Poem

"Poet Opal Blaisdell Lenox hints at the very real person--all knitters can relate--beneath the idealized veneer of another Victorian knitter:

Milady, at the open window, sits

With countenance serene and look demure,

Her downcast eyes contributing allure.

The blush upon her cheek that glows and flits,

Adds glamour that demoralizes wits;

And waning sun with touch so light and sure,

Makes of her hair a golden halo pure.

But modestly, Milady simply knits,

Intent upon the swiftly rhythmic flash

Of gleaming needles that is never stopped--

While world and I adore her beauty fair.

But now I rise and quickly close the sash,

For I have noted that a stitch is dropped,

And World--you must not hear Milady swear!"

Quoted in Susan M. Strawn, Knitting America: A Glorious Heritage from Warm Socks to High Art (St. Paul: Yoyageur Press, 2007), 26-27.