#Essex yarn dyed

[jazzeria]

A lil update on my lil blankie: more signs of wear in the construction, flaws are showing themselves, and the fabrics are breaking in (some nicely, some are wearing).

3 Jan 2025

So by now, Lil Blankie is about 7 weeks old and has been washed about 5 times.

I sleep with the blanket every night. Sometimes I cover my head and eyes as I sleep. Sometimes I wear it like a cape around my shoulders as I go about my business in the home. Every second day or so, I spend several minutes just snuggling it for the sheer joy of it--and also for science, of course.

But increasingly, there's a sense of... Well, it's less lighthearted than it used to be. I can see and feel Lil Blankie ageing and wearing down--recording it makes me even more aware of it. I'm feeling the entropy.

But also, that was kinda the point of this project: to prepare for repairing my (much larger, and much more emotionally significant) childhood blankie by testing various fabrics, practising the skills required, and, perhaps, becoming comfortable with the idea of wear and repair.

...

The flannel pilling is becoming more noticeable. I'm not sure if this is just because I'm more conscious of it, or if it's actually getting appreciably worse. Hard to say at this point.

The Essex cotton-linen continues to break in beautifully, becoming more and more pliable. The texture is still coarse however.

I'm really enjoying this lovely criss-cross crinkle!

The Sprout Woven is softening beautifully, too. I'm starting to see some wear, but I think it's a good thing: little raised fibres like you'd see on flannel. I can see why this is sometimes used for quilting! I think it's gonna be cuddly and squishy and just generally really nice for snuggling!

The Japanese wovens haven't changed much since last time: they still have a "crispness" that hasn't washed out: a bit stiff, and about as coarse as before. I wonder if they will soften before they wear out?

The only exception is, where the Japanese wovens are backed by the thinnest quilting cottons, there is some kind of transferrence of the quilting cotton's pliability, through to this side... I can't tell if this is purely a psychological phenomenon, or an empirically objective quality. It might be the Japanese woven slipping slightly against the smooth quilting cotton.

In any case, they still have a slightly coarse texture, which I'm attributing to the weave (perhaps a slub in the yarns, or just a coarser weave), and they've developed a criss-cross crinkle as well.

A small patch of the pale blue-purple woven had a tear that I noticed during construction, and patched with fusible stabiliser on the wrong side. The stabiliser quickly wore off (second or third wash?) and the tear began fraying. But I don't think it's grown any larger. I'll have to remember to measure it in future posts.

The Japanese print (which I've since learned is a heavier 220 gsm cotton) continues to break in beautifully. While it's not as cuddly as Sprout Woven, or as smooth as quilting cottons, it feels... "sturdy" and "reliable". I really really want some house pants made from this fabric! But I could imagine a long-cherished blanket being made from it, too.

Here's some shots of the tear I noticed last time. I think it's grown a little since the last post.

On the triangle side (which was made using various quilting cottons)...

In general, all these cottons have softened up beautifully. I think they're at peak softness right now: the most pliable, before they start to fuzz and wear out. So I guess I need to record how long before they fuzz and wear out.

The thinnest cottons, I think they're more appropriately described as "lawn": about 95 gsm, thin enough I can see my hand through, very smooth. For the purposes of these posts, I'll consider them a sub-set of "quilting cottons".

Here's my favourite wrinkly triangle (incorrectly sized during cutting, and stretched/squished to make the triangle points fit together nicely):

When I search for the softest quilting cotton, the order is still:

lawns, when backed by flannel

any quilting cotton, when backed by flannel

the rest, except:

the black-and-colours floral print, especially when backed by Essex linen

When I run my hand over the triangle side, it just feels lovely and squishy all over. I can especially tell when I'm touching lawn backed by flannel, because of how smooth the lawn's surface is. But anything backed by flannel also feels quite lovely.

I can also tell when I touch the black-and-colours floral print (not the black-and-white floral print), especially when it's backed by Essex. This quilting cotton is subtly-but-noticeably coarser than any of the others. I have no idea why, but I can just tell that it is. This fabric came in the same pack as the black-and-white print, which I think also feels very slightly coarser than the other prints?...but I don't think it's as coarse as the black-and-colours print. ... This could be entirely subjective, however.

Some shots to show the lovely drape of these cottons:

I love that my imperfect sewing made this side pucker and crinkle; and I'm extra glad I decided to quilt along the triangle seams (the diagonal ones, anyway) for the larger areas of un-sewn surfaces on this side.

I'm so happy I decided to make this lil blankie.

[charliecraftsthings]

Planning a back (or front) for my little practice blanket, a project for familiarising myself with patchwork so I can repair my childhood blankie.

I want a soft blankie, but I also want it to be durable.

I decided to test a variety of fabrics, feel how they feel as a blanket, feel how they evolve with washing and wearing. Fabrics include: cotton flannel (flannelette?), Fableism Sprout Woven, Essex (cotton-linen), a quilting cotton, and some Japanese yarn-dyed cottons.

I've been trying to define what I mean by "softness", and I think there are two important and independent qualities: flexibility (pliantness, the bendiness of the fabric) and friction (texture, the surface of the fabric).

My intuition says the flannel will be the softest right away: the most pliant and having the most pleasant surface texture. But I'm worried that it won't be very durable. (Flannel's soft texture is the result of fine fibres sticking out of the fabric. These fibres either come from the loosely-spun yarns used in weaving, or from mechanically brushing the fabric to make them stick out. Either way, choices have been made that result in a less durable cloth.)

I suspect the Essex and Sprout Woven will remain coarse-textured and not-very-bendy for a few washes; the Essex taking longer to become more-bendy. Sprout Woven has little woven X-es, which contribute to a rougher overall texture, but I think it will become more pliant with time (both the overall fabric, and the raised X-es), which will ultimate translate to "softer." But I believe they will be the most durable--especially the Essex with its linen content.

Some of the yarn-dyed fabrics have distinctly woven textures; but even those without have a little coarseness in the weave: maybe the yarns are thicker, or there's more space in the weave; or maybe there's more irregularity in the yarn thickness. So it'll be interesting to see how they evolve.

I only picked one quilting cotton (also Japanese, I believe), because I don't have a of blues stashed; I chose the one I had the most of, that also kinda matched the overall vibe of this blanket side.

For patchwork, I wanted to try making a "disappearing 9 patch", which is made by quartering a 9-patch.

Y'all. It was so hard (emotionally), to slice up my cute little 9-patch!

I also learned that I'm awful at quilt math.

But that's ok. I turned that into some chaotic patchwork practice!

I knew I'd need to add sashing (ie: strips of fabric between these quilt block rows--I think I'm using that term correctly at least), in order to make a the right size of rectangle; but I also mis-calculated the width of that rectangle.

So, yay, more practice!

It's a bit chaotic, but it still has a pleasing amount of symmetry. I kinda really love the "scrappy" look here--I wasn't sure I would before I started, so I'm glad.

This is getting close to the max number of images I can stick in a post so I think I'll call it here.

Next part: attaching the front to the back, trimming, and quilting (sewing through the two layers of fabric).

[scotianostra]

March 16th 1322 saw the death of Humphrey VIII de Bohun, 4thEarl of Hereford.

Humphrey would have fought alongside Robert Bruce during the early campaigns in Scotland, during the First Wars of Scottish Independence, since Bruce, like many other Scots and Border men, moved back and forth from English allegiance to Scottish. The Bruce, family is said to have been closely connected to the de Bohuns.

Humphrey de Bohun received many of Robert Bruce’s forfeited properties. It is unknown whether Humphrey he was a long-time friend or enemy of Robert Bruce, but they were about the same age and the lands of the two families in Essex and Middlesex lay very close to each other.

After Bruce’s self-exile, Humphrey took Lochmaben, and Longshanks awarded him Annandale and the castle. During this period Bruce’s queen, Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, was captured by Edward I and taken prisoner, de Bohun and his wife Elizabeth became her custodians. Before The Battle of Bannockburn he fell out of favour Edward II, but still led the cavalry into the fray, this was thought to be on the second day of the battle, the day before  his nephew Henry de Bohun rashly charged at Robert Bruce and received a mortal blow through his head from the Bruce’s battleaxe.

When the battle was lost Bohun retreated with the Earl of Angus and several other barons, knights and men to Bothwell Castle, seeking a safe haven. However, all the refugees who entered the castle were taken prisoner by its formerly English governor who, like many Border knights, declared for Scotland as soon as word came of the victory at Bannockburn.

Humphrey de Bohun was ransomed by Edward II, his brother-in-law, on the pleading of his wife Elizabeth. This was one of the most interesting ransoms in English history. The Earl was traded for Bruce’s queen and daughter, two bishops, Isabel MacDuff, Countess of Buchan and other important Scots captives in England.

Sir Humphrey met a grisly end at the battle of Boroughbridge rebelling against Edward II. ��The rebel forces were halted by Royalist troops at the wooden bridge at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, where Humphrey, leading an attempt to storm the bridge, met his death on this day in 1322………we all love a good yarn and like Edward II who’s own end was said to have happened at the end of a hot poker, Sir Humphrey met a similar end, although the details have been called into question by a few historians, his death may have been particularly gory. As recounted by Ian Mortimer.

“The 4th Earl of] Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay’s pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic.”

His sarcophagus is in the ruins of Blackfriars Abbey Church, York as seen in the first pic, other pics are his Effigy , arms and his seal.

[redgypsy]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Indigo & White Striped Denim Pencil Skirt, Size S (Please read measurements).

[primroseyarnco]

Let the appliqué begin! Quilting makes me realize that I should have paid more attention in geometry and math, ESPECIALLY if I’m going to design my own Cathedral mandala quilt! Cutting a circle into 10 equal parts was a feat.... but when all else fails, YOUTUBE! I’ve been working on this 58”x58” art quilt since 3 AM, and can’t wait to get to appliqué all the pieces now that they are pinned. . . . Fabric: @robertkaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Linen . . . #quilt #applique #quiltingapplique #handapplique #cathedral #quilting #quiltembroidery #modernquilt #modernquilting #handsewn #quiltsofinstagram #quiltersofinstagram #quiltingismytherapy #quiltersgonnaquilt #quilttop #artquilt #scrapquilt #scrappyquilt #quilters #quilter #quiltlife #quiltdesign https://www.instagram.com/p/CBtsK6KBn-k/?igshid=1wl406t98nb8r

[ayearofmaking]

Wiksten Haori

Pattern: Haori by Wiksten (Medium length, XS size) Fabrics: Balboa Nautical Short Strokes (Robert Kaufman), Essex Yarn Dyed Flax Linen (both purchased from Fat Quarter Shop) Fiber: Linen/Cotton blend

This jacket came together incredibly quickly. I was bracing myself for it to be tough - the thought of making a lined jacket was daunting - but this was the easiest thing I’ve sewn so far, with the exception of attaching the collar, which gave me some problems. There’s one little corner that got kind of bunched up and I can’t decide if I should try to fix it or not. Whether I wear it with the blue or beige side facing, you won’t see that mistake since the collar folds over it... but I know it’s there.

I also finally found a good home for this little patch of Palestinian embroidery that I had. It came attached as a pocket on a t-shirt that I bought a few years ago in Jordan... but the shirt was too small and shrunk even more in the wash. I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it, so I finally used a seam ripper and took the embroidery off the shirt, ditched the t-shirt, and rehomed it here. I’m not from the Middle East, but my husband’s heritage is Palestinian and it felt important to honor that part of our lives, even if we don’t live there anymore.

I would totally make this again - now that I’ve done it once, I could probably whip this up in an afternoon, especially if I didn’t do the extra quilting on the collar. I could see making the long version in wool or flannel for fall - that sounds like the coziest thing ever. 

[knitmoregirls]

Social Proofing - Episode 542 - The Knitmore Girls

This week's episode is sponsored by:

  No matter what you need, the barmaids have you covered from head to toe. Face pudding to keep you smiling, Lolo lips keep them kissable, probiotic deodorant for keeping you fresh as a rose, oh for feet’s sake to keep your feet soft and sandal ready, and the Lolo body bar for everything in between. You can find all this - and more! at bar-maids.com

    Dragonfly Fibers creates hand-dyed, artisan yarns and fibers in vivid and sophisticated colorways. We can be found in select local yarn shops and at fiber festivals such as Rhinebeck, Maryland Sheep and Wool, Vogue Knitting Live, STITCHES and SAFF. We also have a bi-monthly yarn club called Club Dragonfly. You can join on a pro-rated basis and receive three more shipments, with or without bonus swag.

  Chicagoland folks can find us at STITCHES Midwest in booths 304/306/308 from August 1st-4th in Schaumburg, Illinois.

  All of our products are available on our website, www.dragonflyfibers.com. Come see why we say that Dragonfly Fibers are the colors of happiness.

  Ever face the tedious task of having to drop down and correct a mistake in your knitting? The Fix-A-Stitch is here to help! It’s a double-ended tool that uses a patented method to change stitches from knit to purl or purl to knit quick and easy. Check our website for great tutorials and other ways to use it. The tool comes in a package of three for light, medium or bulky weights. A lace weight tool is sold separately. Fix-A-Stitch is available at local yarn shops around the country. More information available at www.fixastitch.com.

    Carry your creativity with Erin Lane Bags! Whether you show your fiber fandom with the woolly wonder Sheepleverse, or dive into history with the Curiosities collection, our project bags, totes, and hook and needle organizers are at the ready to keep your hobby happy.

      We all have it, we all snicker about it.

Fun Fur.

Whether it’s eyelash, boucle, or just generally furry, it’s hard to find projects for novelty yarn.

With a sweet face, spiraling horns, and delightfully rotund body, Friendsheep by Cate Carter-Evans lets you transform your novelty and textured yarns into sweet, fleecy little friends. Pattern available on Ravelry; more info at infinitetwist.com

  Books plus knitting plus happy memories. That’s Little Skein in the Big Wool. We make kits, yarn and project bags that bring your favorite stories to life. Find *your* favorite story at littleskein.com

      On the Needles:(0:34)

Thank you, LittleSkeinAnne for co-hosting in Mom's absence!

** admin update. Episodes 101-491 aren’t available until we finish admin work on them.

  The body of Jasmin’s Dissent Cardigan is complete, first sleeve is done, second sleeve is past the

halfway point.

  Anne is knitting an Ama sweater in her hand-dyed Merino Sport. 

  Jasmin is still casting on a Panjereh top by Christina Danaee out of Neighborhood Fiber Co Studio sock

  Anne cast on a Pebbles & Pathways Sock, designed by heybrownberry, in her Smooth Sock club

colorway “Marilla’s Amethyst Brooch.” (This is for Sock School)

  Jasmin mentions Diane (Lady Dye Yarns) and a Rhinebeck Garment MAL we're collaborating on! We

talk about a Rhinebeck Lonely Hearts type club.

Jasmin is making some slow  progress on her Viajante. Jasmin mentions getting to see Patti LuPone in

concert, and Brenda's French Soul Food (restaurant).

  Jasmin mentions her Tundra pullover.

  Most of Anne’s knitting time has gone to an upcoming kit sample (Hiirnaqtuq) designed by Caroline Dick

which is inspired by a children’s book about an Inuktitut mother’s love for her child and their arctic landscapes. 

  Anne finished a two-night project: Alfalfa (baby) Hat by Kate Gagnon Osborn.

  In Stitches (22:39)

  San Francisco summer means Karl the Fog and sweater weather. Anne has been wearing her Birkin

sweater (now steeked into a cardigan), Ursa by Jacqueline Cieslak (bulky cropped pullover, knit in a

bright ruby red grapefruit color for cheerfulness in the damp grey weather), Water & Stone by

Veera Valimaki, and her Soldotna Crop by Caitlin Hunter.

  Jasmin wore her Sprig pullover in San Francisco.

  Anne has also been wearing two different styles of the Odacier “Thea Rachelle Raglan” pattern, both

are short sleeve, and one is regular mid-hip length and the other is tunic length and she made it to wear

under her Soldotna. Both are made from Kaufman Essex Yarn-Dyed Linen. 

  Jasmin talks about Rick Mondragon's Knit to Fit class, and proportion.

  Events: (33:04):

- #ChooseYourOwnAdventureKAL is ongoing. Anne mentions Amy Herzog's CustomFit.

- Stash Dash :May 24 till August 24. Hosted by the Knitgirllls

- May  31 till end of August: Two Ewes Not Along

Not knitting, crochet, spinning or weaving

-Tour de Fleece: July 6-28,

  Mother Knows Best:(37:14)

This week we answer a question from the "What do you want to hear about?"  thread about how we

squeak in our knitting time. Where do you find time to knit?

Jasmin talks about Sultana. 

  When Knitting Attacks:(47:52)

  Anne’s beagle attacked her ball of Do or Donut.

  Review:(56:14)

  Online Activism for the Conflict Averse

Anne’s Instagram: @littleskeinanne

Book recommendations: So You Want to Talk about Race by Ijeoma Oluo and White Fragility by

Robin DiAngelo

Anti-racism educators: Where Change Started, Layla Saad, Rachel Cargle

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain 

  - If you're consuming their writing, please buy your teachers a KO-FI.

- Engage in social proof. (Hit the like button) Signal boost posts from people of color.

- Diversify purchases and buy from POC. 

- Cartoon of Equality, Equity, Justice

- If you have a question, start with googling your question.

- What is tone policing? (Don't tell a person of color that they would be more effective, if they were "nice")

- Signal boost salient comments, so they rise to the top

- The "An Unfinished Object" blog, Follow it, and support it 

Tour de Fleece:(1:35:58)

Driveband and WW woes. Genevieve drop spindles! Jasmin mentions sewn drive bands.

Join Team Sasquatch if you haven't done so already.

Also, be mindful of your body. Ergonomics. Make sure you are Knitting Comfortably

  Check out this episode!

[mildmayfoxe]

on the other hand today i saw a piece of fabric in my pile to label & immediately said “oh yes, the robert kaufman essex yarn-dyed metallic linen. in black”

i simply think that every bolt of fabric should be labeled with what it is on the selvage edge. if you ask me

[7pluscoin]

Why Yarn Dyed Fabrics Are Our Fave

So what’s the big deal, who CARES if a fabric is yarn-dyed or not right? Some of you may be thinking that. And that’s cool. We can still be friends. But I’m here today to not only make the case for yarn-dyed fabrics, but tell you WHY they are MY favorite.

First you must know that yarn dyed fabrics can be pretty easy to spot unless we’re talking about solid fabrics (but that’s a story for another time). The easiest way is to take notice of their most obvious aesthetic differences from printed fabrics. In most cases, yarn-dyed fabrics will be done in designs like stripes, or plaids, or ikats. The first two fabrics below fit some of those descriptions. And the third is obviously illustrated, drawn by hand or computer and then printed on the surface of the fabric. While there are virtually no design limitations for printed fabric, there can be some limitations with yarn-dyed fabrics, but it just makes them all the more special. Each design is at the same time constricted and liberated by the differences in fibers, yarns, colors, and weaving patterns.

Yarn dyed fabrics are exactly what they sound like. Yarns that are dyed into specific colors before being woven into a design. So the design is literally part of the fabric, this takes additional time, planning, and engineering to achieve a particular design. That will sometimes account for the slightly higher price point of yarn-dyed fabrics. Just one reason why we love yarn-dyes is that the front and back side of the fabric is usually just as useful as the front. Meaning that the design is literally translated to the backside making your fabric double sided (depending on the weave used). Or if your fabric has a more complicated weaving pattern like in picture #2, the weave can show almost a messy bunching of yarns on the backside. (A small price to pay for the glorious front side in our opinion.)

And finally why we really love yarn-dyed fabrics is because of their old-world charm and character within each piece. If you are a fan of the beautiful home decor trends that are sort of a combination of southwestern, tribal, native, and eastern cultures, you will love the yarn-dyed fabrics we carry in our shop. Below are just some examples.

Sarape Blanket Stripes

These are Essex Linens by Robert Kaufman. They are a cotton/linen blend and are incredibly versatile. We love that little bit of texture that comes from being yarn-dyed. We offer Essex Linens both in a yarn-dyed, and dip dyed variety. Just make sure to read the titles of our product listings to know which one you are purchasing.

Essex Linen

Our Elemental Woven Fabrics are a whole lot of fun! We love the different textures that each fabric brings! You can find these and a whole bunch more Textured Woven Cottons on our site.

Another cute group of Textured Cotton Wovens (or yarn-dyed) fabrics is our Stitch Line group pictured below.

If you’re looking to get a little patriotic, look no further. These American Wovens have got your back. Featuring little stars and stripes!

Americana Wovens

Pictured below are some really cute, soft and versatile yarn-dyed stripe fabrics by Alison Glass. This group is called Mariner’s cloth and features a chunky yarn running through the weave of the fabric to create stripes.

Once of our favorite yarn-dyed fabrics in the shop are these Manchester Embroidered Cottons. They have a lovely texture and add so much dimension to quilting and apparel projects.

[arden-me]

Kaufman Essex Yarn Dyed Classic Wovens Linen Check Natural https://ift.tt/2IVFvCe

[jazzeria]

A lil update on my lil blankie: I'm starting to see signs of wear in the construction, flaws are showing themselves, and the fabrics are breaking in (some nicely, some are wearing).

29 Dec 2024

At this point, Lil Blankie is about 6 weeks old, and has been washed 3-4 times.

I sleep with the blanket every night. Sometimes I cover my head and eyes as I sleep. Sometimes I wear it like a cape around my shoulders as I go about my business in the home. Every second day or so, I spend several minutes just snuggling it for the sheer joy of it--and also for science, of course.

The flannel is starting to pill. It's not bad, but I think this is the first time it's noticeable.

On the Rectangle side, there's a small tear on a piece of the Japanese print, near a seam with the flannel. I'm not sure if the tear is from usage, or if it was already there and has only started fraying with use.

During construction, I noticed a small tear in this pale blue-purple Japanese woven, and patched it with fusible stabiliser on the wrong side. The stabiliser quickly wore off (second or third wash?), and the tear has frayed noticeably.

Some of the quilting (blue thread) is starting to snag and pull on this side:

The Essex cotton-linen is breaking in very nicely. The fabric is becoming more pliable/flexible, less stiff. But the texture is still a bit coarse. With washing (and tumble-drying), a criss-cross puckering texture has emerged. I'm not sure what causes it, but my suspicion is that the cotton is shrinking while the linen remains the same.

The Sprout Woven is softening quite nicely too, becoming both more pliable/flexible, and having a softer surface texture.

The Japanese yarn-dyed wovens are still noticeably coarse.

The Japanese print--which I've since learned isn't actually a quilting cotton, but a heavier fabric at 220 gsm--is breaking in beautifully. It's still a bit stiff, and the surface texture isn't the softest, but somehow it feels lovely. Sturdy, perhaps. I want trousers made from this fabric.

On the triangle side, there isn't much new noticeable wear.

These quilting cottons are still quite lovely, and I can see why they're called "quilting" cottons. The thinner fabrics continue to amaze me: very soft and delicate, but no signs of wear yet.

It's also possible that the wear on the quilting is just less noticeable on this side, since I quilted along the triangle edges.

[charliecraftsthings]

Assembling my little practice blanket...

I decided against a binding, so I just did a normal inside-out seam, followed by a topstitch border.

I also had to decide whether to do any quilting, and if so, how: I wanted to do the least amount of quilting (to maximise squishiness), but which still looked ok. So my first thought was, since this is so small, just stitch one line down the centre: once horizontally and once vertically. However, I quickly realised that 90 degree geometry looked awful on the triangles side.

So I decided to try quilting along the diagonal triangle lines. This blends in on the triangle side, while not being too jarring on the right-angle side:

This was probably my first time stitching "in the ditch", ever, and I definitely wavered a few times. I know this will result in a less durable product, but I've also accepted I will regularly mend this blankie over its lifespan.

Also, behold some of my gnarliest triangle points:

After washing and tumbling dry, there was a delightful little crinkle to the fabrics, puckering up around the stitches!

Part of this project was to find out how various fabrics soften with wear. We'll see how that goes!

Fresh out of the wash, the flannel (blue cats on the rectangle side) was absolutely, unequivocally, the softest overall! No surprise there.

Runner-up: the thinnest quilting cottons (40s; used on the triangle side), especially when they lay opposite the flannel. This was a bit of a surprise! I guess the flexibility of the flannel comes through that thin cotton and conveys a sense of softness. However, when these lay over the Essex, that coarseness and toughness was also transmitted somewhat.

In 3rd place: quilting cottons in general. Of these, the dark navy floral print (triangle side) was noticeably smoother than the others. The least-soft quilting cotton was the Japanese print (waves and rabbits on the rectangle side).

Following that, the Japanese yarn-dyed cottons (rectangle side) were 4th softest. These had a delightful woven texture, which I believe will age beautifully, but right now, it comes across as a slight toothiness.

In 5th place was Sprout Wovens (the dark solid navy on the rectangle side), with the raised X-es and coarser weave (unsurprisingly).

In last place came Essex (denim blue on the rectangle side) with its cotton-linen composition and coarser weave (again, no surprise there).

I'm looking forward to seeing how these fabrics hold up over time--partly for the scientific curiosity, but largely for all the vigorous snuggling I'll do along the way!

[scotianostra]

March 16th 1322 saw the death of Humphrey VIII de Bohun, 4th Earl of Hereford.

Humphrey de Bohun would not normally crop up in my posts, him being a member of the English nobility, and not really high enough to even get a mention in the main.

However de Bohun merits a mention above others due to his involvement with Robert the Bruce and his family.

De Bohun was a general, or the equivalent in Edward' I of England's army,  there is no doubt he would have been associating with young Robert during the early campaigns in Scotland, since Bruce, like many other Scots moved back and forth from English allegiance to Scottish.

  When in 1306, Bruce finally made his claim to the throne and killed John Comyn Humphrey de Bohun received many of Robert Bruce's forfeited properties. It is unknown whether Humphrey was a long-time friend or enemy of Robert Bruce, but they were nearly the same age and the lands of the two families in Essex and Middlesex lay very close to each other.  Humphrey took Lochmaben, and Longshanks also awarded him Annandale. During this period Bruce's queen, Elizabeth de Burgh, daughter of the Earl of Ulster, was captured by Edward I and taken prisoner, Humphrey and his wife Elizabeth became her custodians.

Before The Battle of Bannockburn he is said to have fell out of favour with Edward II, but still led a division of cavalry into the fray, this was thought to be on the second day of the battle, another connection to the Bruce is the day before his nephew Henry de Bohun rashly charged at the Scottish King and received a mortal blow through his head from the Bruce's axe.

When the battle was lost Bohun retreated with the Earl of Angus and several other barons, knights and men to Bothwell Castle, seeking a safe haven. However, all the refugees who entered the castle were taken prisoner by its formerly English governor who, like many Border knights, declared for Scotland as soon as word came of Bruce's victory.

Humphrey de Bohun was ransomed by Edward II, his brother-in-law, on the pleading of his wife Elizabeth. This was one of the most interesting ransoms in English history. The Earl was traded for Bruce's queen and daughter, two bishops, Isabel MacDuff, Countess of Buchan, who for years had been locked in a cage outside Berwick castle, and other important Scots captives in England. It must be noted though that a lot of sources say MacDuff was by this time dead, as she does not get a mention in our history after this period.

Sir Humphrey met a grisly end at the battle of Boroughbridge rebelling against Edward II. The rebel forces were halted by loyalist troops at the wooden bridge at Boroughbridge, Yorkshire, where Humphrey de Bohun, leading an attempt to storm the bridge, met his death on this day in 1322.........we all love a good yarn and like Edward II who's own end was said to have happened at the end of a hot poker, Sir Humphrey met a similar end, although the details have been called into question by a few historians, his death may have been particularly gory. As recounted by Ian Mortimer.

"The 4th Earl of] Hereford led the fight on the bridge, but he and his men were caught in the arrow fire. Then one of de Harclay's pikemen, concealed beneath the bridge, thrust upwards between the planks and skewered the Earl of Hereford through the anus, twisting the head of the iron pike into his intestines. His dying screams turned the advance into a panic."

The first pic is the grand seal of Humphrey de Bohun, the second is a depiction by Andrew Hillhouse of his nephew getting it from Bruce at Bannockburn, if you notice the arms on the shield match the seal, a  bend argent cotised or between six lions rampant.

[redgypsy]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: Indigo & White Striped Denim Pencil Skirt, Size S (Please read measurements).

[darkshimmeringworld-blog]

Wapping (Bollocks)

Pretty poppet, meet me by the chicken cottage. I wants the red head. I wants the red head. Pipe down. Consecrated night of illusions, secret chicken cottage mason lodges. Coven cottage dreams. Breadcrumbs. I had an arguement with my friends. They dish it out but cannot take it. I retreat to an imaginary world. I have pretentious thoughts. I have the Yves Klein Blues. Curling my lips at the moon. Soliciting false hope in the light of long dead stars. I sow language demonically. Reverse word breadcrumbs that lead into a forest. A yard with lunatics. St. George-in-the-East and McDonalds to the south. Gatekeepers of the Highway, Gog and McGog. Old King Ludd. Gunge. A deep fat fryer pariah. Roadkill in chip shops. Battered pigeons, battered hedgehogs, half a battered squirrel, the homeless Heston Blooming-fool, bargin in to boil rats in vats of searing fat. Uncharter’d meats. Pipe down. When was the last time I climbed a wall? I change the tense I write in. I changed the tense I wrote in. I change the tense I write in. I walked along the Highway. Rented out by the French Government. Fleur-de-Leases. Ghost houses. Ancient brasses. The French Disease. Surplus foreground, surplus background, surplus horizon, surplus everything. The entire fucking universe is frivolous. The River Lea is bloody marvellous. Opening ceremony. Bucks fizz, whizz kid, alco-popstar-prick. Staple diet of pork scratchings dipped in Manuka honey. Weaponised almonds. Parrot. You are my foil. My tin man. Parrot. Fake imaginary parrot. Imaginary animatronic parrot. Whatever. We need each other. You need my insane thoughts to exist. And you exist to keep my insane thoughts in check. Come in parrot. Shunned by my pretend talking parrot. Aerosol can man. Smashing a bottle of Captain Morgan over Piers Morgan’s fucking face. Polish man in pub garden telling me about munchkins mix-up. Job interview at the Leftorium. It all went horribly right. Pic-n-mix-up. Pipe down. Sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, sky vaulting, firmament. Pipe down. Breadcrumbs.

One caveat with that cravat, it used to be the Captain’s cat. Token Somalian. Robert Mappelthorpe. Bogmanagers. immobile archaic juts. we call them things headstones. I am universal flotsam. Floating up the River Lea. Kraken! The aberration in the light was not in fact a sea monster. It was Tatlin’s titfuck revenge. An Anish Kapoor play thing. A double clef with a disability. A gigantic demented saxophone fighting itself. A roller coaster delineated by spirograph enthusiast at ayahuasca ceremony. It looked like an ampersand & ampersand one man band & ampersand one man band vomiting steel across what once was hinterland in a jaunty rude solo interlude & I ask the ampersand: Doest thou stand here to fuck time? I wandered the windswept plains. I took refuge in Zaha Hadid’s vagina stadium. I wrote: I am here in the Olympic Park. It looks like a vajazzled Chernobyl. My mind is fertile atomic logic. Objections are simple. Redundant description redundant. Redundant description redundant. Pipe down. 

(Gunge decanting weirdness in the countryside line here) 

Advert for the countryside: Get closer to nature (Get closure on nature). Jerusalem is mine. Holy fucking hell. The Pope spits out his tea. The celebrated celibate. Is an ornate monkey. Order of the Capuchin Capuchins. Cappuccino please. Alpha coffee male. Parrot: “Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen” Epic Eccie Epping Forest. Hangman’s Pill. This has been communicated to you in a blindfolded waltz. I am not in control of what I say. It unspools, from my mouth, like a yarn, which is why, we call it, a yarn. Yawn, pipe down. Lawns. Castigated dogs on the horizon of washing lines welping in ylang ylang scented beatings. Over the hills, an Auld Pub. Inside. Old man. He had a whole disorderly repertoire of falling over. Backwash of whiskey spit had cauled over his face. Grave-flirting cunt. Sir Osis of the Gelwaz. A bar-stooling throne. A crackling crown of bloody skull fragments. His Kingdom all crashing down. He dusted off his woes. He warned me of the urinals. Do not go in there. Weird piss cult. The constipated conspiracy theorist: It was an inside job! My dream shop, a list of things it sells: A conspiracy running the entire length of the Greenwich Meridian Line, the Holy Grail made out of a Christian's skin, infinite iconoclasm, magnifying glasses for midgets with ivory handles crafted from pygmy elephant tusks, new imagined noses, transformation parables sewn onto a human heart, rare cough syrup, antique ashtray from Nazi Germany, a Unabomber Schott jacket, rare CD of Jim Jones singing the greatest hits of Tom Jones, a limited edition John Wayne Gacy Island, Thunderbirds toy set, the smell of petrichor and tobacco, a cup that overfloweth with witty barm, balloon canisters sold with park bench (this included free of charge) and nineteen frosted bones. It’s very contrived. It is all set up. There was no let up, to unperceivable things. A man looking like Robert Mappelthorpe, drifted into things. From where I do not recall. He told us of the snapping turtles, and catfish of the Lea. Of dreams of being an artist, and his creosote modernist sculptures that littered the flooded gravel pits of Essex. Of his troubled youth and blazing memories of family feuds. Of running away from it all. Time wasted navel gazing in Lower Nazeing, alone but for the ghosts of Odo from Ranulf, brother of Ilger, two free men and half a fishery. The puissant king of Nazeing. Tethered to a tree. Rooted to a dying tree. He thought he broke free. He had it all once but now he is dead. Pissant. Did you see the frog?Missing posters of Gunge: Last seen kicking a Hari Krishna to death in the head shouting Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti Shanti. He fled the scene. He lined his pockets with as many jam doughnuts that would fit and waded onto the railway tracks. He was never seen again. There was no body. Could be jam, could be blood. We will never know. On the scene: A wasp, dead, burrowed into a sausage roll sarcophagus. A mystery. What did the Ninth Legion have for dinner? Mange tout, Brute?

The Cereal Vapist. Leaves a bad taste in Shoreditch.

the paranoid weird dreams i used to have of my friends flat in maryland. why is he called gunge? fatbergs. tube of genius cream cream. apply in topical area. if irritation or burning sensation shout at it tell it to pipe down! Chewing on some mugwort that grows by the velodrome. that there thing that came out of that there bigger thing kill it and that thing that came out of the thing of the bigger thing kill it too

a group of women piercing their hearts with daggers

Parrot: “Wovon man nicht sprechen kann, darüber muss man schweigen”

Memory palace Weatherspoons. So many doors.

If a prism, if a forest, do occur, in an image, in your mind, with trees, black and without leaves, it is winter. How do you feel? Stalactites, stalagmites, Ludd-ites. Spiralized styrofoam monsters stylised as tentacled octopi. Redundant description abundant. Synonyms and antonyms mingling in the garbage bins. I have thoughts but no words. I have words but no thoughts. I have vacant images. An industrial swearer. A Henry Ford Production Line of Fuck Lines. An absolute bell-end. Carefully reverse your vehicles over the heads of small minded men. I’m a bum note mate. I’m a dicky heart. I’m an insatiable loss. I’m a fortified wanker. Breadcrumbs. Pipe down. I am Onan the Barbarian. I am the Olympic tosser. Weaponised fucking almonds. Nuts. An EDL man. Dressed as St. George. He says it is all King Vortigern’s fault. He laments Broken Britain. Says imperialism is in, he saw it on his porcelain. I tell him: There are two dragons underground. One is red. One is white. They are fighting each other. This, is why your house is falling down. He tells me to pipe down. Crusade Crusoe! The Man Who Was an Island Mentality Nationalist. The Man Who Was a Complicated Pacifist. Says he likes shitting on Persian rugs. That’s all. I decide to leave. Up chalk streams to the Olympian Palaces of Excess. King Vortigern, leftovers, Brexit mercenaries, athlete villages. The unbecoming of a potentially good thing, now passed, the faint departing music of opportunity denied. A marching band of ideas disappearing forever into an invisible tunnel. The doldrum winds of inertia winding down. Silence, deafening silence, silence, deadening silence. The erection of the pleasure dome, damnation to the libraries, elation at the pleasure dome, death at the grass roots, cessation of the spaceship games and then stagnation of the pleasure dome, a nation full of funeral homes and a country in a come down. The Olympic mirage villages, all lullabies and alibis. Its not a pyramid scheme, its a ziggurat enterprise. My brain is sludgy. Your grotty hands are on the shiny things. Pipe down. Macaroon breadcrumbs. Fennel scented cologne from Damascus. Damaris Page wearing Damask Rose. A glaucous macaw. Chewing on Cicely with whores from Macau. Fighting for gold with gymnasts from Beijing. Born in the trench of fools. Wench for sale, wench for sale! Pieces of silver. Podiums. Ahh, many times laddy, have I sat in the afterglow of a witty remark. Filigree words sopping and charming, unspooling from the mouth in effortlessness. Never diminishing after being spoken, but saturating the past in a gilded ambience that when looked back on radiates like the long dead stars that still twinkle at night in far gone space. A crop of bubbling daisies or whatever those flowers are that pavement sprout. Cockney pagans, kicked out by new religion, that built pristine puritanical palaces atop their old school foundations. For whom the bells toll. Are thoughts real? Waiting for the gold. Waiting for the gold. This reverse solipsism hurts my brain. Phlegmatic Father Thames, spittle banks and morsels of clay. Fuelling mad thoughts, another, again, more, or less, lucid, or unreal, than that hill, that I sit on, than that gold I think up, or the gold, that wanes. Vanishes. Evaporates. That was spunked away. The Road of Excess. A sketch for tomorrow. Drawn yesterday. I was dreaming as a voice, refracted in my pint. It said: Whatever I do, I do not repent, I keep pissing against the moon. Signed, Flea. Niches for imbeciles and alcoves to waste gold. Amusements for Affluenza victims of the 21st century, a quarantine zone, a regeneration scheme, reclaimed land, Chelsea Flower Show doped up like a Russian Olympiad, an East End Genocide, Cockneys blowing bubbles, in the marshy reeds, moved out, moved back in again, a hokey cokey organised by porn barons, the erotomania of starchitect visions, the spaceship landing, soldiers on rooftops, Wind in the Willows, Bobby Moore, a Piper From the Gates of Porn, he is pissed off, Hung Up on a Team. Nine days upside down, from that tree. The cockney dildo draft. In, out, in, out, shake it all about. The Pornographers Phallacy: Iconoclasm in the club shop. Effigies of dry rot. In the board room, they rip flesh off each other, madly. And rip off Dr. Faustus, badly. The shadow of glory. Shadows and floodlit glories. The spectre of Super Sunday. Escape to China with Felix Magath, do not say his name in a stadium, it is considered bad luck, you will get fired. Allusion illusion. Allusion to illusions. Layers upon layers upon layers upon layers up layer upon . . . kaleidoscopic derision. Pipe down. Emulsified shirts, and calcified dirt, and a crucified cat and sewer rats, in a plastic six-pack beer packaging, artificial, multi-straight-jacketed rat king demise, all drowned together, floating amongst the coat hangers, a bicycle, and a myriad of used condoms. God’s bawdy house. Up in the sky, the cloud was full of nihilism. The sun, full of itself. His bad first impression, was his bad last impression. Art is new age alchemy. Transmutation, transmutation. Arthur write this: Handle conspiracy with care. Rheumatoid hands and lizard people. David Icke. Up on the vivisection fable. The garbage vans were hijacked, the LED screen were loaded up with obscene images. Information Jihad in this green and pleasant land of grey.

It looked like a vajazzled Chernobyl.

What a load of pretentious rubbish.

Pipe down.