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Blue Ash
''Fraxinus quadrangulata'', the blue ash, is a species of ash native primarily to the Midwestern United States from Oklahoma to Michigan, as well as the Bluegrass region of Kentucky and the Nashville Basin region of Tennessee. Isolated populations exist in Alabama, Southern Ontario, and small sections of the Appalachian Mountains. It is typically found over calcareous substrates such as limestone, growing on limestone slopes and in moist valley soils, at elevations of 120–600 m.Virtual Herbarium of the Chicago Region''Fraxinus quadrangulata''Oklahoma Biological Survey Description Blue ash is a medium sized deciduous tree typically reaching a height of 10–25 m with a trunk 50–100 cm diameter. The twigs typically have four corky ridges, a distinctive feature giving them a square appearance (in cross-section), hence the species name, ''quadrangulata'', meaning four-angled. The winter buds are reddish-brown. The leaves are 20–38 cm long, with 5–11 (most often 7) ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
André Michaux
André Michaux, also styled Andrew Michaud, (8 March 174611 October 1802) was a French botanist and explorer. He is most noted for his study of North American flora. In addition Michaux collected specimens in England, Spain, France, and even Persia. His work was part of a larger European effort to gather knowledge about the natural world. Michaux's contributions include ''Histoire des chênes de l'Amérique'' (1801; "The Oaks of North America") and ''Flora Boreali-Americana'' (1803; "The Flora of North America") which continued to be botanical references well into the 19th century. His son, François André Michaux, also became an authoritative botanist. Biography Michaux was born in Satory, part of Versailles, Yvelines, where his father managed farmland on the king's estate. Michaux was trained in the agricultural sciences in anticipation of his one-day assuming his father's duties, and received a basic classical 18th century education, including Latin and some Greek, until h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Petiole (botany)
In botany, the petiole () is the stalk that attaches the leaf blade to the stem, and is able to twist the leaf to face the sun. This gives a characteristic foliage arrangement to the plant. Outgrowths appearing on each side of the petiole in some species are called stipules. Leaves with a petiole are said to be petiolate, while leaves lacking a petiole are called sessile or apetiolate. Description The petiole is a stalk that attaches a leaf to the plant stem. In petiolate leaves, the leaf stalk may be long, as in the leaves of celery and rhubarb, or short. When completely absent, the blade attaches directly to the stem and is said to be sessile. Subpetiolate leaves have an extremely short petiole, and may appear sessile. The broomrape family Orobanchaceae is an example of a family in which the leaves are always sessile. In some other plant groups, such as the speedwell genus '' Veronica'', petiolate and sessile leaves may occur in different species. In the grasses (Poaceae), ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Flooring
Flooring is the general term for a permanent covering of a floor, or for the work of installing such a floor covering. Floor covering is a term to generically describe any finish material applied over a floor structure to provide a walking surface. Both terms are used interchangeably but floor covering refers more to loose-laid materials. Materials almost always classified as flooring include carpet, laminate, tile, and vinyl. Subfloor The floor under the flooring is called the subfloor, which provides the support for the flooring. Special purpose subfloors like floating floors, raised floors or sprung floors may be laid upon another underlying subfloor which provides the structural strength. Subfloors that are below grade (underground) or ground level floors in buildings without basements typically have a concrete subfloor. Subfloors above grade (above ground) typically have a plywood subfloor. Flooring materials The choice of materials for floor covering is affected by fact ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Embroidery
Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on caps, hats, coats, overlays, blankets, dress shirts, denim, dresses, stockings, scarfs, and golf shirts. Embroidery is available in a wide variety of thread or yarn colour. Some of the basic techniques or stitches of the earliest embroidery are chain stitch, buttonhole or blanket stitch, running stitch, satin stitch, and cross stitch. Those stitches remain the fundamental techniques of hand embroidery today. History Origins The process used to tailor, patch, mend and reinforce cloth fostered the development of sewing techniques, and the decorative possibilities of sewing led to the art of embroidery. Indeed, the remarkable stability of basic embroidery stitches has been noted: The art of embroidery has been found worldwide and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Weaving
Weaving is a method of textile production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. Other methods are knitting, crocheting, felting, and braiding or plaiting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft, woof, or filling. (''Weft'' is an Old English word meaning "that which is woven"; compare ''leave'' and ''left''.) The method in which these threads are interwoven affects the characteristics of the cloth. Cloth is usually woven on a loom, a device that holds the warp threads in place while filling threads are woven through them. A fabric band that meets this definition of cloth (warp threads with a weft thread winding between) can also be made using other methods, including tablet weaving, back strap loom, or other techniques that can be done without looms. The way the warp and filling threads interlace with each other is called the weave. The majority of woven products a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Knitting
Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or in ''the round'' (tubular). There are usually many ''active stitches'' on the knitting needle at one time. Knitted fabric consists of a number of consecutive rows of connected loops that intermesh with the next and previous rows. As each row is formed, each newly created loop is pulled through one or more loops from the prior row and placed on the ''gaining needle so'' that the loops from the prior row can be pulled off the other needle without unraveling. Differences in yarn (varying in fibre type, ''weight'', uniformity and ''twist''), needle size, and stitch type allow for a variety of knitted fabrics with different properties, including color, texture, thickness, heat retention, water resistance, and integrity. A small sample of kn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Crochet
Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread (yarn), thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term ''crochet'', meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from a variety of materials, such as metal, wood, bamboo, or plastic. The key difference between crochet and knitting, beyond the implements used for their production, is that each stitch in crochet is completed before the next one is begun, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. Some variant forms of crochet, such as Tunisian crochet and broomstick lace, do keep multiple crochet stitches open at a time. Etymology The word crochet is derived from the Old French ''crochet'', a diminutive of ''croche'', in turn from the Germanic languages, Germanic ''croc'', both meaning "hook". It was used in 17th-century French lace-making, where the term ''crochetage'' designated a stitch used to join separate pieces of lace. The word ''crochet'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sewing
Sewing is the craft of fastening or attaching objects using stitches made with a sewing needle and thread. Sewing is one of the oldest of the textile arts, arising in the Paleolithic era. Before the invention of spinning yarn or weaving fabric, archaeologists believe Stone Age people across Europe and Asia sewed fur and leather clothing using bone, antler or ivory sewing-needles and "thread" made of various animal body parts including sinew, catgut, and veins. For thousands of years, all sewing was done by hand. The invention of the sewing machine in the 19th century and the rise of computerization in the 20th century led to mass production and export of sewn objects, but hand sewing is still practiced around the world. Fine hand sewing is a characteristic of high-quality tailoring, haute couture fashion, and custom dressmaking, and is pursued by both textile artists and hobbyists as a means of creative expression. The first known use of the word "sewing" was in the 14th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Textile
Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the only manufacturing method, and many other methods were later developed to form textile structures based on their intended use. Knitting and non-woven are other popular types of fabric manufacturing. In the contemporary world, textiles satisfy the material needs for versatile applications, from simple daily clothing to bulletproof jackets, spacesuits, and doctor's gowns. Textiles are divided into two groups: Domestic purposes onsumer textilesand technical textiles. In consumer textiles, aesthetics and comfort are the most important factors, but in technical textiles, functional properties are the priority. Geotextiles, industrial textiles, medical textiles, and many other areas are examples of technical textiles, whereas clothing and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yarn
Yarn is a long continuous length of interlocked fibres, used in sewing, crocheting, knitting, weaving, embroidery, ropemaking, and the production of textiles. Thread is a type of yarn intended for sewing by hand or machine. Modern manufactured sewing threads may be finished with wax or other lubricants to withstand the stresses involved in sewing. Embroidery threads are yarns specifically designed for needlework. Yarn can be made of a number of natural or synthetic materials, and comes in a variety of colors and thicknesses (referred to as "weights"). Although yarn may be dyed different colours, most yarns are solid coloured with a uniform hue. Etymology The word yarn comes from Middle English, from the Old English ''gearn'', akin to Old High German ''garn'', "yarn," Dutch "garen," Italian ''chordē'', "string," and Sanskrit ''hira'', "band." History The human production of yarn is known to have existed since the Stone Age and earlier prehistory, with ancient fiber mat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Pioneer
American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Native Americans. The pioneer concept and ethos greatly predate the migration to the Western United States, with which they are commonly associated, and many places now considered "East" were settled by pioneers from even further east. For example, Daniel Boone, a key figure in American history, settled in Kentucky, when that "Dark and Bloody Ground" was still undeveloped. One important development in the Western settlement was the Homestead Act, which provided formal legislation for the settlers which regulated the settlement process. Etymology The word "pioneer" originates with the Middle French ''pionnier'' (originally, a foot soldier, or soldier involved in digging trenches), from the same root as peon or pawn.Philip Durkin, "Lexical b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural Dye
Natural dyes are dyes or colorants derived from plants, invertebrates, or minerals. The majority of natural dyes are vegetable dyes from plant sources—roots, berries, bark, leaves, and wood—and other biological sources such as fungi. Archaeologists have found evidence of textile dyeing dating back to the Neolithic period. In China, dyeing with plants, barks and insects has been traced back more than 5,000 years.Goodwin (1982), p. 11. The essential process of dyeing changed little over time. Typically, the dye material is put in a pot of water and heated to extract the dye compounds into solution with the water. Then the textiles to be dyed are added to the pot, and held at heat until the desired color is achieved. Textile fibre may be dyed before spinning or weaving ("dyed in the wool"), after spinning ("yarn-dyed") or after weaving ("piece-dyed"). Many natural dyes require the use of substances called mordants to bind the dye to the textile fibres. Mordants (from the Latin ver ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
