Spring and All That...

Spring
by Pablo Neruda

The bird has come
to bring light to birth.
From every trill of his,
water is born.

And in between the water and light
which unwind in the air,
the spring is now beginning,

now the seed is aware of its own growing;
the root takes shape in the corolla,
at last the eyelids of the pollen open.

All this accomplished by a simple bird
from his perch on a green branch.



My same friend who send me the vintage booklets in my last post, sent me this beautiful page of spring sweaters from an unknown vintage magazine. It looks very much like the Needlework Magazine, printed in Augusta Maine and spanning the globe in distribution. And I appear to be correct in that assumption, because I just went to look at this page again and it says clearly: The New Sweaters, selected by the Needlework Editors!

The drawings - quite beautiful! - were made by M.E. Musselman and all reflect a lighter brighter sensibility for Spring. I love the greens especially, but the coral oranges are spot on for this year's trend of tangerine!



In the description, silk is extolled as the perfect fiber for this time of year. They go on to say that silk sweaters are "chiefly ready-made garments" and "It is a matter of personal choice between the silk and the worsted, as both are good. The worsted sweater, however, can be made more easily by hand than a silk one." Ah, don't I know it!



I am very drawn to scarves that incorporate hoods, and it appears that this is a fashion trend over 100 years old.

Scarfs in silks and in worsteds, too, offer most pleasing substitutes for fur neck-pieces for every-day wear, especially for the school girl and the business girl, and for outings in kinds of weather they are just the thing.
Illustrated in the upper left-hand corner is a very new cap and scarf with crocheted flowers. This design can be carried out in many charming colours - in blue with red roses, in orange with blank bands and deep yellow roses, in pale blue with pink roses, in grey with white roses, etc.
For motoring or driving a scarf hood in worsted, as illustrated above, is a real luxury. It is all in one piece.

And finally, a little note at the bottom says that a pamphlet containing the working directions for the items shown will be supplied for 15 cents. Oh how I wish that someone had sent away for this pamphlet and that it had made its way into my hands! I would love to make the motoring hood-scarf, the white center-top sweater-jacket, the coral Spencer with its gathered neckline on the right, and the green cut-away sweater with its white collar and cuffs on the left - just for wearing in the Spring!