April 9, 2026

My youngest child, who is nearly three, has discovered my handwork box. He used my sharp scissors to snip into (at least) two balls of yarn and some thread. He previously did not show any interest in my box at all, but lately has begun to remove its contents and spread them around my work area. *sigh*

This, of course, is nothing new to the countless generations of makers before me. I have been reading Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion 1, which is an absolute delight, and it contains an excerpt on page 62 from The Ladies’ Hand-book of Plain Needlework (1842), in the collection of The British Museum:

"...a neat work-box well supplied with all the implements required, (such as scissors, knifes of at least three sizes, needles and pins in sufficient variety, bodkins, thimbles, thread and cotton, bobbins, marking silks, black lead pencils, etc.) should be provided and be furnished with a lock and key, to prevent the contents being thrown into confusion by children or unauthorized intruders."

I laughed and laughed, and then I went to go look for a lock. :)