Woven Threads

Woven textiles are produced by nearly all human societies. This volume investigates evidence for patterned textiles (that is, textiles woven with elaborate designs) that were produced by two early Mediterranean civilizations: the Minoans of Crete and the Mycenaeans of mainland Greece, that prospered during the Aegean Bronze Age, c. 3000–1200 BC, contemporary with Pharaonic Egypt. Both could boast of specialists in textile production. Together with their wine, oil, and art, Minoan and Mycenaean textiles were much desired as trade goods. Artistic images of their fabrics preserved both in the Aegean and in other parts of the Mediterranean show elaborate patterns woven with rich decorative detail and color. Only a few small scraps of textiles survive but evidence for their production is abundant and frescoes supply detailed information about a wide variety of now-lost textile goods from luxurious costumes and beautifully patterned wall hangings and carpets, to more utilitarian decorated fabrics. A review of surviving artistic and archaeological evidence indicates that textiles played essential practical and social roles in both Minoan and Mycenaean societies.

Have you ever stopped to wonder if a chance encounter had meaning? Or perhaps you have felt an urge to speak to a stranger who crossed your path, or have had a nudge to call an old friend? These promptings and gentle pricks of your heart are more than mere passing thoughts. Follow along on Mary's journey to see how the threads of her real life stories are woven together to create incredible relationships. The year was of 2011. It would prove to be a year of spiritual awakening and discernment for Mary. Her seemingly normal and somewhat random and "chance encounters" culminate into a remarkable friendship between three women from remarkably different backgrounds. Over the course of that year, it became crystal clear to Mary that many of her divine appointments were not merely chance meetings. She came to realize that God was using the very people he was planting in her life to encourage her to place more of her trust in Him; to act and submit upon those promptings and nudges. You will see for yourself how God weaves those seemingly small and insignificant details of our day to day lives into His plan for us: to reach out and connect with those around us. Those connections will grow you in your faith and character. Words matter. Actions matter. Don't wait for circumstances to be just right. Our words have the power to give life to someone's dream, their calling or their passion. God has uniquely designed each one of us with a specific plan and purpose for our lives, I challenge you to open your minds and your heart and God will begin to use you in ways you could never imagine! Mary Hicks is a wife, mother to two sons, a daughter, a sister, a friend and a Mimi to a precious grandson and soon arriving granddaughter. She lives in Newnan, Georgia where she helps with the family travel business. She never meets a stranger and has a way of listening and connecting on a deep level. This is Mary's first book. Follow on Instagram @ maryhicksauthor.

New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestseller! Clashing empires, forbidden romance, and a long-forgotten queen destined to save her people—Tahereh Mafi’s first in an epic, romantic trilogy inspired by Persian mythology. To all the world, Alizeh is a disposable servant, not the long-lost heir to an ancient Jinn kingdom forced to hide in plain sight. The crown prince, Kamran, has heard the prophecies foretelling the death of his king. But he could never have imagined that the servant girl with the strange eyes, the girl he can’t put out of his mind, would one day soon uproot his kingdom—and the world. Perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo, Tomi Adeyemi, and Sabaa Tahir, this is the explosive first book in a new fantasy trilogy from the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award-nominated author Tahereh Mafi. “In a tale as exquisitely crafted as one of Alizeh’s own garments, Mafi weaves a spell of destiny and danger, forbidden love and courtly intrigue, magic and revolution.”—Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Last Hours “This Woven Kingdom is an exquisite fantasy. Rich with clever prose, delicious twists, and breathtaking world building. Prepare to be destroyed—this one will wrench at your heart and make it pound, and in the end it will leave you entirely speechless.”—Stephanie Garber, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Caraval series

“More than 500 crisp and colorful cross-stitch designs [are] grouped around five major themes. Each design includes a full-color chart with stitch count and DMC floss code chart....Will be a welcome addition to Christmas crafts collections.”—Library Journal. “Delectable cross stitch motifs.”—The NeedleWorker.

Beads on cross-stitched treasures; dripping from tassels, braids, and fringes; and elegantly woven with or without a loom: these patterns and pages present so many different ways to enjoy the lovely art of beading. Here are the very best examples of this attractive and sophisticated craft, from jewelry to home accessories. Find out how to weave a Southwest Tube Necklace with turquoise drops and bugle beads, and a Loomed Mandarin Lamp Shade crafted from 6 beaded panels. Make an elegant silvery Opera Purse lined with Japanese kimono silk, a richly textured Antique Borders sampler, and painted and distressed wooden tassel molds. Beaders will find everything they need to create one-of-a-kind designs.

This is the first paperback edition of a manual well known to weavers for its great thoroughness, clarity, and value to beginning and professional weavers alike. The author has drawn upon many years of experience as a teacher and writer in preparing this practical text of basic weaving techniques and projects from the simplest to the extremely complex. Each topic of weaving theory and technique is presented with its practical applications in mind. Within the first thirty pages, readers learn enough to complete their first weaving project, a bookmark, and this leads directly to the weaving of rugs on a loom, the process of weaving on a two-harness loom, threading plain weave from a draft, making a two-harness table loom (readers following the clear diagram and instructions will have no trouble building the loom), preparing the weft, handling of threads, two-harness design methods, the weaving of rag rugs in plain weave, useful articles woven with striped warps and wefts, tapestry techniques, and design weaves. For advanced weavers, the second major section of the book covers a great variety of weaves for the four-harness loom and related information: how to warp and thread a four-harness loom, weaving both plain and pattern weave, the twill family of weaves and herringbone variations, the principles of overshot pattern weaving, the diamond or cross family, the monk's belt pattern and its uses, practical overshot patterns, designing drafts and special techniques, ways of weaving overshot, special four-harness techniques (summer and winter weave, the Bronson weave, the M's and O's weave, the crackle weave, the waffle weave, matta technique, syncopation, double weaving on a four-harness loom). The author then details multi-harness weaves such as multi-harness twill, eight-harness damask design, and several others. Then follow discussions of the uses of color in weaving designs, planning borders, the various draft notations (European and American), weaving with synthetic fibers, thread sizes, counts and yardage, and costs of handwoven fabrics. There is a thread chart of warp settings and suitable wefts. A final chapter gives instructions for making several projects from hand-woven fabrics (a folder for linens, a small ornamental box, jackets and suits, and others). The text is fully illustrated throughout with photographs and labelled diagrams.

This book sets the fundamentals of modern weaving at a new level. It contains information for the design of woven structures with complex cross section and multiple layers for modern applications, in the way that leading product developers, professors and researchers are using them now. It starts with the classical weaving principles and patterning and extends these quickly to multilayer structures, produced with single and multiple weft insertion devices, woven structures with complex cross section or direct 3D shape. The engineering methods for design of the structures using modern software and modern algorithms are also explained. Finally, an overview of different application areas is given. The book is written by the world leading experts in their fields and is prepared as learning tool for people interested in modern weaving. Exercises and end-of-chapter summaries will help the reader to check his own knowledge.

One of the century's most spectacular archaeological finds occurred in 1921, a year before Howard Carter stumbled upon Tutankhamun's tomb, when Poul Norlund recovered dozens of garments from a graveyard in the Norse settlement of Herjolfsnaes, Greenland. Preserved intact for centuries by the permafrost, these mediaeval garments display remarkable similarities to western European costumes of the time. Previously, such costumes were known only from contemporary illustrations, and the Greenland finds provided the world with a close look at how ordinary Europeans dressed in the Middle Ages. Fortunately for Norlund's team, wood has always been extremely scarce in Greenland, and instead of caskets, many of the bodies were found swaddled in multiple layers of cast off clothing. When he wrote about the excavation later, Norlund also described how occasional thaws had permitted crowberry and dwarf willow to establish themselves in the top layers of soil. Their roots grew through coffins, clothing and corpses alike, binding them together in a vast network of thin fibers - as if, he wrote, the finds had been literally sewn in the earth. Eighty years of technical advances and subsequent excavations have greatly added to our understanding of the Herjolfsnaes discoveries. Woven into the Earth recounts the dramatic story of Norlund's excavation in the context of other Norse textile finds in Greenland. It then describes what the finds tell us about the materials and methods used in making the clothes. The weaving and sewing techniques detailed here are surprisingly sophisticated, and one can only admire the talent of the women who employed them, especially considering the harsh conditions they worked under. While Woven into the Earth will be invaluable to students of medieval archaeology, Norse society and textile history, both lay readers and scholars are sure to find the book's dig narratives and glimpses of life among the last Vikings fascinating.