"In an interview that she gave to the magazine Needlecraft in December 1906, Lady Carew professed to spending several hours each day at her embroidery frame. She strongly recommended needlework to women of all classes of society as a panacea for 'the bustle and fatigue' of everyday life. Plying her needle was for Lady Carew a cathartic experience which soothed the mind, dulled mental anxieties, absorbed the worries of the day and brought a good healthy rest at night."
Look here for more information on Lady Carew and her sister Lady Cory, "famed throughout society for their needlework skills and for the scale of the embroideries they produced for their Irish and London homes," and click here for the article from which I've quoted above - I love the bit about Lady Carew's aptitude with a needle having come from her mother who had cross-stitched her own stair carpet [don't we all?] , "a task her daughter believed every young bride should undertake".
