The excellence of the needle depends upon the points of the prongs being true and close together.

CROCHET AND TAMBOUR NEEDLES.

Crochet needles, sometimes called Shepherds' hooks, are made of steel, ivory, or box-wood. They have a hook at one end similar in shape to the barb of a fish-hook, by which the wool or silk is caught and drawn through the work. These instruments are to be procured of various sizes, but their excellence depends more on the proper fashioning of the hook, than on the material of which they are manufactured. The smaller sizes, and those used for tambour work, must necessarily be of steel; these are frequently made of the length of an ordinary sized sewing needle, that they may be fixed into a handle, which, by means of a small screw, is capable of holding needles of various sizes. The larger steel crochet needles, are sometimes made with a fixed ivory or ebony handle,-others, entirely of steel. They are generally about four or five inches in length. Ivory needles are also made of various sizes, and with differently formed hooks, according to the dimensions of the thread they are intended to carry.

FILIÈRE.

A filière or gauge, is a steel instrument with graduated notches round its edges, distinguished by different figures. It is used by wire-drawers for ascertaining the sizes of their wires, and is applied in a similar manner, for measuring the diameters of netting and knitting needles; thus,-when speaking of the relative size of these needles, they are frequently designated by their correspond

ing numbers; but, as has been before observed, there appears to be no universal standard.

We do not acknowledge as an embroidery frame, any of a less simple construction than the flat or four-piece frame, composed of two bars, to which the webbings are attached, and two side laths, with holes pierced at regular distances for receiving the pegs to keep the bars in their right position.

These are made

of various sizes, varying from four inches to three yards in length, and are proportionably useful for very small pieces of work, when they may be held in the hand, or, for pieces of the greatest magnitude, when their size and weight become sufficient to keep them steady, placed upon trestles. Large frames are useful for working satin or velvet where it does not admit of being rolled. This description of frame is the least expensive, being formed principally of common mahogany, cedar, or beech. The knee, or table frame, has a flat piece of wood forming the stand, whereon two upright pieces are fixed to support the frame, which can be adjusted at any angle required, by means of thumbscrews attached to the joints. These frames are generally made

pieces with feet

from eight to twenty-seven inches in the webbing; they are adapted for work of all widths within these limits, and of any moderate length, where it will not injure by rolling round the bars. The standing frame consists of two upright placed on the ground, connected together by stretcher; these support the frame, which is fixed the same manner as that already described. from twenty inches to a yard and a quarter. Frames of this

cross bar or

on the top in

They vary in size,

kind are sometimes made with toothed wheels and other contrivances, for rolling and unrolling the work without taking it out; but they are apt to get out of order, and are more clumsy and less suitable for ladies, than those of a more simple construction. Both standing and table frames are frequently made of the finest and most expensive woods, when they may be rendered most elegant pieces of furniture for the boudoir. The upright frames have sometimes baskets attached at either side,at once convenient and ornamental.

Embroidery frames require to be well made, that when screwed together they may be perfectly firm and square. When of a moderate size, those in which the side-laths or cross-bars are formed into screws are preferable, as they can be more readily, and with greater precision, adjusted to the required width, by means of the nuts. The greatest essential in a good frame is, that the cross-bars, as well as the rollers on which the webbing is fixed, should be sufficiently stout to prevent its twisting or bending when the work is tightly stretched in it.*

TAMBOUR FRAMES.

Tambour frames, whereon the material is stretched like the parchment of a drum-whence their name-are now seldom employed, although formerly much used when tambour-work was the fashion. They are formed of two hoops, covered with cloth or baize, the material being stretched on the inner, and kept in its place by the outer hoop, tightened by means of a thumb-screw; it is, however, impossible to secure it as firmly as in the square embroidery frame.

SCREW EMBROIDERY FRAMES.

These are sometimes made for small pieces of work, to hold in the hand. They consist of two rollers with webbings, and two side bars in the form of screws. By having an inside screw turned in the holes of the rollers, neither nuts nor pegs are required. When the work is attached to the webbings, by merely turning the side bars it may be sufficiently stretched.

The con

* When of a very large size, a moveable centre bar or stretcher may be found useful.

struction of this frame is similar to that of a purse stretcher, but it has no recommendation except in its neat appearance.

D'OYLEY AND SHAWL FRAMES.

wm.

Brass pins

These are made square or triangular, large or small, in accordance with the purpose for which they are intended. are fixed at equal distances in a slanting direction on the top, round which the wool or cotton employed in making D'Oyleys, or other articles, is to be wound.

MESHES FOR RAISED WORK.

Meshes for raised work-generally of bone or boxwood-vary from a sixteenth to two or three inches in width, and larger sizes are occasionally to be found. They are used for regulating the length of the looped stitches, which are afterwards to be divided; they also greatly assist in rendering the work both tight and firm, by the resistance they offer. Meshes are sometimes made with a groove on one side, as a guide for the scissors to pass along in the cutting of the loops.

For the more highly finished descriptions of raised work, a steel mesh, with a cutting edge on one part similar to the an