowledge is gained second-hand from s-cbool teachers, who are, very often, suffering from a neurotic prejudice against the male sex. All of us know at least one woman, probably more, who is a bad housekeeper, has no taste in dress and not very much intelligence, ami yet who lias managed to keep her husband’s love for many ye,r’« ! She knows how to manage her What girls need to he taught are just a few things like this:—• \ man likes to feci that he is much. \\i>cr and stronger than his wife. (This does not necessarily moan that she can really lean upon him. but only that she must make enough demands upon his tenderness to keep it alive). A man is not a villain because he i s occasionailv attracted by another woman and the attraction yill only bo permanent if t-lie wife is alternately tearful or defiantly angry. A man needs a listener in the liomo rather than a conversationalist. A man needs a certain amount of solitude. The modern idea that a woman should he an intellectual companion to her husband is responsible for much of the matrimonial troubles of to-da-y> A man respect? efficiency, but does not like it thrust down his throat. A wife should have many secrets fiom her husband. If a woman does not make love oeca67onally to her husband, some other woman will. What is really wanted is a. sound psychological training and six months in the male wards of a hospital or working in an office among men.

USEFUL RUGS. Rugs made of knitted, crocheted and hooked rags have become so popular, in recent months, that some enterprising manufacturers have put on the market skeins of rags cut the right size for U6C, dyed all the colours in the rainbow. The colours aro fast both to washing and to sun, and m> one need hesitate about making them up into rugs. These skeins weigh half a pound, and sell for forty cent© a skein. Five skeins arc usually sold for a rug. which will measure 2Tin by 365, when completed. These prepared rags have one selvage edge, which add to the strength. From the appearance of the rage, new material seems to have been rnsed in preparing them.

The colours range from soft blues, grays and browns for the body of the rug, to vivid orange, scarlet, yellow and bright greens for the stripes. In fact, every shade and every colour, including black and white, may be found among the skeins of prepared rage, which are crushed in the dye bath into a compact formeasy to handle and to work with. WOODEN NEEDLES USED. Wooden knitting needles of almost any length are for sale in the shops, and the knitted rug or runner may be made, depending in width upon the length of the needles available. Orange and black seems to be a favourite combination in these knitted rugs. The knitted runner for stairs is a new item. This is made in two shades or two colours, one in a stripe wide enough to go on to the step, and the other for the width from step to step. Sometimes such a runner will match the carpets

in the stripe that fits on the step, and the walls in the other part. Large wooden crochet hooks are for sale, at an average price of twenty-five cents, for making the crocheted rugs. The crocheted rugs, shown as patterns in the shops, where- the rags are for sale, are quite as pretty and effective rugs of this kind as have been offered anywhere. This is probably accounted for 'by the -perfection of the dyes and the consistent width and weight of the rags. The dyed rags are for sale in nearly all department .shops, and other shops devoted to needlecraft.

In making the crocheted rugs in the oval shape, the right proportion is attained by beginning with a chain of 25 stitches, into which are put 25 single crochet stitches, an additional one going into the end of the chain. Then 25 more single crochet stitches go into the other side of the chain, and one extra stitch in the end chain stitch fbr the turn. In the second row, two additional stitches should be added at the ends, and, in the third row, three additional stitches. From the third row on. the number of additional stitches depends upon the individual work going into the rug, although three additional stitches at each end in each row ought to be sufficient. Some women will crochet a. much looser web than others, and the number of additional stitches for enlarging I:hc rug will be fewer. Enough additional stitches should be added at the ends of the rug to keep it from curling, and allow it to lie flat on the floor.

If the rug is to be round, begin with a chain of five stitches. Close the circle, and put eight double crochet stitches into the circle. Add three additional stitches in every round, being careful to see that the additional stitches come at different places in each circle. The colours may be combined to please the individual taste, or to match the colour scheme of the room. A pretty one of soft brown was on display, completed with two orange stripes. The entire centre was of brown, and two rows of crocheting formed each of the orange stripes, a brown stripe completing the rug These crocheted rugs may bo made large enough to cover the floor of a bedroom, or n. sun parlour, and are quickly made, for the rags arc fairly heavy. THEIR, BASE IS BURLAP. The hooked rugs are made on a burlap base, which has been stretched taut on a wooden frame. The pattern of the rug should be drawn on the burlap with India ink, and a large steel crochet hook used for drawing the loops of rags through the burlap base. If the prepared rags arc used for hooked rugs, very loose weavo burlap should be used, for the rags are too heavy for the fine mesh burlap. The beauty of the hooked rugs depends upcVi all the. loops being drawn through the burlap an even distance. Colour combinations and patterns may* be made to suit any room. Two shades of the same colour make effective booked rugs, as, for instance, a soft brown centre with a darker brown | stripe around the edge, in imitation of the two-tone velour rugs. In making any of these rugs, of course, the materials from the family rag bag may be dyed the .proper shades and used; but. in these days of small apartments, the yield from the rag bag is usually scanty, so the rug maker turns gladly to the shops that sell the prepared rugs. There is usually someone there who will start the work, and give any necessary instructions as it progresses, without charge. The gentle art of rugmaking, which harks backs to our grandmother’s day, is being revived with all the enthusiasm which modeflh means and methods create.