Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1897-02-07
LATEST FADS NOW.
sPINNING-WHEELs AND KNITTING
NEEDLES IN DEMAND.
DUCHESS OF FIFE SETS The PACE.
New York Society Ladies' Are fo'-
lowing Suit-Whir of the Wheei
to n. Heard In salons Now-Quilt-
ing Parties and Knitting bees'
ocorrespondence of the Dispatch)

girls: coming by royal roaus anu
through fancy's golden gates. NO long
er despised and forsaken the cruue
implements OF your homely Tolls ana
that erstwhile represented the thrifty
labors OF your great-g-andmothers, as
far back as the record goes. are 'o-uaS
being adapted and manipulated by the
high and mighty.
In three different newspapers-mah-
moth editions. Sunday issues-from as
many great cities, I read that the SPIN
| ning-wheeIs. the knitting needles, ana
the quilting frames are the latest fads
| in fashionable industry. To be sure the
| spinning-wheel has not been altogether
| IGNORED. mind me OF seeing that
kind Of a wheel in the elegant salon Oh
a city BELLE but it was so gilded WIFI
gold paint, and bedecked In sage-green
| and pale-pink ribbons that I've 30 DOUBT
| II shuddered within itself at the strange
| incongruity, and / know that IL some
pale, sweet ghost of its ancient mistress
| had fitted about In the wee sila
hours" and caught one glimpse OF IL
between the lace curtains. she would
have dematerialzed then and there.
DUCHESS OF FIFE SPINS.
| But these later spinning wheels are
not TO be left in innocuous idleness. My
grace the Duchess of Fife. spins the
yarn for her husbands golf stocklh8''
and the society ladies OF New YORK are
| following suit and learning that SPIN
ming is both healthful and beautifui. Ihe
| dreanv musical whir-r-r, whir-r-r OF
the spinning wheel is resttul 10 the
| nerves and the even, monotonous mo-
tion of the spinner, as the long skeins
wind I'm and out gives an undulating
grace to the body that is perfectly fasci-
| mating.
Spinning is an art. The dear old
Grandmother will doubtless be brought
ont 70 initiate the blossoming daughters
If the house in the labor of 'ye olden
tyme." This pretty by-play of hun
dred years ago will be a thing Of beauty
and a joy-while il lasts; for, OF course
there will be spinning-parties, and the
gentlemen will be invited; else, where
would be the use, you known or these.
there may chance to be a nearer one
vet and a dearer one" TO some lovely
Priscilla: and II he will hold the rolls
and be very, very good, the first pair OF
gorgeous stockings may, perhaps. adorn
| his shapely limbs when he takes morn
| ing spin" on the wheel, not dreamed OF
| by our ancestors.
THE QUILTING-BEE
Another development backward is the
auiltng-bee of the gay Four Hundred.
| The main difference between here and
| there-between the country cabin and the
| drawng-room, seems TO be the Time
Here we gather together early in the
morning, and quilt away, licketty-cllp'
| until the quilt is finished. There, 1t
will be an afternoon affair Here the
| boys come at night. and the fun begins
when the work is done There. II ell
goes together; and the young gentlemen
keep company, while the lady workers
| show how domestic they can be. one
thing. I'll venture to say, that no big
room" OF a farmhouse was ever so
messed up as that city drawing-room
will be while those blessed girls try
to initiate a country quilting-bee. Onion
| strings and punches Of red pepper, dried
apples. and ears OF corn, will hang from
| the chandelier, and l would not be sur
prised to see a load Of hay banked pro-
| rniscuously about the pictures and the
window-frames. There, will also be a
difference in the quilts. Silks and vel
vets. soft ribbons and brocade patches
| with sewing-slks 10 match, VIII ne
handled by fair women in quaint. old
fashioned frocks and puffs and caps.
7
| print dress. and her patchwork quilt Will
| be built Of green, and red. and yello"
calico in the fools puzzle" or the log
cabin" or the "true-love-knot." with
perhaps. a border of flying geese" in
blue and white.
DEATH IN COLD STEEL
OF all the instruments to pierce the
heart masculine. believe there is no
thing so dangerous as cold steel-the
elittering cold steel of the knittng-nee-
| dies. Given a set Of knitting-needies,
a low chair. and a pretty woman
with snowy fingers, and l don't know
ANYTHING so sure OF ENHANCEMENT, not
| excepting the strands Of wool a man
binds upon his lifted hands while his
| fair vis-a-vls slowly winds 1t in a grow
| ing ball. Perhaps this is an innocent
country coquetry that winds up two
hearts into one and makes love so real,
and an engagement so close and binding
when It is once made.
The ice has been fine for skating, and
our young people have not been slow TO
enjoy the sport. Parties have been made
| that took the creek from just below At
| ton to Woods mill and Rockfish river,
seven miles away, Snd made the skating
| trip without a break.
The last snow has been good for the
wheat. and the weather not so windy or
| intensely cold as 70 keep US indoors.
WINTER SPORTS.
People who have not tried II do not
| know the pleasure of walking in coun-
try where the snow lies solid. and other
| amusements are few and far between. a
| burning August day cannot raise the
| temperature of ones blood 50 high as this
simple striding over the snow, that seems
10 spring from under the feet like grass,
while the air, tingling and exhilarating,
| prevents eXaustion.
| Coasting down hill is a popular diver
sion with young rural'folk; Of course. we
may come croDper-head first i'm drift,
| but a snow-bath is not harmful, and for
keeping warm in cold weather outdoor
| sports are best.
! There IS some destitution here. but re-
lies is freely given, and since the ground
| hog handed I'm his bulletin for an early
| spring we can get through the winter
without great suffering II that bristly
/ rodent saw so much as the shadow of
his nose last Tuesday be must have seen
IL by a big fire i'm his alternating quar-
| tiers, because there was no ray of sun
shine the whole long. dull day.
Mr. William Grayson. who lives some
miles below Alton, is very III.
John Oyerton Goodwin. Of Stanton, is
/ at nome, near avon.
An unusually large number Of hawks
are seen about here. They are probably
driven In by the severely cold weather.
Mr.. Clarence Goodloe. o. the railway
service. who has been visiting his mother,
returned to Washington Wednesday.
Mrs. Mary j. Watkins of Lone Nine"
! IS a guest at Oman.
Mr.. Carol, Of Rhodes church. is quite
| sick with the grip. His last two ap-