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Afghan (blanket)
An afghan is a blanket or shawl, usually knitted or crocheted. It is sometimes also called a "throw" of indeterminate size. Afghans are often used as bedspreads, or as a decoration on the back of couches or chairs. Etymology The word ''afghan'' refers to the people of Afghanistan. The use of ''afghan'' in the English language for a textile object goes back to at least 1831, when Thomas Carlyle mentioned "Afghaun shawls" in his ''Sartor Resartus''. By 1860, ''Afghan'' as a noun, not an adjective, denoted a type of handicrafted object shown at state fairs and other exhibitions, along with patchwork and knitted quilts A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ..., and was being mentioned in novels: Types and styles There are many styles of afghans: * Single-piece afghans are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afghan Blanket
An afghan is a blanket or shawl, usually knitted or crocheted. It is sometimes also called a "throw" of indeterminate size. Afghans are often used as bedspreads, or as a decoration on the back of couches or chairs. Etymology The word ''afghan'' refers to the people of Afghanistan. The use of ''afghan'' in the English language for a textile object goes back to at least 1831, when Thomas Carlyle mentioned "Afghaun shawls" in his ''Sartor Resartus''. By 1860, ''Afghan'' as a noun, not an adjective, denoted a type of handicrafted object shown at state fairs and other exhibitions, along with patchwork and knitted quilts A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, a ..., and was being mentioned in novels: Types and styles There are many styles of afghans: * Single-piece afghans are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordered by Pakistan to the east and south, Iran to the west, Turkmenistan to the northwest, Uzbekistan to the north, Tajikistan to the northeast, and China to the northeast and east. Occupying of land, the country is predominantly mountainous with plains in the north and the southwest, which are separated by the Hindu Kush mountain range. , its population is 40.2 million (officially estimated to be 32.9 million), composed mostly of ethnic Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras, and Uzbeks. Kabul is the country's largest city and serves as its capital. Human habitation in Afghanistan dates back to the Middle Paleolithic era, and the country's strategic location along the historic Silk Road has led it to being described, picturesquely, as the ‘rounda ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sartor Resartus
''Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh in Three Books'' is an 1831 novel by the Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher Thomas Carlyle, first published as a serial in ''Fraser's Magazine'' in November 1833 – August 1834. The novel purports to be a commentary on the thought and early life of a German philosopher called Diogenes Teufelsdröckh (which translates as 'God-born Devil's-dung'), author of a tome entitled ''Clothes: Their Origin and Influence''. Teufelsdröckh's Transcendentalist musings are mulled over by a sceptical English Reviewer (referred to as Editor) who also provides fragmentary biographical material on the philosopher. The work is, in part, a parody of Hegel, and of German Idealism more generally. Background Archibald MacMechan surmised that the novel's invention had three literary sources. The first of these was ''A Tale of a Tub'' by Jonathan Swift, whom Carlyle intensely admired in his college years, even going by the nickn ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quilts
A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding, and a woven back combined using the techniques of quilting. This is the process of sewing on the face of the fabric, and not just the edges, to combine the three layers together to reinforce the material. Stitching patterns can be a decorative element. A single piece of fabric can be used for the top of a quilt (a "whole-cloth quilt"), but in many cases the top is created from smaller fabric pieces joined, or patchwork. The pattern and color of these pieces creates the design. Quilts may contain valuable historical information about their creators, "visualizing particular segments of history in tangible, textured ways." In the twenty-first century, quilts are frequently displayed as non-utilitarian works of art but historically quilts wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Motif (visual Arts)
In art and iconography, a motif () is an element of an image. The term can be used both of figurative and narrative art, and ornament and geometrical art. A motif may be repeated in a pattern or design, often many times, or may just occur once in a work. A motif may be an element in the iconography of a particular subject or type of subject that is seen in other works, or may form the main subject, as the Master of Animals motif in ancient art typically does. The related motif of confronted animals is often seen alone, but may also be repeated, for example in Byzantine silk and other ancient textiles. Where the main subject of an artistic work such as a painting is a specific person, group, or moment in a narrative, that should be referred to as the "subject" of the work, not a motif, though the same thing may be a "motif" when part of another subject, or part of a work of decorative art such as a painting on a vase. Ornamental or decorative art can usually be analysed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granny Square
A granny square is a piece of square fabric produced in crochet by working in rounds from the center outward. Granny squares are traditionally handmade as crochet cannot be manufactured by machine. They resemble coarse lace. Although there is no theoretical limit to the maximum size of a granny square, crocheters usually create multiple small squares (called " motifs") and assemble the pieces to make clothing, purses, Afghan blankets, and other household textiles. Granny square apparel is a cyclical fashion that peaked in the 1970s. As '' Stitch 'n Bitch'' series author Debbie Stoller describes: Although particular color and pattern schemes for granny squares change with time, this class of motif is a staple among crocheters. Multicolor granny squares are an effective way to use up small amounts of yarn left over from other projects and basic granny square motifs do not require advanced skills to execute. History The earliest known example of a traditional granny sq ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blankets
A blanket is a swath of soft cloth large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through convection. Etymology The term arose from the generalization of a specific fabric called ''Blanket fabric'', a heavily napped woolen weave pioneered by Thomas Blanket (Blanquette), a Flemish weaver who lived in Bristol, England, in the 14th century. Earlier usage of the term is possible through its derivation from the French word for white: . According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word was used a noun as long ago as the 14th century. William Shakespeare is recognised as the first person to use the verb ''blanket'', meaning to 'cover with or as with a blanket'. In the play ''King Lear'', published in 1608, the character Edgar says: "My face ile grime with filth, Blanket my loynes, else all my haire with knots." History An ancient form of blanket is recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jackets
A jacket is a garment for the upper body, usually extending below the hips. A jacket typically has sleeves, and fastens in the front or slightly on the side. A jacket is generally lighter, tighter-fitting, and less insulating than a coat, which is outerwear. Some jackets are fashionable, while others serve as protective clothing. Jackets without sleeves are vests. Etymology The word ''jacket'' comes from the French word ''jaquette''. The term comes from the Middle French noun ''jaquet'', which refers to a small or lightweight tunic. In Modern French, ''jaquette'' is synonymous with ''jacket''. Speakers of American English sometimes informally use the words ''jacket'' and ''coat'' interchangeably. The word is cognate with Spanish ''jaco'' and Italian ''giacca'' or ''giacchetta'', first recorded around 1350s. It is ultimately loaned from Arabic ''shakk (شكّ)'', which in turn loaned from Aramean/Assyrian and Hebrew ''shaḳḳ (שַׁקּ)''. Nylon bomber jacket, also in lea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shawls And Wraps
A shawl (from fa, شال ''shāl'',) is a simple item of clothing from Kashmir, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded to make a triangle, but can also be triangular in shape. Other shapes include oblong shawls. History The words "shawl" and " pashmina" come from Kashmir, the northern region of the Indian subcontinent. Sources report cashmere crafts were introduced by Sayeed Ali Hamadani who was an Iranian scholar when he came to Kashmir in the 14th century. He found that the Ladakhi Kashmiri goats produced soft wool. He took some of this goat wool and made socks which he gave as a gift to the king of Kashmir, Sultan Qutbuddin. Afterwards, Hamadani suggested to the king that they start a shawl weaving industry in Kashmir using this wool. That is how pashmina shawls began. The United Nations agency UNESCO reported in 2014 that Ali Hamadani was one of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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