referable to
crossing each stitch as you proceed, and gives an improved appearance to
the work.

If you work in tent stitch, work straight, or your performance will be
uneven when taken out of the frame. In all cases begin to go round from
the centre, and work outwards, taking care to fasten off as you finish
with each needleful, which should not be too long, as the wool is
liable to get rough and soiled. It is also necessary to have them
irregular as to length, to prevent the fastenings coming together which
they will be apt to do if this suggestion is not attended to. For
working in tent stitch with single wool, the canvas must not have more
than fourteen threads to an inch; for cross stitch you must have a
canvas not coarser than twenty-two threads to an inch; for the former,
you will for every two and a half square inches require a skein of wool;
in the latter case a skein will cover two inches. Following this
calculation, you can easily ascertain the quantity of wool required for
any piece of work; and it is advisable to purchase all your wool at the
same time, otherwise you will have much trouble in matching the shades.
An attention to these instructions will soon make you a proficient in
the grounding department of the art.

WORKING FIGURES.--This is at once one of the most difficult, and at the
same time one of the most pleasing tasks which the votary of fancy
needlework will have to perform; they generally produce the best effect
when worked in wool and silk, with a judicious mixture of gold and
silver beads. The hair and drapery should be worked in cross stitch; and
the face, neck, and hands, in tent stitch; working four of the latter
for one of the former. To obtain the proper tints for the face, &c., is
no easy task; but it _must_ be carefully attended to, as almost the
whole beauty of the work depends upon it. The shades in these parts of
the figure must be extremely close; indeed upon shading of the features
the perfection of the performance mainly depends. The drapery also
demands considerable care: the shades must be very distinct,
particularly the lighter ones in the folds of the dress; and the back
ground should be subdued as much as possible, that a proper prominence
may be given to the figure: this object will be aided considerably by
working in the lighter shades in silk: any representation of water or of
painted glass, should be worked in the same material. The intention of
the fair worker should