Category Archives: Periodic Blackwork

I have almost completed the d-block and it’s come together nicely. The patterns take their inspiration from a wide time-span: from alchemy and classical mythology through to modern technology and applications. Many are pictorial; others are closer to the geometric patterns of traditional blackwork embroidery. As is befitting the transition elements, there are several referencesContinue reading “The Group 3 question”

Technetium caused me something of a headache. I struggled to think of a design, and found myself with a gap in the middle of my Periodic Table just as Mendeleev had over 150 years ago. For Mendeleev, the problem was never solved – technetium was not discovered until thirty years after his death – butContinue reading “Technetium”

America was not the only country involved in element discovery in the middle of the 20th Century. Russian scientists too were intent on adding to the Periodic Table and their contribution was initiated by Soviet physicist Georgy Flerov. Like Seaborg in America, Flerov had been involved in developing his country’s first atomic bomb. In fact,Continue reading “From Russia…”

Today two more elements named after scientists – two giants of 20th Century nuclear chemistry, Ernest Lawrence and Glenn Seaborg. The 1939 Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to Lawrence for his invention of the cyclotron – a device that produces high-energy particles by accelerating them in a spiral path. The energy of these particlesContinue reading “Lawrencium and Seaborgium”

Given the hugely significant advances made by Ernest Rutherford and Niels Bohr in our understanding of the atom, they were obvious choices when it came to naming some of the more recently discovered elements. But the right to name these new elements was controversial and rooted in the Cold War. They remained without definitive namesContinue reading “Rutherford and Bohr”

Iridium is the first element I stitched, and though it got a mention back in the beginning it had little in the way of explanation. So, what better time to feature an element named after Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow, than in February – LGBTQ+ History month? And framing my pattern of miniContinue reading “All the colours”

Titanium was named for the Titans of Greek mythology, following the naming of uranium after Uranus, father of the Titans. It shares with the Titans the property of strength, and in combination with its low density and heat resistance, this makes it ideal for use in aircraft and spacecraft, often alloyed with aluminium, zirconium, nickelContinue reading “Titanium toilets”

If you’ve ever strolled around the Beacon Hill or Back Bay area of Boston, Massachusetts, you may have come across windows with panes of distinctly purple glass. These panes date from the mid 1800s when manganese dioxide was commonly added to glass as a decolouriser. Glass made from pure silicon dioxide is naturally colourless, butContinue reading “Purple haze”

Iron is the last of the seven metal elements known since antiquity that I have stitched, the others being gold, silver, lead, mercury, copper and tin. Iron was linked to the god Mars, bringer of war; its alchemical symbol is thought to derive from a shield and spear and is the symbol we now useContinue reading “Alchemical symbols”

Molybdenum is a trace element – one required by the human body but only in small quantities. It is essential for the function of three different metabolic enzymes and thankfully deficiency is rare as it is found in most foodstuffs. Legumes are particularly high in molybdenum: it’s well worth giving peas a chance.