Dispositional hypnoid states . . . grow
out of the day-dreams to which
needlework and similar occupations
render women especially prone. . . .
[and] intrude into waking life in the
form of hysterical symptoms.

—Sigmund Freud

I don’t much like my daughter sew-
ing . . . She is silent and she—why not
write down the word that fright-
ens me—she is thinking.

—Colette