panes,
cradle-coverings, gloves, laces etc. are in great request.

Besides its practical use, knitting is an easy and pleasant pastime that
can be taken up at odd minutes and even carried on, whilst talking, or
reading.

Knitting consists of loops, or stitches, as they are generally called,
formed by means of a thread and two needles.

In round knitting, four, or five needles are necessary for the better
handling of the work.

Through the loops formed in knitting, being connected together in
unbroken continuity, a very elastic fabric is produced, which is
specially suitable for making warm, and closely-fitting
wearing-apparel.

MATERIALS.--Threads with a slight twist, such as Coton a tricoter
D.M.C, are the best. With regard to the thickness of the needles,
whether they be of steel, wood, or bone, your choice must be determined
by the quality of the thread used.

The accompanying table is intended to help inexperienced knitters to
match their needles and thread, we advisedly say, help, as it is
impossible exactly to determine the numbers that will correspond,
because every hand knits differently, and a loose knitter has to use
finer needles than a tight knitter.

Other materials are enumerated here, besides, what is properly speaking,
called knitting-cotton, as for caps, lace edgings, insertions and so
forth, finer kinds of thread and threads with a stronger twist which
show up the pattern better, should be used.

[Illustration: TABLE OF THE APPROXIMATE RELATION OF THE D.M.C THREADS
AND COTTONS TO THE NUMBERS OF THE KNITTING NEEDLES[A].]

POSITION OF THE HANDS IN KNITTING (fig. 341.)--Lay the thread over the
fifth finger of the right hand, and twist it round it, then carry it
over the forefinger, which should be kept close to the work, the work
being held between the third finger and the thumb. The left hand remains
more or less inactive, having merely, by a slight movement of the
forefinger to pass the loops, in succession, on to the needle in the
right hand, which forms the stitches. This position of the hands, which
is the one usually adopted in England and France, is the one represented
in our illustration. The Germans on the contrary, lay the thread over
the left hand, and can move the hands much more quickly, in consequence.
There are some ways of casting on, which can only be done in the German
fashion.

To prevent the irregularity in stitches, the needles should never be
allowed to protrude more th