DYK 1
- ...that handmade lace often begins as crochet thread (pictured)?
- ...that Flat Top Manor, built by textile industrialist Moses H. Cone in 1900, gets nearly 250,000 visitors annually as the main feature of the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park in North Carolina?
- ...that unmatched dye lots can frustrate weeks of labor for a knitter or crocheter?
DYK 2
- ...that stitch markers (pictured) are mnemonic devices that demonstrate the underlying mathematical basis of crochet?
- ...that the women courtiers in the erstwhile Mysore Kingdom were expected to be adept in 64 arts, with Kasuti embroidery being one of them?
- ...that a hook gauge detects irregularities in manufacturer sizing of crochet hooks and knitting needles?
DYK 3
- ...that smocking (pictured) is an embroidery technique that mimics the effects of elastic?
- ...that the Felbrigge Psalter is the oldest embroidered bookbinding in England?
- ...that the non-profit Ahmedabad Textile Industry's Research Association is the largest association for textile research and allied industries in India?
DYK 4
- ...that The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul (pictured) was a manuscript translated, scribed, and embroidered for queen Katherine Parr by future queen Elizabeth I when the latter was eleven years old?
- ...that couching, an embroidery technique in which yarn is laid on top of fabric and held in place with small stitches, is featured in the Bayeux tapestry and on Central Asian suzani rugs?
- ...that German textile artist Gunta Stölzl was the only female "master" of the Bauhaus?
DYK 5
- ...that John Henry Dearle (example of work pictured) was an apprentice tapestry weaver to Pre-Raphaelite artist and craftsman William Morris who rose to become Morris & Co.'s chief designer and Art Director after Morris's death?
- ...that no piece of goldwork embroidery has ever actually used pure gold?
- ...that double cloth or double-woven cloth is a type of weaving used in Pre-Columbian Peru and Victorian furnishing textiles in which two or more sets of warps and one or more sets of weft or filling yarns are interconnected to form a two-layered cloth?
DYK 6
- ...that bead crochet (pictured) was a popular method of creating women's fashion accessories during the 1920s?
- ...that the Valois Tapestries, recording festivities at the court of Charles IX of France, include portraits of many members of the House of Valois–but none of the King?
- ...that butterfly motifs in the textiles of Oaxaca reflect pre-Christian spiritual beliefs among the Mazatec people?
DYK 7
- ...that besides utility poles (example pictured), anonymous knitters from Knitta have also left their tags on the Great Wall of China and the Notre-Dame de Paris?
- ...that textile arts are those arts and crafts that use plant, animal, or synthetic fibers to construct and decorate objects such as clothing, carpets, and curtains?
- ...that factors affecting the preservation of textiles include ambient heat, light, and humidity, and the presence of pests, airborne chemicals and pollutants?
DYK 8
- ...that canvaswork designs of plants called slips appliquéd on silk or velvet (pictured) were often based on woodcuts from herbals?
- ...that Navajo rugs sold for $50 in gold as early as 1850?
- ...that Emil Rieve was elected president of his local union when he was only 22 years old, and president of the Textile Workers Union of America when he was 46?
DYK 9
- ...that cross stitches (example pictured) are part of the embroidery traditions of the Balkans, Middle East, Afghanistan, Colonial America and Victorian England?
- ...that Bulgarian Dobri Zhelyazkov founded the first textile factory in the Ottoman Empire?
- ...that the Montgomery Worsted Mills, a Registered Historic Place in Montgomery, New York, now earn most of their money by generating hydroelectric power from the nearby Wallkill River, rather than the manufacture of textiles?
DYK 10
- ...that a shell stitch (example pictured) is a crochet motif often used for decorative borders?
- ...that Indian trade unionist Dutta Samant led an estimated 200,000 workers on a year-long strike in 1982, causing the exodus of the textile mill industry from Mumbai?
- ...that short draw is a hand spinning technique that produces yarn suitable for weaving but not knitting?
DYK 11
- ...that apparel incorporating homemade granny squares (pictured) was a 1970s fashion fad?
- ...that tais weaving in East Timor is performed solely by women, using techniques passed down through generations in an oral tradition?
- ...that Burrabazar, in Kolkata, expanded from a yarn and textile market into a large wholesale market?
DYK 12
- ...that heddles (pictured) have an integral role in weaving, and that a loom will use several hundred at once?
- ...that on the banks of Shitalakshya River, in Bangladesh, there are artistic weaving centres, where once the muslin industry flourished?
- ...that the British colonials employed Indian agents called gomasthas to obtain goods from local weavers and fix their prices?
DYK 13
- ... that Anna Maria Garthwaite (artwork pictured), the daughter of a Lincolnshire clergyman, became the leading designer of flowered fabrics for the Spitalfields silk-weaving trade in 18th century England?
- ... that Bouclé is a type of novelty yarn that uses special plying techniques to obtain its characteristic loopy appearance?
- ... that a swift is a tool with an adjustable diameter used to hold a skein of yarn while it is being wound off?
DYK 14
- ... that one of the major differences between Mechlin (pictured) and Valenciennes lace is the cordonnet, a loosely spun silk cord used to outline and define the pattern?
- ... that astronauts have a patch of velcro inside their helmets that acts as a nose scratcher and that the manufacturing process used to create silent velcro for the U.S. Army is a military secret?
- ... that Brussels lace is made in pieces, with the design made separate from the ground, unlike Mechlin lace or Valenciennes lace, and is known for its delicacy and beauty?
DYK 15
- ... that makers of Chantilly lace (pictured) were guillotined during the French Revolution because they were seen as protégés of the royals?
- ... that Blonde lace, while made with the same stitches as Chantilly lace, was made out of two different thicknesses of thread to create greater contrast between the pattern and the ground?
- ... that Antwerp lace is also known as "Pot Lace" because of its repeated flower pot motifs?
DYK 16
- ... that samite was a luxurious and heavy silk fabric worn in the Middle Ages, and famously by Tennyson's Lady of the Lake (pictured)?
- ... that torchon lace is one of the oldest bobbin laces and has strictly geometric patterns?
- ... that Bucks point lace is a bobbin lace from the East Midlands in England with both floral and geometric designs?
DYK 17
- ... that dried teasel pods (pictured) were used to raise the nap on woolen fabrics?
- ... that in Victor Hugo's novel Les Misérables, Cosette's wedding gown was made of Binche lace because Hugo remembered it from his youth as being a lace of beauty?
- ... that a heckling comb is used when hand processing flax to comb out and clean the fibers?
DYK 18
- ... that Frank Lloyd Wright's textile block work, Storer House (pictured), was restored in the 1980s by Joel Silver, producer of the films Die Hard and The Matrix?
- ... that 19th-century archaeologist Isaiah Deck proposed pulping linen from Egyptian mummies into paper, to meet a paper shortage in America?
- ...that Dutch artist Folke Heybroek's works include stained glass windows, iron and concrete sculptures, paintings, and textile designs, decorating about 70 public spaces in Sweden?
DYK 19
- ... that the origins of chromatography can be traced to the work of Russian botanist Mikhail Tsvet (pictured), but his work saw little use until the 1930s?
- ... that brightly colored leheria turbans were male business attire in Rajasthan, India during the 19th and early 20th centuries?
- ... that John Prideaux Lightfoot commissioned the Adoration of the Magi tapestry from Morris & Co. for the Gothic revival chapel at Exeter College, but died before it was completed?
DYK 20
- ... that English embroidery (example pictured) includes styles called Opus Anglicanum, stumpwork, crewel work and art needlework?
- ...... that Chilkat weaving, a traditional technique of indigenous peoples of Alaska and British Columbia, is so complex that it may take a year to weave a blanket?
- ... that by the end of the 18th century, Native American women were decorating cloth with intricate ribbon work appliqué using French silk ribbon?
DYK 21
- ...that several types of Turkish carpets are now named after Renaissance artists who depicted them in paintings (example pictured)?
- ... that the little balls of fibers that appear on clothing due to wear are called pills?
- ... that a reed is a comb-like tool used in weaving that determines how fine the cloth is?
DYK 22
- ... that grosgrain ribbons or textiles finished by calendering become the thin, glossy and papery fabric known as moire (pictured)?
- ... that shed is a weaving term for the temporary separation in warp threads so the shuttle with the weft can go through?
- ...that a selvage is the edge of a piece of woven or knitted fabric that won't fray or come unraveled?
DYK 23
- ... that Susan Mary "Lily" Yeats, the sister of Irish poet W. B. Yeats, was a professional embroiderer who studied the craft under May Morris?
- ... that the tragic romance of Tristan and Iseult is the subject matter of the Tristan Quilt, a rare survival of medieval trapunto quilting?
- ...that both scutching and heckling are steps in the process of turning flax into linen?
DYK 24
- ... that the Holy Grail tapestries (detail pictured), depicting scenes from the legend of King Arthur, were designed by Edward Burne-Jones, William Morris, and John Henry Dearle?
- ...that Mockado is a woollen pile fabric made in imitation of silk velvet?
- ...that during World War I thimbles were used as currency?
DYK 25
- ...that illiterate American slave quiltmaker Harriet Powers sold her now-museum-quality quilts (pictured) in the 1880s for only a couple of dollars?
- ...that the Raphael Cartoons, tapestry designs from 1515 which are among the most influential works of Renaissance art, remained torn into strips for 175 years?
- ... that Alaskan fiber artist Fran Reed was known for her distinctive baskets made from dried fish skins?
DYK 26
- ... that handcrafted textiles in Mexico (samples pictured) are still made using techniques that date back to the pre-Hispanic period?
- ... that both the textile mills and residence of Nathan Wild, a prominent local figure in Columbia County, New York, are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places?
- ... that many of the Paterson, New Jersey, textile mill workers who struck in 1835 demanding shorter working hours were children?
DYK 27
- ... that Byzantine silk designs include the tree of life, winged horses, and imaginary beasts, along with fashionable images of hunting and quadrigas (pictured)?
- ...that hand knotted Persian style rugs with Mexican indigenous designs are made in Temoaya, Mexico?
- ... that invoking paduasoy silk for 18th-century local colour has got historical novelists into errors about a Paduan origin?
DYK 28
- ...that the Cloth of St Gereon (fragment pictured) is the oldest known European tapestry still existing?
- ... that Iwan Tirta, who held a law degree, designed the batik shirts worn by world leaders at the 1994 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit?
- ... that early dyers combined natural dyes with salt, vinegar, natural alum or stale urine?