“Choose any subject you would like to write about…” that is the object of the A to Z Challenge, and thinking of things that interest me is not a problem for me, but choosing a subject not only to write about, but to write in a way that other people will catch my interest – that is the real challenge! This year I turn to a subject, close to our skin if not our hearts, and yet, again, I wonder if this subject will get some people past the title on the list – dismissed as niche? For this year, my theme is What We Wear – Fabrics and Fibres
Intarsia – a knitting technique used to create large, distinct blocks or panels of colour within a garment without carrying yarn across the back, resulting in a smooth, non-bulky fabric. It involves using separate bobbins or balls of yarn for each colour area, twisting yarns at colour changes to prevent holes.
The diagram above shows how, when transitioning from one area of colour to another, the yarns are twisted around one another – the green will be picked up again on the return row. This is different from, say, Fair Isle knitting where the colour not currently in use, is carried across the back of the piece until it is required again – this suits patterns with a lot of tiny repeated motifs in each row whereas Intarsia could be used , say, to produce a map of the world with each country in a different colour. This means that the fabric is less bulky any and there are no loops across the back to get caught and pulled…
Illusion Tulle – Tulle is a family of semi-transparent fabrics similar to gauzes but finer and whilst made originally of silk, the advent of synthetic fibres, which tend to be translucent in the first place, has made them the fibres of choice for tulles; moreover, Illusion Tulle is made by fusing the yarns together, this tulle is very fine giving it the ability to disappear on the skin. This makes it ideal for wedding dresses, often embellished with embroidery which then seems to float and for those ballroom dresses you see on Strictly Come Dancing, which seem to have no visible means of support…
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I compiled a list of as fabrics, fibres and related items as possible (278 items), from several sources, the most comprehensive of which was Wikipedia. Since there are only 26 letters in the alphabet, I could not write in detail about every instance so I have taken snippets of text for the brief descriptions and linked to the source in the name of the item. I am indebted to all the contributors to those Wikipedia pages and the depth of knowledge to be found there…
I will be making my list available at the end of the A to Z…