My Science School

No one knows if we are alone in the universe. In order to try to make contact with other intelligent life forms in our galaxy, some laboratories regularly send radio signals out into space. In fact, distant constellations do emit radio waves, but so far they do not seem to have been transmitted intentionally by living creatures. Scientists watch for a regular pattern of signals that might indicate a living transmitter.

E.T. isn't phoning us, so maybe it's time for us to phone them. That's the idea behind a new initiative called METI (Messaging Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), an offshoot of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence), that intends to begin beaming targeted messages in 2018 to other star systems that might contain intelligent life.

METI’s messages won’t be the first ones we've ever beamed into space. Back in 1974, astronomer Frank Drake used the Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico — at the time, the largest radio telescope in the world — to broadcast a long series of rhythmic pulses, 1,679 of them to be exact, with a clear, repetitive structure toward a star cluster called Messier 13, which sits over 25,000 light years from Earth.

Because that message, now known as the Arecibo message, travels at the speed of light, it won't reach its intended target for another 25,000 years. If there are any aliens living in Messier 13 who happen to have a SETI program of their own, or some equivalent program that listens constantly for alien radio messages, and who happen to have their listening devices pointed in the right direction at the right moment, then perhaps we can expect a call back in around 50,000 years.

In other words, the Arecibo message was not exactly sent to the ideal target. There are star systems we now know of with potentially habitable planets that are much, much closer. METI wants to target these. If there are aliens in our neighborhood, there's no reason we couldn't make contact within our own lifetimes.

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Morse code was ideal for sending messages by telegraph because it used only two kinds of signal: a long one, called a dash, and a short one, called a dot. By sending long and short bursts of radio waves along a wire, a transmitter could send a clear message. Samuel Morse (1791-1872) was an American engineer who invented a practical magnetic telegraph. His invention was more or less ignored on both sides of the Atlantic, until, in 1843, the United States government allotted 30,000 dollars for a telegraph line between Washington and Baltimore. Morse invented Morse Code for use on his telegraph, which became very successful.

Way back in 1836, Samuel F. B. Morse, along with Joseph Henry and Alfred Vail, invented an electrical telegraph system. Before telephones were invented, it could send messages over long distances by using pulses of electricity to signal a machine to make marks on a moving paper tape.

A code was necessary to help translate the marks on the paper tape into readable text messages. Morse developed the first version of this code.

His version included only numbers. Vail soon expanded it to include letters and a few special characters, such as punctuation marks.

The code — known as Morse code — assigned each number, letter or special character a unique sequence of short and long signals called "dots" and "dashes."

In Morse code transmission, the short dot signal is the basic time measurement. A long dash signal is equal to three dots. Each dot or dash is followed by a short silence that's equal to a dot.

If you wonder how they decided which combination of signals was assigned to each letter, they studied how often each letter in the English language was used.

The most used letters were given the shorter sequences of dots and dashes. For example, the most commonly used letter in the English language — E — is represented by a single dot.

The original telegraph machines made a clicking noise as they marked the moving paper tape. The paper tape eventually became unnecessary.

Telegraph operators soon learned that they could translate the clicks directly into dots and dashes. Later, operators were trained in Morse code by studying it as a language that was heard rather than read from a page.

Although Morse originally referred to code signals as dots and dashes, operators began to vocalize dots as “dits" and dashes as “dahs" to mimic the sound of Morse code receivers.

Today, it's possible to transmit messages in Morse code in any way that dots and dashes can be communicated. This includes sounds and lights, as well as printed dots and dashes.

Morse code was critical for communication during World War II. It was also used as an international standard for communication at sea until 1999, when it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress Safety System. The new system takes advantage of advances in technology, such as satellite communication.

Today, Morse code remains popular with amateur radio operators around the world. It is also commonly used for emergency signals. It can be sent in a variety of ways with improvised devices that can be switched easily on and off, such as flashlights.

The international Morse code distress signal ( · · · — — — · · · ) was first used by the German government in 1905 and became the standard distress signal around the world just a few years later. The repeated pattern of three dots followed by three dashes was easy to remember and chosen for its simplicity.

In Morse code, three dots form the letter S and three dashes form the letter O, so SOS became a shorthand way to remember the sequence of the code. Later, SOS was associated with certain phrases, such as “save our ship" and “save our souls."

These were just easy ways to remember SOS, though. The letters themselves have no such inherent meaning.

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Although several scientists, including Heinrich Hertz, experimented with sending and receiving radio waves, the first person to patent a useful system for using them to send signals through the air was an Italian engineer called Gugliemo Marconi (1874-1937) in 1896. He created enormous publicity for his work by claiming to have sent the first radio signal across the Atlantic in 1901. Today there is disagreement about whether such a signal was received, but Marconi was right that sending radio messages between Europe and the Americas was possible, and his work encouraged the enthusiasm for and development of radio communications that continues to this day. As Marconi’s messages did not pass through wires, the system was known as wireless telegraphy.

Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. The message–simply the Morse-code signal for the letter “s”–traveled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada.

Born in Bologna, Italy, in 1874 to an Italian father and an Irish mother, Marconi studied physics and became interested in the transmission of radio waves after learning of the experiments of the German physicist Heinrich Hertz. He began his own experiments in Bologna beginning in 1894 and soon succeeded in sending a radio signal over a distance of 1.5 miles. Receiving little encouragement for his experiments in Italy, he went to England in 1896. He formed a wireless telegraph company and soon was sending transmissions from distances farther than 10 miles. In 1899, he succeeded in sending a transmission across the English Channel. That year, he also equipped two U.S. ships to report to New York newspapers on the progress of the America’s Cup yacht race. That successful endeavor aroused widespread interest in Marconi and his wireless company.

Marconi’s greatest achievement came on December 12, 1901, when he received a message sent from England at St. John’s, Newfoundland. The transatlantic transmission won him worldwide fame. Ironically, detractors of the project were correct when they declared that radio waves would not follow the curvature of the earth, as Marconi believed. In fact, Marconi’s transatlantic radio signal had been headed into space when it was reflected off the ionosphere and bounced back down toward Canada. Much remained to be learned about the laws of the radio wave and the role of the atmosphere in radio transmissions, and Marconi would continue to play a leading role in radio discoveries and innovations during the next three decades.

In 1909, he was jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in physics with the German radio innovator Ferdinand Braun. After successfully sending radio transmissions from points as far away as England and Australia, Marconi turned his energy to experimenting with shorter, more powerful radio waves. He died in 1937, and on the day of his funeral all British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) stations were silent for two minutes in tribute to his contributions to the development of radio.

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The way in which we see the world has been greatly influenced by photography. We are used to seeing printed images that we could never see with our naked eyes, either because they happen too fast, or because a special camera lens has allowed an extraordinary view to be taken.

Macro-photography is a way of photographing very small objects by using special macro lenses. Used for both still and moving pictures, macro-photography has transformed our knowledge of the way that living things, such as insects, behave.

Macro photography is extreme close-up photography, usually of very small subjects and living organisms like insects, in which the size of the subject in the photograph is greater than life size (though macro-photography technically refers to the art of making very large photographs). By the original definition, a macro photograph is one in which the size of the subject on the negative or image sensor is life size or greater. However, in some uses it refers to a finished photograph of a subject at greater than life size.

The ratio of the subject size on the film plane (or sensor plane) to the actual subject size is known as the reproduction ratio. Likewise, a macro lens is classically a lens capable of reproduction ratios of at least 1:1, although it often refers to any lens with a large reproduction ratio, despite rarely exceeding 1:1.

Apart from technical photography and film-based processes, where the size of the image on the negative or image sensor is the subject of discussion, the finished print or on-screen image more commonly lends a photograph its macro status. For example, when producing a 6×4 inch (15×10 cm) print using 35formet (36×24 mm) film or sensor, a life-size result is possible with a lens having only a 1:4 reproduction ratio.

Reproduction ratios much greater than 10:1 are considered to be photomicrography, often achieved with digital microscope (photomicrography should not be confused with microphotography, the art of making very small photographs, such as for microforms).

Due to advances in sensor technology, today’s small-sensor digital cameras can rival the macro capabilities of a DSLR with a "true" macro lens, despite having a lower reproduction ratio, making macro photography more widely accessible at a lower cost. In the digital age, a “true” macro photograph can be more practically defined as a photograph with a vertical subject height of 24 mm or less.

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Moving pictures, or movies, do not really have moving images at all. They are simply a series of still photographs, shown rapidly one after the other. Our brains are not able to distinguish the individual images at that speed, so we see what appears to be a moving picture.

Film, also called movie or motion picture, is a visual art-form used to simulate experiences that communicate ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty or atmosphere, by the means of recorded or programmed moving images, along with sound (and more rarely) other sensory stimulations. The word “cinema”, short for cinematography, is often used to refer to filmmaking and the film industry, and to the art form that is the result of it.

The moving images of a film are created by photographing actual scenes with a motion-picture camera, by photographing drawings or miniature models using traditional animation techniques, by means of CGI and computer animation, or by a combination of some or all of these techniques, and other visual effects.

Traditionally, films were recorded onto celluloid film through a photochemical process and then shown through a movie projector onto a large screen. Contemporary films are often fully digital through the entire process of production, distribution, and exhibition, while films recorded in a photochemical form traditionally included an analogous optical soundtrack (a graphic recording of the spoken words, music and other sounds that accompany the images which runs along a portion of the film exclusively reserved for it, and is not projected).

The movie camera, film camera or cine-camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on an image sensor or on a film. In contrast to a still camera, which captures a single snapshot at a time, the movie camera takes a series of images; each image constitutes a “frame”. This is accomplished through an intermittent mechanism. The frames are later played back in a movie projector at a specific speed, called the frame rate (number of frames per second). While viewing at a particular frame rate, a person’s eyes and brain merge the separate pictures to create the illusion of motion.

Since the 2000s, film-based movie cameras have been largely (but not completely) replaced by digital movie cameras.

Printing converts the negative image of the film into a positive image on paper. Light is shone through the film onto light-sensitive paper. Passing the light through lenses makes the image larger. The print is then developed and fixed just as the film was.

Photographic paper is a paper coated with a light-sensitive chemical formula, used for making photographic prints. When photographic paper is exposed to light, it captures a latent image that is then developed to form a visible image; with most papers the image density from exposure can be sufficient to not require further development, aside from fixing and clearing, though latent exposure is also usually present. The light-sensitive layer of the paper is called the emulsion. The most common chemistry was based on silver salts but other alternatives have also been used.

The print image is traditionally produced by interposing a photographic negative between the light source and the paper, either by direct contact with a large negative (forming a contact print) or by projecting the shadow of the negative onto the paper (producing an enlargement). The initial light exposure is carefully controlled to produce a gray scale image on the paper with appropriate contrast and gradation. Photographic paper may also be exposed to light using digital printers such as the Light-jet, with a camera (to produce a photographic negative), by scanning a modulated light source over the paper, or by placing objects upon it (to produce a photogram).

Despite the introduction of digital photography, photographic papers are still sold commercially. Photographic papers are manufactured in numerous standard sizes, paper weights and surface finishes. A range of emulsions are also available that differ in their light sensitivity, color response and the warmth of the final image. Color papers are also available for making color images.

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After an image has been recorded on light-sensitive film in a camera, the film is moved along, so that the next photograph will be taken on a fresh piece of film. No more light must hit the exposed film until it is developed, or the picture would be spoiled. When all the photographs on a roll of film have been taken, the film is wound into its case, which is lightproof. The development process then takes place in a darkroom, or in a specially made machine.

Photographic processing or photographic development is the chemical means by which photographic film or paper is treated after photographic exposure to produce a negative or positive image. Photographic processing transforms the latent image into a visible image, makes this permanent and renders it insensitive to light.

All processes based upon the gelatin-silver process are similar, regardless of the film or paper’s manufacturer. Exceptional variations include instant films such as those made by Polaroid and thermally developed films. Kodachrome required Kodak’s proprietary K-14 process. Kodachrome film production ceased in 2009, and K-14 processing is no longer available as of December 30, 2010. llfochrome materials use the dye destruction process.

All photographic processing use a series of chemical baths. Processing, especially the development stages, requires very close control of temperature, agitation and time.

1. The film may be soaked in water to swell the gelatin layer, facilitating the action of the subsequent chemical treatments.


2. The developer converts the latent image to macroscopic particles of metallic silver.


3. A stop bath, typically a dilute solution of acetic acid or citric acid, halts the action of the developer. A rinse with clean water may be substituted.


4. The fixer makes the image permanent and light-resistant by dissolving remaining silver halide. A common fixer is hypo, specifically ammonium thiosulfate.


5. Washing in clean water removes any remaining fixer. Residual fixer can corrode the silver image, leading to discolouration, staining and fading.

The washing time can be reduced and the fixer more completely removed if a hypo clearing agent is used after the fixer.

1. Film may be rinsed in a dilute solution of a non-ionic wetting agent to assist uniform drying, which eliminates drying marks caused by hard water. (In very hard water areas, a pre-rinse in distilled water may be required – otherwise the final rinse wetting agent can cause residual ionic calcium on the film to drop out of solution, causing spotting on the negative.)


2. Film is then dried in a dust-free environment, cut and placed into protective sleeves.

Once the film is processed, it is then referred to as a negative. The negative may now be printed; the negative is placed in an enlarger and projected onto a sheet of photographic paper. Many different techniques can be used during the enlargement process. Two examples of enlargement techniques are dodging and burning. Alternatively (or as well), the negative may be scanned for digital printing or web viewing after adjustment, retouching, and/or manipulation.

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A camera is a lightproof box containing light-sensitive film. To take a picture, the photographer presses a button to open a shutter and let light pass through the aperture, a hole in the front of the camera. The camera’s lens focuses the light so that it forms a sharp image on the photographic film, just as the lenses in our eyes focus the light onto our retinas. Then the shutter closes again so that no more light reaches the film. The whole process usually takes just a fraction of a second.

A still film camera is made of three basic elements: an optical element (the lens), a chemical element (the film) and a mechanical element (the camera body itself). As we'll see, the only trick to photography is calibrating and combining these elements in such a way that they record a crisp, recognizable image.

There are many different ways of bringing everything together. In this article, we'll look at a manual single-lens-reflex (SLR) camera. This is a camera where the photographer sees exactly the same image that is exposed to the film and can adjust everything by turning dials and clicking buttons. Since it doesn't need any electricity to take a picture, a manual SLR camera provides an excellent illustration of the fundamental processes of photography.

The optical component of the camera is the lens. At its simplest, a lens is just a curved piece of glass or plastic. Its job is to take the beams of light bouncing off of an object and redirect them so they come together to form a real image -- an image that looks just like the scene in front of the lens.

But how can a piece of glass do this? The process is actually very simple. As light travels from one medium to another, it changes speed. Light travels more quickly through air than it does through glass, so a lens slows it down.

When light waves enter a piece of glass at an angle, one part of the wave will reach the glass before another and so will start slowing down first. This is something like pushing a shopping cart from pavement to grass, at an angle. The right wheel hits the grass first and so slows down while the left wheel is still on the pavement. Because the left wheel is briefly moving more quickly than the right wheel, the shopping cart turns to the right as it moves onto the grass.

The effect on light is the same -- as it enters the glass at an angle, it bends in one direction. It bends again when it exits the glass because parts of the light wave enter the air and speed up before other parts of the wave. In a standard converging, or convex lens, one or both sides of the glass curves out. This means rays of light passing through will bend toward the center of the lens on entry. In a double convex lens, such as a magnifying glass, the light will bend when it exits as well as when it enters.

This effectively reverses the path of light from an object. A light source -- say a candle -- emits light in all directions. The rays of light all start at the same point -- the candle's flame -- and then are constantly diverging. A converging lens takes those rays and redirects them so they are all converging back to one point. At the point where the rays converge, you get a real image of the candle. In the next couple of sections, we'll look at some of the variables that determine how this real image is formed.

Cutting or shaving the wool off of a sheep is called shearing. Shearing doesn't usually hurt a sheep. It's just like getting a haircut. However, shearing requires skill so that the sheep is shorn efficiently and quickly without causing cuts or injury to the sheep or shearer. Most sheep are sheared with electric shears or shearing machines. The fleece is removed in one piece.

Some sheep are sheared manually with scissors or hand blades. While some farmers shear their own sheep, many hire professional sheep shearers. In many countries, including the United States, there is a growing shortage of qualified sheep shearers. Many states hold annual sheep shearing schools.

A professional shearer can shear a sheep in less than 2 minutes. The world record is 37.9 seconds. The record was set in 2016 by Ivan Scott from Ireland. Scott set another record, shearing 867 lambs in just 9 hours. Matt Smith from New Zealand owns the record for shearing the most ewes, 731 ewes in 9 hours. The most Merino ewes sheared in 8 hours is 497, a record set by Lou Brown from New Zealand. The blade shearing record was set over 100 years ago when legendary shearer Jackie Howe sheared 321 sheep in 7 hours and 40 minutes.

In 1957, a New Zealander sheared a sheep in just 47 seconds!

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The first person to take a photograph was a Frenchman, Joseph Nicephore Niepce, in 1822. However, as is often the case with new inventions, many other scientists had been experimenting with light, lenses and light-sensitive chemicals. Working with Niepce was a man called Louis Daguerre, who later improved on Niepce’s process. Some early photographs were called daguerreotypes.

Around 1717 Johann Heinrich Schulze captured cut-out letters on a bottle of light-sensitive slurry, but he apparently never thought of making the results durable. Around 1800 Thomas Wedgwood made the first reliably documented, although unsuccessful attempt at capturing camera images in permanent form. His experiments did produce detailed photograms, but Wedgwood and his associate Humphry Davy found no way to fix these images.

In the mid-1822s, Nicephore Niepce first managed to fix an image that was captured with a camera, but at least eight hours or even several days of exposure in the camera were required and the earliest results were very crude. Niépce's associate Louis Daguerre went on to develop the daguerreotype process, the first publicly announced and commercially viable photographic process. The daguerreotype required only minutes of exposure in the camera, and produced clear, finely detailed results. The details were introduced to the world in 1839, a date generally accepted as the birth year of practical photography. The metal-based daguerreotype process soon had some competition from the paper-based calotype negative and salt print processes invented by William Henry Fox Talbot and demonstrated in 1839 soon after news about the daguerreotype reached Talbot. Subsequent innovations made photography easier and more versatile. New materials reduced the required camera exposure time from minutes to seconds, and eventually to a small fraction of a second; new photographic media were more economical, sensitive or convenient. Since the 1850s, the collodion process with its glass-based photographic plates combined the high quality known from the Daguerreotype with the multiple print options known from the calotype and was commonly used for decades. Roll films popularized casual use by amateurs. In the mid-20th century, developments made it possible for amateurs to take pictures in natural color as well as in black-and-white.

The commercial introduction of computer-based electronic digital cameras in the 1990s soon revolutionized photography. During the first decade of the 21st century, traditional film-based photochemical methods were increasingly marginalized as the practical advantages of the new technology became widely appreciated and the image quality of moderately priced digital cameras was continually improved. Especially since cameras became a standard feature on smartphones, taking pictures (and instantly publishing them online) has become a ubiquitous everyday practice around the world.

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Natural silk is spun as a thread by silk-worms. They use it to form a cocoon. Unlike other natural threads, the silk-worm’s thread is very long — up to one kilometre (0.62 miles). Traditionally made in Asia, silk was such a sought-after textile that the route from Europe to the East became known as the Great Silk Road.

Silk is made from Silkworms (known as Bombyx mori) and Bombyx mori eats mulberry leaves. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domestic silk moth, Bombyx mori’. Fine silk and Bombyx mori is interconnected worm or moth.

When mulberry leaves put forth their leaves – this is the time that these silkworms are born- these helpless worms feed on the leaves. In the silk manufacturing process, they are kept in a tray filled with carefully selected tender and succulent mulberry leaves for about 25-28 days. It is said that a worm eats about 10,000 times its body weight of mulberry leaves and increase their weight to almost 5000 times in this short span.

Sericulture refers to Rearing of silkworm for the production of silk. When it is fully grown, it climbs onto a twig in the natural environment. In sericulture, it is placed on a special frame. If you are growing it at home you will have to give it a bamboo/plastic/metal frame, for the larvae to weave his cocoon around it.

The worm starts to spins a cocoon around itself. This cocoon is made with a sticky substance that comes out of an opening in its underlip. This is made by mixing a fibroin protein compounds that come out of its salivary glands and another substance called sericin (silk gum) in its mouth.

As it comes out, this sticky substance solidifies when in contact with air into the silk fiber. In three days it makes thousands of meters of this fiber. For about 10-15 days the silkworm will be a pupa inside this self-made home. Then it undergoes metamorphosis into a furry winged moth.

The moth will eventually worm itself out of the cocoon – but this is not allowed to happen unless the moth is required to breed eggs. This will damage the silk fibers in the cocoon or cut it short, so these worms are killed by putting them in boiling water /oven. When the worms are put in boiling water the sticky sericin coating of the silkworm also dissolves.

Sometimes two silkworms will nest together forming a single cocoon producing fibers that are thick and thin – the fabric made from these fibers are called Dupioni silk Cocoons are sorted according to their color and texture. The single cocoon in carefully unraveled and the fiber is wound /reeled on a spool. Usually, about 6 filaments are reeled together to create a thread. The single strands of the thread may be doubled and twisted for strength.

This long thin fiber is silk with many impurities. The fibers are taken out and washed thoroughly to remove any residue/gum etc. The yarns are boiled in a soap solution to remove the natural silk gum or sericin. It has to undergo many washes and treatments before it is usable for weaving. Thus you get your silk filaments ready to be weaved into fabric.

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There are two main ways of patterning fabrics. By using coloured threads in the knitting or weaving, patterns can be made in the fabric itself. This is a very easy way to create stripes and checks, and it is quite cheap to use lots of colours, so the resulting fabric can be very bright. Another method of patterning fabric is to print it, using special dyes. This may be done by big rollers or by squeezing dye through patterned screens. Since only one colour can be printed at a time, each additional colour adds to the cost.

Fabric patterns come in all kinds of colors, shapes, sizes, repeats, and schemes. That’s why picking the right fabric patterns—and mixing prints—can be tricky. So we called on a handful of our favorite designers to help us break down the basics behind some of the most popular fabric patterns out there. From chevron to polka dots and beyond, here’s everything you need to know about themost common fabric patterns. Once you know the names of these patterns and what defines each of them.

Basketweave

Designed to resemble the crisscross weave of a basket, basketweave patterns are either woven or printed onto a fabric to create a symmetrical effect. “As a traditional woven, a basketweave fabric can introduce warmth to a room to balance out more neutral and subdued tones,” says Ella Hall, founder of Stitchroom. “When used correctly, the handmade texture is a great contrast to a muted palette and can also complement a minimalist style.”

Brocade

“A typically shuttle-woven fabric most commonly made with silver or gold thread, brocade has a raised appearance similar to embroidery,” No surprise then that you’re most likely to find brocades in more traditionally designed space. “The ornamental features of this fabric pattern bring a rich and elegant touch to accentuate classic furniture pieces,” she adds.

Checkered

One of the most popular and instantly recognizable patterns on the market, checked, or checkered, fabrics feature a simple checkerboard-style design with alternating colored squares. “Checked fabric has traditionally worked well in farmhouse modern and country design, and while it might originate there, a more contemporary twist has recently brought the countryside to more urbanized spaces.” “This fabric trend is perfect for banquettes with high traffic trying to make a statement through its upholstery fabrication.”

Chevron

Marked by a pattern of zigzagging stripes, chevron fabrics have long been a favorite of designers looking to infuse contemporary flair into a subdued space. “Modern interpretations of the chevron motif have brought new life to the classic that can sometimes feel overwhelming.” “Try selecting a chevron with subtle tonal differences or a textured chevron to contribute to your sofa’s pillowscape.”

Damask

“Martha Stewart is a big fan of damask, and this rich-looking fabric has been used everywhere from English castles to Park Avenue apartments,” Okin says. “A reversible, print-heavy look, damask is typically filled with swirling patterns and looks beautiful in jewel tones. This look works well when executed in silks and taffetas in dramatic, grand rooms.”

Chinoiserie

Drawing from traditional Chinese motifs, chinoiserie style fabrics often feature elaborate scenes of florals, animals, pagodas, and children. “Chinoiserie is a romanticized print that adds a level of sophistication to upholstery,” Hall says. “Whether with curtains, chair upholstery, or throw pillows, chinoiserie fabrics always make a decorative statement.”

Flame Stitch

“Also known as bargello or a Florentine stitch, flame stitch needlework combines long, vertical stitches and bold colors into zigzagging peaks and valleys,” Okin says. “This look was very popular in the 1960s and has a psychedelic element to it, so it’s perfect for funky spaces with a retro vibe.”

Greek Key

“The Greek Key pattern is as old as time really, and it’s more traditional than anything I tend to use,” Roth says. “The pattern is made from a continuous line that repeatedly bends back on itself to create squared spirals. I think of it as a border pattern more than anything else and work well on curtains or bed linens.”

Houndstooth

“The name houndstooth comes from whoever invented the pattern, thinking the checks that make it up look like dog’s teeth, but I think they look more like little bugs,” Roth says. “In my opinion, the pattern is quite handsome and masculine, and it’s a strong accent in a room. I’d use it on a pillow or throw blanket in a study.”

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Knitting is the process wherein thread – or sometimes yarn – is made into cloth and other crafts. It consists of stitches (or loops) of the material consecutively run together. Weaving, on the other hand, is the process in which two types of yarn or threads are interlaced together to form a fabric or cloth. The two types of threads run in different directions, with the warp threads running lengthwise and the weft threads running crosswise or horizontally.

In knitting, the yarn follows a course, or a path, forming well-proportioned loops over and under the yarn’s path. These oblique loops can be elongated easily from most directions, which give the end fabric more elasticity. In weaving, the threads are always straight and perpendicular to each other; they tend to run side by side.

The end fabric of weaving can usually be stretched in only one direction (except in fabrics like spandex), which means less elasticity compared to fabrics formed from knitting. The threads used in knitting are thicker than those used in weaving; knitted fabrics are usually bulkier, while those formed through weaving have more drape and flow resulting from the use of finer threads. In knitting, as each row is done, new loops are pulled through the existing loop. Stitches that are active are held by a needle until a new loop passes through them.

There are also different kinds of yarn and needles that can be used, and they result in products of various colors, textures, weight, and integrity. The loom-a device that holds the warp threads in place while the filling threads are woven through them– is the main equipment used in weaving.

In weaving, the two sets of threads are woven by being interlaced at right angles to each other. Weaving can also be done by hand or machine. The variety of woven products is also largely dependent on the thread colors and the sequence of the raising and lowering of warp threads that can result in different patterns. Both knitted and woven products have recently reached new heights in design and patterns with the advent of more complex but easily used computerized machines.Hand knitting has gone in and out of style several times since then, but many people still pick it up as a hobby. Some types of knitting practiced by manual knitters are flat knitting, circular knitting, and felting.

Compared to knitting, weaving seems to be a much older craft, as some findings have indicated that it has existed since the Palaeolithic era. The Bible also points out several instances of weaving being practiced by Egyptians. Unfortunately, in the modern world, hand weaving is already close to non-existent, as fabrics are mostly designed and created in factories. Some examples of weave structures are the plain, twill, and satin weaves. However, with computer generated interlacing, numerous other weave structures are available in our modern times.

Moreover, knitting can be done individually or in a group as a hobby, and it has also become a social activity. Its popularity has given birth to different knitting clubs formed by knitting enthusiasts who not only knit together, but share patterns, designs, and newly finished products with each other. Weaving is still recognized as a popular craft, but due to its complexity, most processes for clothing fabrics are done in factories with machines that make the procedure much faster and easier. That being said, do not expect to encounter weaving clubs composed of housewives getting together to share weaving patterns like they do in knitting clubs.

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Threads from plants and animals are usually not more than a few centimetres long. To make a long, strong thread for weaving or knitting, they must be spun. A carding machine combs the fibres so that they are all lying in the same direction and form a loose rope. This rope is then gently drawn out into a thinner thread and twisted into yarn.

Spinning is the twisting techniques where the fiber is drawn out, twisted, and wound onto a bobbin.The yarn issuing from the drafting rollers passes through a thread-guide, round a traveller that is free to rotate around a ring, and then onto a tube or bobbin, which is carried on a spindle, the axis of which passes through a center of the ring. The spindle is driven (usually at an angular velocity that is either constant or changes only slowly) and the traveller is dragged around a ring by the loop of yarn passing round it. If the drafting rollers were stationary, the angular velocity of the traveller would be the same as that of the spindle and each revolution of the spindle would cause one turn of twist to be inserted in the loop of yarn between the roller nip and the traveller. In spinning, however, the yarn is continually issuing from the rollers of the drafting system and, under these circumstances, the angular velocity of the traveller is less than that of the spindle by an amount that is just sufficient to allow the yarn to be wound onto the bobbin at the same rate as that at which it issues from the drafting rollers.

Each revolution of the traveller now inserts one turn of twist into the loop of yarn between the roller nip and the traveller but, in equilibrium, the number of turns of twist in the loop of yarn remains constant as twisted yarn is passing through the traveller at a corresponding rate.

Artificial fibres are made by extruding a polymer through a spinneret into a medium where it hardens. Wet spinning (rayon) uses a coagulating medium. In dry spinning (acetate and triacetate), the polymer is contained in a solvent that evaporates in the heated exit chamber. In melt spinning (nylons and polyesters) the extruded polymer is cooled in gas or air and sets. All these fibres will be of great length, often kilometers long.

Natural fibres are from animals (sheep, goat, rabbit, silkworm), minerals (asbestos), or plants (cotton, flax, sisal). These vegetable fibres can come from the seed (cotton), the stem (known as bast fibres: flax, hemp, jute) or the leaf (sisal). Many processes are needed before a clean even staple is obtained. With the exception of silk, each of these fibres is short, only centimetres in length, and each has a rough surface that enables it to bond with similar staples.Artificial fibres can be processed as long fibres or batched and cut so they can be processed like a natural fibre.

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Substances called dyes are used to colour threads and textiles. In the past, natural dyes were used, made mainly from plants. Onion skins, for example, give a soft, reddish colour. Most natural dyes fade gradually when washed or exposed to light, which can be very attractive. Many people like the faded colour of denim jeans, for example, dyed with a natural plant-based dye called indigo. Modern chemical dyes do not fade so easily. They give strong, bright colours. Either skeins of thread or finished fabrics may be dyed by passing them through a dye bath, then fixing the dye with other chemicals and drying the result.

Dyeing in textiles is a process in which color is transferred to a finished textile or textile material (like fibers and yarns) to add permanent and long-lasting color. It can be done by hand or by machine. Dyes can come as powders, crystals, pastes, or liquid dispersions and they dissolve completely in an aqueous solution like water. When the textile and the dye come into contact, the textile is completely saturated by the dye and colored.

But what's the difference between paint and dye? Paint is a complex substance, and when you use it, you're usually coating the surface of something. Unlike paint, dyes actually change the crystal structure of substances. The details involve a long chemistry discussion, but what you really need to understand is that dyes are more saturating and more permanent. This is important because you want the fabric color to last through many wearings and washings. And yes, most dyed textile material is used to make clothing.

Humans have been dyeing textiles for a very, very long time, and in fact, scholars find early mention of dyeing textiles as far back as 2600 BCE! Dyeing can be done at any stage of the manufacturing process. Makers don't have to wait until the whole cloth has been made in order to dye it.

Before we discuss some dye types, you should know that there are many different types of dyes and we're only going to discuss a few of them. Now, let's review two primary categories before moving on to dye types. Natural dyes come from sources like plants, minerals, and animals. They have a long history, but aren't used much for commercial textiles anymore. You'll find artists and craftspeople using them for hand-made products and for traditional crafts. Synthetic dyes are made in a laboratory, and the chemicals are often derived from sources like coal tar or petroleum-based substances.

Basic dye dissolves in water and requires a mordant. A mordant is a chemical that forms a bond with the dye to make it insoluble, which means the color stays on the textile when it's rinsed following dyeing. This process tends to be used with fabrics like nylon and polyester. Direct dyes, on the other hand, don't require a mordant, and are used to dye natural fibers like wool, cotton, and silk. Then, there are vat dyes, made of materials like indigo. Indigo is a plant that provides a deep blue color and is one of the oldest natural dyes. Substances used in vat dyes must be treated with a liquid alkaline substance (something that reduces acid) to allow them to be used as a dye.

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