Hemp and Bead Jewelry, Oakland Chinatown Street Fair

Hemp jewelry uses hemp

twine Twine is a strong thread, light string or cord composed of two or more thinner strands twisted, and then twisted together ( plied). The strands are plied in the opposite direction to that of their twist, which adds torsional strength to the co ...

material which is made from the ''

Cannabis sativa ''Cannabis sativa'' is an annual herbaceous flowering plant indigenous to Eastern Asia, but now of cosmopolitan distribution due to widespread cultivation. It has been cultivated throughout recorded history, used as a source of industrial fibe ...

'' plant, otherwise known as “Common Hemp”, which is cultivated to make goods such as food, fuel,

clothing Clothing (also known as clothes, apparel, and attire) are items worn on the body. Typically, clothing is made of fabrics or textiles, but over time it has included garments made from animal skin and other thin sheets of materials and natural ...

and

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 ...

cosmetics Cosmetics are constituted mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources, or synthetically created ones. Cosmetics have various purposes. Those designed for personal care and skin care can be used to cleanse or protect ...

, paints,

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distrib ...

building material Building material is material used for construction. Many naturally occurring substances, such as clay, rocks, sand, wood, and even twigs and leaves, have been used to construct buildings. Apart from naturally occurring materials, many man-ma ...

s, and

plastic Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...

s, among others. Some types of hemp jewelry include

bracelet A bracelet is an article of jewellery that is worn around the wrist. Bracelets may serve different uses, such as being worn as an ornament. When worn as ornaments, bracelets may have a supportive function to hold other items of decoration, suc ...

s, necklaces, anklets,

rings Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

watch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached b ...

es,

mask A mask is an object normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance, or entertainment and often they have been employed for rituals and rights. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and pra ...

s, purses, and other adornments. The jewelry can also make use of other materials, such as glass, wood, bones, rocks, or

gems Gems, or gemstones, are polished, cut stones or minerals. Gems or GEMS may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Gems'' (Aerosmith album), 1988 * ''Gems'' (Patti LaBelle album), 1994 * ''Gems'' (Michael Bolton album), 2011 * Gems TV, ...

Controversy

In 1922, growing political antidrug sentiment brought the

Marijuana Tax Act The Marihuana Tax Act of 1937, , was a United States Act that placed a tax on the sale of cannabis. The H.R. 6385 act was drafted by Harry Anslinger and introduced by Rep. Robert L. Doughton of North Carolina, on April 14, 1937. The Seventy-fift ...

before Congress where it was determined that no Cannabis plant had permit for cultivation. Many farmers and lobbyists objected to the act exclaiming that it would prevent the cultivation of hemp which at the time was used for many products in the American market. Despite the objections, Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act and it was signed into law by

President Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

on August 2, 1937. The industrial hemp industry in America was then crippled for many years. Despite the act, American farmers were allowed to grow hemp for wartime needs in 1942 during the U.S. governments “

Hemp for Victory ''Hemp for Victory'' is a black-and-white United States government film made during World War II and released in 1942, explaining the uses of hemp, encouraging farmers to grow as much as possible. During World War II, the Marihuana Tax Act of 1 ...

” campaign. After the war, hemp mills were shut down. Hemp then returned to oblivion while elsewhere in the world hemp production flourished until the 1970s when a resurgence of antidrug policies outlawed hemp cultivations in the UK, Germany and Central and South America.

Macramé

Macramé Macramé is a form of textile produced using knotting (rather than weaving or knitting) techniques. The primary knots of macramé are the square (or reef knot) and forms of "hitching": various combinations of half hitches. It was long crafted by ...

is the ancient art form of knotting many different geometric patterns together without the use of hooks, needles, or hoops. This knotting can be used to not only make jewelry, but decorative coverings and wall hangings as well. Materials used for this include natural fibers such as

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor pe ...

, jute,

sisal Sisal (, ) (''Agave sisalana'') is a species of flowering plant native to southern Mexico, but widely cultivated and naturalized in many other countries. It yields a stiff fibre used in making rope and various other products. The term sisal may ...

, linen, and hemp which all come from plants and herbs and synthetic cords such as

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 manu ...

, rayon,

rattail Grenadiers or rattails are generally large, brown to black gadiform marine fish of the subfamily Macrourinae, the largest subfamily of the family Macrouridae. Found at great depths from the Arctic to Antarctic, members of this subfamily are am ...

, and

nylon Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic. Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pe ...

. Finally, they are processed into strands in which the fibers lay parallel to each other.“History of Macramé” Retrieved on 16 March 2009. http://www.macramenia.com/macrame-history.html

History of macramé

The terminology “macramé” dates back to an Arabic origin and translates to ‘fringe’. This skill originated in the 13th century when Arabian weavers would knot excess fabric at the edges of loomed fabric. It then became popular in the 14th and 15th centuries on French and Italian ships and was known to the sailors as “square knotting”, a fancy rope work used to make small decorative items aboard a ship. Sailors would describe the rope materials used by their circumference, however, now cord size is given in diameter length. They typically used cotton, hemp or steel cord to ornament the ships rigging. The round braids, hitching and Turk's head macramé styles were often used as protective wrappings for rails, spars and rigging. Mats were made from hemp and cotton to create nonskid surfaces on deck.

Macramé jewelry

There are many types of macramé knots. Macramé art also includes lacings and crossings created when two or more knot segments are joined. The square knot is considered the simplest knot and the

half hitch The half hitch is a simple overhand knot, where the working end of a line is brought over and under the standing part. Insecure on its own, it is a valuable component of a wide variety of useful and reliable hitches, bends, and knot A kno ...

, also known as the half knot, is the second most basic knot. These knots are typically used when making hemp jewelry. The half knot produces a spiral cord and the full square knot produces a flat cord.

Bead A bead is a small, decorative object that is formed in a variety of shapes and sizes of a material such as stone, bone, shell, glass, plastic, wood, or pearl and with a small hole for threading or stringing. Beads range in size from under ...

s and other decorations are also weaved into the jewelry. Hemp is ideal for this jewelry because it is durable and keeps its shape well.

1993 to present

In 1993, the United Kingdom lifted its ban on hemp and in 1994 Canada granted the business Hempline a research grant to grow the crop. By 1995, hundreds of entrepreneurs in Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, Australia and the United States started hemp companies. Then in 1996 the North American Industrial Hemp Council was founded by environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and representatives from industry, government, agriculture and academia. This proved a strong commercial interest in hemp. By 1997, articles about industrial hemp appeared regularly in such publications as ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'', ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' and ''

The Kiplinger Letter Kiplinger ( ) is an American publisher of business forecasts and personal finance advice which is a subsidiary of Future plc. Kiplinger Washington Editors, Inc., was a closely held company managed for more than nine decades by three generations ...

''. Also in 1996 the Adidas shoe company released “The Hemp”, a model whose upper section was made of hemp. When asked to discontinue the model Adidas president Steve Wynne replied “I don’t believe you will encounter anyone smoking our shoes any time soon”.

Controversy

Macramé

History of macramé

Macramé jewelry

1993 to present

References

Further reading