title: Eastern copperhead

text: The eastern copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix), also known as the copperhead, is a species of venomous snake, a pit viper, endemic to eastern North America; it is a member of the subfamily Crotalinae in the family Viperidae.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The eastern copperhead has distinctive, dark brown, hourglass-shaped markings, overlaid on a light reddish brown or brown/gray background. The body type is heavy, rather than slender. Neonates are born with green or yellow tail tips, which progress to a darker brown or black within one year. Adults grow to a typical length (including tail) of .


title: Eastern copperhead

text: In most of North America, it favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. It may occupy rock outcroppings and ledges, but is also found in low-lying, swampy regions. During the winter, it hibernates in dens or limestone crevices, often together with timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes. The eastern copperhead is known to feed on a wide variety of prey, including invertebrates (primarily arthropods) and vertebrates. Like most pit vipers, the eastern copperhead is generally an ambush predator; it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: As a common species within its range, it may be encountered by humans. Unlike other viperids, they often "freeze" instead of slithering away, due to its habit of relying on excellent camouflage, rather than fleeing. Bites occur due to people unknowingly stepping on or near them.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Five subspecies have been recognized in the past, but recent genetic analysis had yielded new species information.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Its generic name is derived from the Greek words "ancistro" (hooked) and "odon" (tooth), or fishhook. The trivial name, or specific epithet, comes from the Latin "contortus" (twisted, intricate, complex), which is usually interpreted to reference the distorted pattern of darker bands across the snake's back, which are broad at the lateral base, but "pinched" into narrow hourglass shapes in the middle at the vertebral area.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Adults grow to a typical length (including tail) of . Some may exceed , although that is exceptional for this species. Males do not typically exceed and weigh from , with a mean of roughly . Females do not typically exceed , and have a mean body mass of . The maximum length reported for this species is for "A. c. mokasen" (Ditmars, 1931). Brimley (1944) mentions a specimen of "A. c. mokasen" from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, that was "four feet, six inches" (137.2 cm), but this may have been an approximation. The maximum length for "A. c. contortrix" is (Conant, 1958).


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The body is relatively stout and the head is broad and distinct from the neck. Because the snout slopes down and back, it appears less blunt than that of the cottonmouth, "A. piscivorus". Consequently, the top of the head extends further forward than the mouth.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The escalation includes 21–25 (usually 23) rows of dorsal scales at midbody, 138–157 ventral scales in both sexes, and 38–62 and 37–57 subcaudal scales in males and females, respectively. The subcaudals are usually single, but the percentage thereof decreases clinally from the northeast, where about 80% are undivided, to the southwest of the geographic range where as little as 50% may be undivided. On the head are usually 9 large symmetrical plates, 6–10 (usually 8) supralabial scales, and 8–13 (usually 10) sublabial scales.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The color pattern consists of a pale tan to pinkish-tan ground color that becomes darker towards the foreline, overlaid with a series of 10–18 (13.4) crossbands. Characteristically, both the ground color and crossband pattern are pale in "A. c. contortrix". These crossbands are light tan to pinkish-tan to pale brown in the center, but darker towards the edges. They are about two scales wide or less at the midline of the back, but expand to a width of 6–10 scales on the sides of the body. They do not extend down to the ventral scales. Often, the crossbands are divided at the midline and alternate on either side of the body, with some individuals even having more half bands than complete ones. A series of dark brown spots is also present on the flanks, next to the belly, and are largest and darkest in the spaces between the crossbands.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The belly is the same color as the ground color, but may be a little whitish in part. At the base of the tail are one to three (usually two) brown crossbands followed by a gray area. In juveniles, the pattern on the tail is more distinct: 7–9 crossbands are visible, while the tip is yellow. On the head, the crown is usually unmarked, except for a pair of small dark spots, one near the midline of each parietal scale. A faint postocular stripe is also present; diffuse above and bordered below by a narrow brown edge.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Several aberrant color patterns for "A. c. contortrix", or populations that intergrade with it, have also been reported. In a specimen described by Livezey (1949) from Walker County, Texas, 11 of 17 crossbands were not joined middorsally, while on one side, three of the crossbands were fused together longitudinally to form a continuous, undulating band, surmounted above by a dark stripe that was 2.0–2.5 scales wide.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: In another specimen, from Lowndes County, Alabama, the first three crossbands were complete, followed by a dark stripe that ran down either side of the body, with points of pigment reaching up to the midline in six places, but never getting there, after which the last four crossbands on the tail were also complete. A specimen found in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, by Ernest A. Liner, had a similar striped pattern, with only the first and last two crossbands being normal.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Eastern copperheads found in North America; its range within the United States is in Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. In Mexico, it occurs in Chihuahua and Coahuila. The type locality is "Carolina". Schmidt (1953) proposed the type locality be restricted to "Charleston, South Carolina".


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Unlike some other species of North American pit vipers, such as the timber rattlesnake and massasauga, the copperhead has mostly not re-established itself north of the terminal moraine after the last glacial period (the Wisconsin glaciation), though it is found in southeastern New York and southern New England, north of the Wisconsin glaciation terminal moraine on Long Island.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Within its range, it occupies a variety of different habitats. In most of North America, it favors deciduous forest and mixed woodlands. It is often associated with rock outcroppings and ledges, but is also found in low-lying, swampy regions. During the winter, it hibernates in dens or limestone crevices, often together with timber rattlesnakes and black rat snakes. In the states around the Gulf of Mexico, however, this species is also found in coniferous forest. In the Chihuahuan Desert of West Texas and northern Mexico, it occurs in riparian habitats, usually near permanent or semipermanent water and sometimes in dry arroyos (brooks).


title: Eastern copperhead

text: This species is classified as least concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species (v3.1, 2001). This means that relative to many other species, it is not at risk of extinction in the near future. The population trend was stable when assessed in 2007.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: In the Southern United States, copperheads are nocturnal during the hot summer, but are commonly active during the day during the spring and fall. Unlike other viperids, they often "freeze" instead of slithering away, and as a result, many bites occur due to people unknowingly stepping on or near them. This tendency to freeze most likely evolved because of the extreme effectiveness of their camouflage. When lying on dead leaves or red clay, they can be almost impossible to notice. They frequently stay still even when approached closely, and generally strike only if physical contact is made. Like most other New World vipers, copperheads exhibit defensive tail vibration behavior when closely approached. This species is capable of vibrating its tail in excess of 40 times per second— faster than almost any other nonrattlesnake snake species.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The eastern copperhead is a diet generalist and is known to feed on a wide variety of prey, including invertebrates (primarily arthropods) and vertebrates. A generalized ontogenetic shift in the diet occurs, with juveniles feeding on higher percentages of invertebrates and ectotherms, and adults feeding on a higher percentage vertebrate endotherms. Both juveniles and adults, though, feed on invertebrates and vertebrates opportunistically. The diet is also known to vary among geographic populations.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Studies conducted at various locations within the range of the eastern copperhead ("A. contortrix"), including Tennessee, Kentucky, Kansas, and Texas, identified some consistently significant prey items included cicadas ("Tibicen"), caterpillars (Lepidoptera), lizards ("Sceloporus" and "Scincella"), voles ("Microtus"), and mice ("Peromyscus"). Accounts of finding large numbers of copperheads in bushes, vines, and trees seeking newly emerged cicadas, some as high as 40 feet above ground, have been reported from Texas by various herpetologists.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Other items documented in the diet include various invertebrates, e.g. millipedes (Diplopoda), spiders (Arachnida), beetles (Coleoptera), dragonflies (Odonata), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), and mantids (Mantidae), as well as numerous species of vertebrates, including salamanders, frogs, lizards, snakes, small turtles, small birds, young opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, bats, shrews, moles, rats, and mice.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Like most pit vipers, the eastern copperhead is generally an ambush predator; it takes up a promising position and waits for suitable prey to arrive. One exception to ambush foraging occurs when copperheads feed on insects such as caterpillars and freshly molted cicadas. When hunting insects, copperheads actively pursue their prey. Juveniles use a brightly colored tail to attract frogs and perhaps lizards, a behavior termed caudal luring (see video: ). Sight, odor, and heat detection are used in locating prey, although after the prey has been envenomated, odor and taste become the primary means of tracking. Smaller prey items and birds are often seized and held in the mouth until dead, while larger prey items are typically bitten, released, and then tracked until dead. Copperheads occasionally feed on carrion. Gravid females typically fast, although some individuals occasionally take small volumes of food. An individual may eat up to twice its body mass in a year. One study found an individual that ate eight times during an annual activity period, totaling 1.25 times its body mass.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Eastern copperheads breed in late summer, but not every year; sometimes, females produce young for several years running, then do not breed at all for a time. They give birth to live young, each of which is about in total length. The typical litter size is four to seven, but as few as one, or as many as 20 may be seen. Their size apart, the young are similar to the adults, but lighter in color, and with a yellowish-green-marked tip to the tail, which is used to lure lizards and frogs.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: "A. contortrix" males have longer tongue tie lengths than females during the breeding season, which may aid in chemoreception of males searching for females.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Parthenogenesis is a natural form of reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization. "A. contortrix" can reproduce by facultative parthenogenesis, that is, they are capable of switching from a sexual mode of reproduction to an asexual mode. The type of parthenogenesis that likely occurs is automixis with terminal fusion, a process in which two terminal products from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote. This process leads to genome-wide homozygosity, expression of deleterious recessive alleles, and often to developmental failure (inbreeding depression). Both captive-born and wild-born "A. contortrix" snakes appear to be capable of this form of parthenogenesis.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Although venomous, eastern copperheads are generally not aggressive and bites are rarely fatal. Copperhead venom has an estimated lethal dose around 100 mg, and tests on mice show its potency is among the lowest of all pit vipers, and slightly weaker than that of its close relative, the cottonmouth. Copperheads often employ a "warning bite" when stepped on or agitated and inject a relatively small amount of venom, if any at all. "Dry bites" involving no venom are particularly common with the copperhead, though all pit vipers are capable of a dry bite. Pit vipers that are dead are still dangerous and capable of producing venom in amounts that necessitate the use of antivenom.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Bite symptoms include extreme pain, tingling, throbbing, swelling, and severe nausea. Damage can occur to muscle and bone tissue, especially when the bite occurs in the outer extremities such as the hands and feet, areas in which a large muscle mass is not available to absorb the venom. A bite from any venomous snake should be taken very seriously and immediate medical attention sought, as an allergic reaction and secondary infection are always possible.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The venom of the southern copperhead has been found to hold a protein called "contortrostatin" that halts the growth of cancer cells in mice and also stops the migration of the tumors to other sites. However, this is an animal model, and further testing is required to verify safety and efficacy in humans.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: The antivenom CroFab is used to treat copperhead envenomations that demonstrate localized or systemic reactions to the venom. As many copperhead bites can be dry (no envenomation), CroFab is not given in the absence of a reaction (such as swelling) due to the risk of complications of an allergic reaction to the treatment. The antivenom can cause an immune reaction called serum sickness. Pain management, tetanus immunization, laboratory evaluation, and medical supervision in the case of complications are additional courses of action. In 2002, an Illinois poison control center report on the availability of antivenom stated it used 1 Acp to 5 Acp depending on the symptoms and circumstances.


title: Eastern copperhead

text: This species was long considered to contain five subspecies listed below, but gene analysis suggests that "A. c. laticinctus" represents its own distinct species, while "A. c. mokasen" and "A. c. phaeogaster" are regional variants of "A. c. contortrix", and "A. c. pictigaster" is a regional variant of "A. c. laticinctus".


title: Eastern copperhead

text: Five subspecies have been recognized in the past, but recent genetic analysis shows that "A c. contorix" and two of the subspecies are monotypic, while "Agkistrodon laticinctus" (formerly "Agkistrodon contortrix laticinctus") and the fifth subspecies are a single distinct species.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: "Baba O'Riley" is a song by the English rock band the Who, and the opening track to their fifth album "Who's Next" (1971). It was issued in Europe as a single on 23 October 1971, coupled with "My Wife".


title: Baba O'Riley

text: Roger Daltrey sings most of the song, with Pete Townshend singing the middle eight: "Don't cry/ don't raise your eye/ it's only teenage wasteland".


title: Baba O'Riley

text: "Baba O'Riley" appears in "Time" magazine's "All-Time 100 Songs" list, "Rolling Stone"s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: It also features on live albums: "Who's Last", "Live from Royal Albert Hall", "Live from Toronto", and "Greatest Hits Live". The original recording's violin solo is played on harmonica by Daltrey when performed live.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: The song is often incorrectly referred to as "Teenage Wasteland", due to these oft-repeated words in the song's chorus refrain. "Teenage Wasteland" was in fact a working title for the song in its early incarnations as part of the "Lifehouse" project, but eventually became the title for a different but related song by Townshend, which is slower and features different lyrics. A demo of "Teenage Wasteland" features in "Lifehouse Chronicles", a six-disc set of music related to the "Lifehouse" project, and in several Townshend compilations and videos.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: The song's title refers to two of Townshend's major inspirations at the time: Meher Baba, and Terry Riley.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: Townshend originally wrote "Baba O'Riley" for his "Lifehouse" project, a rock opera intended as the follow-up to the Who's 1969 opera, "Tommy". In "Lifehouse", a Scottish farmer named Ray would have sung the song at the beginning as he gathered his wife Sally and his two children to begin their exodus to London. When "Lifehouse" was scrapped, eight of the songs were salvaged and recorded for the Who's 1971 album "Who's Next", with "Baba O'Riley" as the lead-off track.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: According to Townshend, at the end of the band's gig at the 1969 Isle of Wight Festival, the field was covered in rubbish left by fans, which inspired the line "teenage wasteland". In another interview, Townshend stated the song was also inspired by "the absolute desolation of teenagers at Woodstock, where audience members were strung out on acid and 20 people had brain damage. The irony was that some listeners took the song to be a teenage celebration: 'Teenage Wasteland, yes! We're all wasted!'"


title: Baba O'Riley

text: The repeating set of notes (known technically as ostinato) in "Baba O'Riley" that opens and underlies the song was derived from the "Lifehouse" concept, where Townshend wanted to input the vital signs and personality of Meher Baba into a synthesiser, which would then generate music based on that data. When this idea fell through, Townshend instead recorded a Lowrey Berkshire Deluxe TBO-1 organ using its marimba repeat feature to generate them. This modal approach was inspired by the work of minimalist composer Terry Riley.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: The song was derived from a nine-minute demo, which the band reconstructed. "Baba O'Riley" was initially 30 minutes in length, but was edited down to the "high points" of the track for "Who's Next". The other parts of the song appeared on the third disc of Townshend's "Lifehouse Chronicles" as "Baba M1 (O'Riley 1st Movement 1971)" and "Baba M2 (2nd Movement Part 1 1971)". Dave Arbus, whose band East of Eden was recording in the same studio, was invited by Keith Moon to play the violin solo during the outro. In most live performances, this part is played instead by Daltrey on harmonica.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: "Baba O'Riley" was released in November 1971, as a single in several European countries. However, in the United Kingdom and the United States, it was released only as part of the album "Who's Next". The song, however, became one of the band's most popular songs, as well as a popular staple of AOR radio, and remains on the classic rock radio canon.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: "Baba O'Riley" appears at No. 159 on "Rolling Stone"s list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". The song is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as one of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll. The band Pearl Jam regularly plays a cover of the song during concerts, and a readers' poll in "Rolling Stone" awarded this cover as #8 in their "Greatest Live Cover Songs".


title: Baba O'Riley

text: "Baba O'Riley" was used as the theme song for the popular television series "" (2004–13); with each "CSI" series using a Who song as its theme. The song was also used in the "One Tree Hill" episode "Pictures of You" (season 4, episode 13). The live version of the song from the album "Who's Last" plays in the opening segment of the "Miami Vice" episode "Out Where the Buses Don't Run" (season two, 1985). One of the working titles of "That '70s Show" (1998–2006) was "Teenage Wasteland," a reference to the repeated lyric in the song. The song was also used in the trailers for the films "A Bug's Life" (1998), "American Beauty" (1999), "" (2012), "Jobs" (2013), "The Peanuts Movie" (2015), "Free Guy" (2021) and Season 3 of "Stranger Things". "Baba O'Riley" was included in the soundtrack for the 1997 film "Prefontaine" and the 1999 film "Summer of Sam". The song was used in the 10th episode of the 2010 FOX show "The Good Guys". The song was featured heavily in the 2004 romantic comedy film "The Girl Next Door", and was also used in the beginning of, and the end credits of, the 2012 movie "Premium Rush".


title: Baba O'Riley

text: The song has also been used in episode 14 of season one in the TV series "House" and in episode 10 of season one in the TV series "The Newsroom". It was also used in episode one of the UK version of "Life on Mars". A remixed version of this song, re-done by Alan Wilkis, appears in the of "Need for Speed: Most Wanted", as well as the "Family Guy" season 13 episode "Quagmire's Mom", the third "" special and episode 11 of season one of "Superstore". The song is featured in an episode of "Joe Pera Talks with You", "Joe Pera Reads You the Church Announcements", in which Pera is unable to contain his excitement after hearing the song for the first time in his life. The song is also sung in the first season "Sense8" episode "W. W. N. Double D?" by Riley's dad at the airport.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: In October 2001, the Who gave a much lauded performance of the song at the Concert for New York City. Since 2003, "Baba O'Riley" has been played during player introductions for the Los Angeles Lakers during home games at the Staples Center. The song is played before live UFC events during a highlight package showing some of the most famous fights in the mixed martial arts company's history. The song was even used for the trailer of the EA SPORTS UFC 4 game. It is also the official theme song of competitive eater Joey Chestnut.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: At both the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 London Olympics, the 120 bpm dance track "The Road Goes on Forever" by High Contrast, which samples "Baba O'Riley", is used during the countdown at the start of the proceedings. "Baba O'Riley" was then performed by the Who as their first number during the last musical segment at the closing ceremony, with Daltrey singing a changed lyric of "Don't cry/Just raise your eye/There's more than teenage wasteland". "Baba O'Riley" is also used as the pregame music at Sanford Stadium and is played right before kickoff at every University of Georgia home football game. In addition, the Boston College Marching Band have featured a rendition of the song at football and hockey games. It is also played at halftime of most New England Patriots home games, leading up to the second-half kickoff. It is also the entrance music for the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden for every time the Rangers in the playoffs home game.


title: Baba O'Riley

text: In the course of a debate on Twitter, it was noted that "Best Song Ever" (2013) by One Direction bore a strong resemblance to the basic structure of "Baba O'Riley". Pete Townshend responded to the claims by denying that the Who were pursuing legal action, and stated that he was a fan of One Direction's single and was happy that One Direction appeared to have been influenced by the Who, just as he had been influenced by earlier musicians such as Eddie Cochran.


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is one of two main subgenres of Indian classical music that evolved from ancient Hindu Texts and traditions, particularly the Samaveda. The other subgenre being Hindustani music, which emerged as a distinct form because of Persian or Islamic influences from Northern India. The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in "gāyaki" (singing) style.


title: Carnatic music

text: Although there are stylistic differences, the basic elements of (the relative musical pitch), (the musical sound of a single note), (the mode or melodic formulæ), and (the rhythmic cycles) form the foundation of improvisation and composition in both Carnatic and Hindustani music. Although improvisation plays an important role, Carnatic music is mainly sung through compositions, especially the kriti (or kirtanam) – a form developed between the 14th and 20th centuries by composers such as Purandara Dasa and the Trinity of Carnatic music. Carnatic music is also usually taught and learned through compositions. Most compositions are in Kannada and Tamil, with a few in Telugu, Malayalam and Sanskrit.


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music is usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians, consisting of a principal performer (usually a vocalist), a melodic accompaniment (usually a violin), a rhythm accompaniment (usually a mridangam), and a tambura, which acts as a drone throughout the performance. Other typical instruments used in performances may include the ghatam, kanjira, morsing, venu flute, veena, and chitraveena. The greatest concentration of Carnatic musicians is to be found in the city of Chennai. Various Carnatic music festivals are held throughout India and abroad, including the Madras Music Season, which has been considered to be one of the world's largest cultural events.


title: Carnatic music

text: Like all art forms in Indian culture, Indian classical music is believed to be a divine art form which originated from the Devas and Devis (Hindu Gods and Goddesses), and is venerated as symbolic of . Ancient treatises also describe the connection of the origin of the swaras, or notes, to the sounds of animals and birds and man's effort to simulate these sounds through a keen sense of observation and perception. The Sama Veda, which is believed to have laid the foundation for Indian classical music, consists of hymns from the Rigveda, set to musical tunes which would be sung using three to seven musical notes during Vedic yajnas. The Yajur-Veda, which mainly consists of sacrificial formulae, mentions the "veena" as an accompaniment to vocal recitations. References to Indian classical music are made in many ancient texts, including epics like the "Ramayana" and "Mahabharata". The "Yajnavalkya Smriti" mentions "वीणावादन तत्त्वज्ञः श्रुतीजातिविशारदः ताळज्ञश्चाप्रयासेन मोक्षमार्गं नियच्छति" ( "vīṇāvādana tattvajñaḥ śrutijātiviśāradaḥ tālajñaścāprayāsena mokṣamārgaṃ niyacchati", "The one who is well versed in "veena", one who has the knowledge of srutis and one who is adept in tala, attains liberation (moksha) without doubt"). Carnatic music is based as it is today on musical concepts (including "swara", "raga", and "tala") that were described in detail in several ancient works, particularly the Bharata's "Natya Shastra" and "Silappadhikaram" by Ilango Adigal.


title: Carnatic music

text: Owing to Persian and Islamic influences in North India from the 12th century onwards, Indian classical music began to diverge into two distinct styles — Hindustani music and Carnatic music. Commentaries and other works, such as Sharngadeva's "Sangita Ratnakara", further elaborated on the musical concepts found in Indian classical music. By the 16th and 17th centuries, there was a clear demarcation between Carnatic and Hindustani music; Carnatic music remained relatively unaffected by Persian and Arabic influences. It was at this time that Carnatic music flourished in Vijayanagara, while the Vijayanagara Empire reached its greatest extent. Purandara Dasa, who is known as the "father ("Pitamaha") of Carnatic music", formulated the system that is commonly used for the teaching of Carnatic music. Venkatamakhin invented and authored the formula for the melakarta system of raga classification in his Sanskrit work, the "Chaturdandi Prakasika" (1660 AD). Govindacharya is known for expanding the melakarta system into the sampoorna raga scheme – the system that is in common use today.


title: Carnatic music

text: In the 18th and 19th centuries, Carnatic music was mainly patronised by the local kings of the Kingdom of Mysore, Kingdom of Travancore, and the Maratha rulers of Tanjore. Some of the royalty of the kingdoms of Mysore and Travancore were themselves noted composers and proficient in playing musical instruments, such as the veena, rudra veena, violin, ghatam, flute, mridangam, nagaswara and swarabhat. Some famous court-musicians proficient in music were Veene Sheshanna (1852–1926) and Veene Subbanna (1861–1939), among others.


title: Carnatic music

text: During the late 19th century, the city of Chennai (then known as Madras) emerged as the locus for Carnatic music. With the dissolution of the erstwhile princely states and the Indian independence movement reaching its conclusion in 1947, Carnatic music went through a radical shift in patronage into an art of the masses with ticketed performances organised by private institutions called sabhās.


title: Carnatic music

text: The main emphasis in Carnatic music is on vocal music; most compositions are written to be sung, and even when played on instruments, they are meant to be performed in a singing style (known as "gāyaki"). Like Hindustani music, Carnatic music rests on two main elements: , the modes or melodic formulæ, and , the rhythmic cycles.


title: Carnatic music

text: Today, Carnatic music is presented by musicians in concerts or recordings, either vocally or through instruments. Carnatic music itself developed around musical works or compositions of phenomenal composers (see below).


title: Carnatic music

text: "Śruti" commonly refers to musical pitch. It is the approximate equivalent of a tonic (or less precisely a key) in Western music; it is the note from which all the others are derived. It is also used in the sense of graded pitches in an octave. While there are an infinite number of sounds falling within a scale (or raga) in Carnatic music, the number that can be distinguished by auditory perception is twenty-two (although over the years, several of them have converged). In this sense, while sruti is determined by auditory perception, it is also an expression in the listener's mind.


title: Carnatic music

text: "Swara" refers to a type of musical sound that is a single note, which defines a relative (higher or lower) position of a note, rather than a defined frequency. Swaras also refer to the solfege of Carnatic music, which consist of seven notes, "sa-ri-ga-ma-pa-da-ni" (compare with the Hindustani "sargam:" sa-"re"-ga-ma-pa-"dha"-ni or Western do-re-mi-fa-so-la-ti). These names are abbreviations of the longer names "shadja", "rishabha", "gandhara", "madhyama", "panchama", "dhaivata" and "nishada". Unlike other music systems, every member of the solfege (called a swara) has three variants. The exceptions are the drone notes, "shadja" and "panchama" (also known as the tonic and the dominant), which have only one form; and "madhyama" (the subdominant), which has two forms. A 7th century stone inscription in Kudumiyan Malai in Tamil Nadu shows vowel changes to solfege symbols with ra, ri, ru etc. to denote the higher quarter-tones. In one scale, or raga, there is usually only one variant of each note present. The exceptions exist in "light" ragas, in which, for artistic effect, there may be two, one ascending (in the "arohanam") and another descending (in the "avarohanam").


title: Carnatic music

text: A "raga" in Carnatic music prescribes a set of rules for building a melody – very similar to the Western concept of mode. It specifies rules for movements up ("aarohanam") and down ("avarohanam"), the scale of which notes should figure more and which notes should be used more sparingly, which notes may be sung with "gamaka" (ornamentation), which phrases should be used or avoided, and so on. In effect, it is a series of obligatory musical events which must be observed, either absolutely or with a particular frequency.


title: Carnatic music

text: In Carnatic music, the "sampoorna ragas" (those with all seven notes in their scales) are classified into a system called the "melakarta", which groups them according to the kinds of notes that they have. There are seventy-two "melakarta ragas", thirty six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is shuddha (perfect fourth from the tonic), the remaining thirty-six of whose madhyama (subdominant) is prati (an augmented fourth from the tonic). The "ragas" are grouped into sets of six, called "chakras" ("wheels", though actually segments in the conventional representation) grouped according to the supertonic and mediant scale degrees. There is a system known as the "katapayadi sankhya" to determine the names of "melakarta raga"s.


title: Carnatic music

text: "Raga"s may be divided into two classes: "janaka raga"s (i.e. melakarta or parent ragas) and "janya raga"s (descendant ragas of a particular janaka raga). Janya ragas are themselves subclassified into various categories.


title: Carnatic music

text: "Tala" refers to a fixed time cycle or metre, set for a particular composition, which is built from groupings of beats. "Tala"s have cycles of a defined number of beats and rarely change within a song. They have specific components, which in combinations can give rise to the variety to exist (over 108), allowing different compositions to have different rhythms.


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music singers usually keep the beat by moving their hands up and down in specified patterns, and using their fingers simultaneously to keep time. "Tala" is formed with three basic parts (called "anga"s) which are "laghu", "dhrtam", and "anudhrtam", though complex talas may have other parts like "plutam", "guru", and "kaakapaadam". There are seven basic "tala" groups which can be formed from the "laghu", "dhrtam", and "anudhrtam":


title: Carnatic music

text: A "laghu" has five variants (called "jaathi"s) based on the counting pattern. Five "jaathis" times seven tala groups gives thirty-five basic "tala"s, although use of other "anga"s results in a total of 108 "tala"s.


title: Carnatic music

text: Improvisation in "raga" is the soul of Indian classical music – an essential aspect. ""Manodharma Sangeetam"" or ""kalpana Sangeetam"" ("music of imagination") as it is known in Carnatic music, embraces several varieties of improvisation.


title: Carnatic music

text: An alapana, sometimes also called ragam, is the exposition of a raga or tone – a slow improvisation with no rhythm, where the raga acts as the basis of embellishment. In performing alapana, performers consider each raga as an object that has beginnings and endings and consists somehow of sequences of thought.


title: Carnatic music

text: The performer will explore the ragam and touch on its various nuances, singing in the lower octaves first, then gradually moving up to higher octaves, while giving a hint of the song to be performed.


title: Carnatic music

text: Theoretically, this ought to be the easiest type of improvisation, since the rules are so few, but in fact, it takes much skill to sing a pleasing, comprehensive (in the sense of giving a "feel for the ragam") and, most importantly, original raga alapana.


title: Carnatic music

text: Niraval, usually performed by the more advanced performers, consists of singing one or two lines of text of a song repeatedly, but with a series of melodic improvised elaborations. Although niraval consists of extempore melodic variations, generally, the original patterns of duration are maintained; each word in the lines of text stay set within their original place ("idam") in the tala cycle. The lines are then also played at different levels of speed which can include double speed, triple speed, quadruple speed and even sextuple speed. The improvised elaborations are made with a view of outlining the raga, the tempo, and the theme of the composition.


title: Carnatic music

text: Kalpanaswaram, also known as swarakalpana, consists of improvising melodic and rhythmic passages using "swaras" (solfa syllables). Like niraval, kalpanaswaras are sung to end on a particular swara in the raga of the melody and at a specific place ("idam") in the tala cycle.


title: Carnatic music

text: Kalpanaswaras have a somewhat predictable rhythmical structure; the swaras are sung to end on the "samam" (the first beat of the rhythmical cycle). The swaras can also be sung at the same speed or double the speed of the melody that is being sung, though some artists sing triple-speed phrases too.


title: Carnatic music

text: Kalpanaswaram is the most elementary type of improvisation, usually taught before any other form of improvisation.


title: Carnatic music

text: Tanam is one of the most important forms of improvisation, and is integral to Ragam Tanam Pallavi. Originally developed for the veena, it consists of expanding the raga with syllables like "tha, nam, thom, aa, nom, na," etc.


title: Carnatic music

text: Ragam, Tanam, and Pallavi are the principal long form in concerts, and is a composite form of improvisation. As the name suggests, it consists of raga alapana, tanam, and a pallavi line. Set to a slow-paced tala, the pallavi line is often composed by the performer. Through niraval, the performer manipulates the pallavi line in complex melodic and rhythmic ways. The niraval is followed by kalpanaswarams.


title: Carnatic music

text: Tani Avartanam refers to the extended solo that is played by the percussionists in a concert, and is usually played after the main composition in a concert. The percussionist displays the full range of his skills and rhythmic imagination during the solo, which may take from two to twenty minutes.


title: Carnatic music

text: In contrast to Hindustani music of the northern part of India, Carnatic music is taught and learned through compositions, which encode many intricate musical details, also providing scope for free improvisation. Nearly every rendition of a Carnatic music composition is different and unique as it embodies elements of the composer's vision, as well as the musician's interpretation.


title: Carnatic music

text: A Carnatic composition really has two elements, one being the musical element, the other being what is conveyed in the composition. It is probably because of this fact that most Carnatic music compositions are composed for singing. In addition to the rich musical experience, each composition brings out the knowledge and personality of the composer, and hence the words are as important as the musical element itself. This poses a special challenge for the musicians because rendering this music does not involve just playing or singing the correct musical notes; the musicians are expected to understand what was conveyed by the composer in various languages, and sing musical phrases that act to create the effect that was intended by the composer in his/her composition.


title: Carnatic music

text: "Geethams" and "swarajatis" (which have their own peculiar composition structures) are principally meant to serve as basic learning exercises.


title: Carnatic music

text: Compositions more commonly associated with Indian classical dance and Indian devotional music have also been increasingly used in the Carnatic music repertoire. The performance of the Sanskrit "sloka", Tamil "viruttam" and Telugu "padyamu" or "sisapadya" forms are particularly unique. Though these forms consist of lyric-based verses, musicians improvise "raga" phrases in free rhythm, like an alapana, so both the sound value, and the meaning of the text, guide the musician through elaborate melodic improvisations. Forms such as the "divya prabandham", "thevaram" and "ugabhoga" are often performed similarly, however, these forms can also have a set melody and rhythm like the "devaranama", "javali", "padam", "thillana" and "thiruppugazh" forms.


title: Carnatic music

text: The most common and significant forms in Carnatic music are the "varnam" and the "kriti" (or "kirtanam").


title: Carnatic music

text: Varnams are short metric pieces which encapsulate the main features and requirements of a "raga". The features and rules of the raga (also known as the "sanchaaraas" of a raga) include how each note of the raga should be stressed, the scale of the raga, and so on. All varnams consist of lyrics, as well as swara passages, including a "pallavi", an "anupallavi", "muktayi swaras", a "charanam", and "chittaswaras".


title: Carnatic music

text: Known for their complex structure, varnams are a fundamental form in Carnatic music. Varnams are practised as vocal exercises in multiple speeds by performers of Carnatic music, to help develop voice culture, and maintain proper pitch and control of rhythm. In Carnatic music concerts, varnams are often performed by musicians as the opening item – acting as a warm up for the musicians, and as a means of grabbing the attention of the audience.


title: Carnatic music

text: This kind of song is called a "keerthanam" or a "kriti". There are other possible structures for a "kriti", which may in addition include swara passages named "chittaswara". A "chittaswara" consists only of notes, and has no words. Still others have a verse at the end of the "charana", called the "madhyamakāla". It is sung immediately after the "charana", but at double speed.


title: Carnatic music

text: There are many composers in Carnatic music. Purandara Dasa (1484–1564) is referred to as the "Pitamaha" (the father or grandfather) of Carnatic music as he formulated the basic lessons in teaching Carnatic music, and in honour of his significant contribution to Carnatic music. He structured graded exercises known as "Swaravalis" and "Alankaras", and at the same time, introduced the "Raga" Mayamalavagowla as the first scale to be learnt by beginners. He also composed "Gitas" (simple songs) for novice students.


title: Carnatic music

text: The contemporaries Tyagaraja (1767– 1847), Muthuswami Dikshitar, (1776–1835) and Syama Sastri, (1762–1827) are regarded as the Trinity of Carnatic music because of the quality of Syama Sastri's compositions, the varieties of compositions of Muthuswami Dikshitar, and Tyagaraja's prolific output in composing "kritis".


title: Carnatic music

text: Prominent composers prior to the Trinity of Carnatic music include Sripadaraja, Vyasatirtha, Kanakadasa, Vadiraja Tirtha, Arunachala Kavi, Annamacharya, Narayana Theertha, Vijaya Dasa, Jagannatha Dasa, Gopala Dasa, Bhadrachala Ramadas, Sadasiva Brahmendra and Oottukkadu Venkata Kavi. Other composers are Swathi Thirunal, Gopalakrishna Bharathi, Neelakanta Sivan, Patnam Subramania Iyer, Mysore Vasudevachar, Koteeswara Iyer, Muthiah Bhagavathar, Subramania Bharathiyar, Kalyani Varadarajan, M. Balamuralikrishna and Papanasam Sivan. The compositions of these composers are rendered frequently by artists of today.


title: Carnatic music

text: Composers of Carnatic music were often inspired by religious devotion and were usually scholars proficient in one or more of the languages Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, or Telugu. They usually included a signature, called a "mudra", in their compositions. For example, all songs by Tyagaraja (who composed in Telugu) have the word "Tyagaraja" in them, all songs by Muthuswami Dikshitar (who composed in Sanskrit) have the words "Guruguha" in them; songs by Syama Sastri (who composed in Telugu) have the words "Syama Krishna" in them; all songs by Purandaradasa (who composed in Kannada) have the words "Purandara Vittala"; while Gopalakrishna Bharathi (who composed in Tamil) used the signature "Gopalakrishnan" in his compositions. Papanasam Sivan, who has been hailed as the "Tamil Tyagaraja" of Carnatic music, composed in Tamil and Sanskrit, and used the signature "Ramadasan" in his compositions.


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music is traditionally taught according to the system formulated by Purandara Dasa. This involves "sarali swaras" (graded exercises), "alankaras" (exercises based on the seven talas), "geetams" or simple songs, and Swarajatis. After the student has reached a certain standard, "varnams" are taught and later, the student learns kritis. It typically takes several years of learning before a student is adept enough to perform at a concert.


title: Carnatic music

text: The learning texts and exercises are more or less uniform across all the South Indian states. The learning structure is arranged in increasing order of complexity. The lessons start with the learning of the "sarali varisai" (solfege set to a particular raga).


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music was traditionally taught in the gurukula system, where the student lived with and learnt the art from his guru (perceptor). From the late 20th century onwards, with changes in lifestyles and need for young music aspirants to simultaneously pursue a parallel academic career, this system has found few takers.


title: Carnatic music

text: Musicians often take great pride in letting people know about their Guru Parampara, or the hierarchy of disciples from some prominent ancient musician or composer, to which they belong. People whose disciple-hierarchies are often referred to are Tyagaraja, Muthuswami Dikshitar, Syama Sastri, Swathi Thirunal and Papanasam Sivan, among others.


title: Carnatic music

text: In modern times, it is common for students to visit their gurus daily or weekly to learn music. Though new technology has made learning easier with the availability of quick-learn media such as learning exercises recorded on audio cassettes and CDs, these are discouraged by most gurus who emphasize that face-to-face learning is best for students.


title: Carnatic music

text: Notation is not a new concept in Indian music. However, Carnatic music continued to be transmitted orally for centuries without being written down. The disadvantage with this system was that if one wanted to learn about a kriti composed, for example, by Purandara Dasa, it involved the difficult task of finding a person from Purandara Dasa's lineage of students.


title: Carnatic music

text: Written notation of Carnatic music was revived in the late 17th century and early 18th century, which coincided with rule of Shahaji II in Tanjore. Copies of Shahaji's musical manuscripts are still available at the Saraswati Mahal Library in Tanjore and they give us an idea of the music and its form. They contain snippets of solfege to be used when performing the mentioned ragas.


title: Carnatic music

text: Unlike classical Western music, Carnatic music is notated almost exclusively in tonic sol-fa notation using either a Roman or Indic script to represent the solfa names. Past attempts to use the staff notation have mostly failed. Indian music makes use of hundreds of ragas, many more than the church modes in Western music. It becomes difficult to write Carnatic music using the staff notation without the use of too many accidentals. Furthermore, the staff notation requires that the song be played in a certain key. The notions of key and absolute pitch are deeply rooted in Western music, whereas the Carnatic notation does not specify the key and prefers to use scale degrees (relative pitch) to denote notes. The singer is free to choose the actual pitch of the tonic note. In the more precise forms of Carnatic notation, there are symbols placed above the notes indicating how the notes should be played or sung; however, informally this practice is not followed.


title: Carnatic music

text: To show the length of a note, several devices are used. If the duration of note is to be doubled, the letter is either capitalized (if using Roman script) or lengthened by a diacritic (in Indian languages). For a duration of three, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and followed by a comma. For a length of four, the letter is capitalized (or diacriticized) and then followed by a semicolon. In this way any duration can be indicated using a series of semicolons and commas.


title: Carnatic music

text: However, a simpler notation has evolved which does not use semicolons and capitalization, but rather indicates all extensions of notes using a corresponding number of commas. Thus, "Sā" quadrupled in length would be denoted as "S,,".


title: Carnatic music

text: The notation is divided into columns, depending on the structure of the "tāḷaṃ". The division between a "laghu" and a "dhrutam" is indicated by a।, called a "ḍaṇḍā", and so is the division between two "dhrutams" or a "dhrutam" and an "anudhrutam". The end of a cycle is marked by a॥, called a "double ḍaṇḍā", and looks like a caesura.


title: Carnatic music

text: Carnatic music is usually performed by a small ensemble of musicians, who sit on an elevated stage. This usually consists of, at least, a principal performer, a melodic accompaniment, a rhythm accompaniment, and a drone.


title: Carnatic music

text: Performances can be musical or musical-dramatic. Musical recitals are either vocal, or purely instrumental in nature, while musical-dramatic recitals refer to Harikatha. Regardless of what type of recital it is, what is featured are compositions which form the core of this genre of music.


title: Carnatic music

text: The "tambura" is the traditional drone instrument used in concerts. However, tamburas are increasingly being replaced by "śruti" boxes, and now more commonly, the electronic "tambura". The drone itself is an integral part of performances and furnishes stability – the equivalent of harmony in Western music.


title: Carnatic music

text: In a vocal recital, a concert team may have one or more vocalists as the principal performer(s). Instruments, such as the Saraswati veena and/or venu flute, can be occasionally found as an accompaniment, but usually, a vocalist is supported by a violin player (who sits on his/her left). The rhythm accompanist is usually a mridangam player (who sits on the other side, facing the violin player). However, other percussion instruments such as the ghatam, kanjira and morsing frequently also accompany the main percussion instrument and play in an almost contrapuntal fashion along with the beats.


title: Carnatic music

text: The objective of the accompanying instruments is far more than following the melody and keeping the beats. The accompaniments form an integral part of every composition presented, and they closely follow and augment the melodic phrases outlined by the lead singer. The vocalist and the violinist take turns while elaborating or while exhibiting creativity in sections like raga, niraval and kalpanaswaram.


title: Carnatic music

text: Unlike Hindustani music concerts, where an accompanying tabla player can keep beats without following the musical phrases at times, in Carnatic music, the accompanists have to follow the intricacies of the composition since there are percussion elements such as eduppu in several compositions.


title: Carnatic music

text: Some concerts feature a good bit of interaction with the lead musicians and accompanists exchanging notes, and accompanying musicians predicting the lead musician's musical phrases.


title: Carnatic music

text: A contemporary Carnatic music concert (called a "kutcheri") usually lasts about three hours, and comprises a number of varied compositions. Carnatic songs are composed in a particular "raga", which means that they do not deviate from the notes in the "raga". Each composition is set with specific notes and beats, but performers improvise extensively. Improvisation occurs in the melody of the composition as well as in using the notes to expound the beauty of the "raga".


title: Carnatic music

text: Concerts usually begin with a "varnam" or an invocatory item which will act as the opening piece. The "varnam" is composed with an emphasis on "swaras" of the raga, but will also have lyrics, the "saahityam". It is lively and fast to get the audience's attention. An invocatory item may usually follow the "varnam".


title: Carnatic music

text: After the "varnam" and/or invocatory item, the artist sings longer compositions called "kirtanas" (commonly referred to as "kriti"s). Each kriti sticks to one specific "raga", although some are composed with more than one raga; these are known as "ragamalika" (a garland of "ragas").


title: Carnatic music

text: After singing the opening "kriti", usually, the performer sings the "kalpanaswaram" of the "raga" to the beat. The performer must improvise a string of "swaras" in any octave according to the rules of the raga and return to beginning of the cycle of beats smoothly, joining the "swaras" with a phrase selected from the "kriti". The violin performs these alternately with the main performer. In very long strings of "swara", the performers must calculate their notes accurately to ensure that they stick to the "raga", have no awkward pauses or lapses in the beat of the song, and create a complex pattern of notes that a knowledgeable audience can follow.


title: Carnatic music

text: Performers then begin the main compositions with a section called "raga alapana" exploring the "raga". In this, they use the sounds "aa, ri, na, ta", etc. instead of "swaras" to slowly elaborate the notes and flow of the raga. This begins slowly and builds to a crescendo, and finally establishes a complicated exposition of the "raga" that shows the performer's skill. All of this is done without any rhythmic accompaniment, or beat. Then the melodic accompaniment (violin or veena), expounds the "raga". Experienced listeners can identify many ragas after they hear just a few notes. With the "raga" thus established, the song begins, usually with lyrics. In this, the accompaniment (usually violin, sometimes veena) performs along with the main performer and the percussion (such as a mridangam). In the next stage of the song, they may sing "niraval" or "kalpanaswaram" again.


title: Carnatic music

text: In most concerts, the main item will at least have a section at the end of the item, for the percussion to perform solo (called the "tani avartanam"). The percussion artists perform complex patterns of rhythm and display their skill. If multiple percussion instruments are employed, they engage in a rhythmic dialogue until the main performer picks up the melody once again. Some experienced artists may follow the main piece with a "ragam thanam pallavi" mid-concert, if they do not use it as the main item.


title: Carnatic music

text: Following the main composition, the concert continues with shorter and lighter songs. Some of the types of songs performed towards the end of the concerts are "tillanas" and "thukkadas" – bits of popular "kriti"s or compositions requested by the audience. Every concert that is the last of the day ends with a "mangalam", a thankful prayer and conclusion to the musical event.


title: Carnatic music

text: The audience of a typical concert will have some understanding of Carnatic music. It is also typical to see the audience tapping out the "tala" in sync with the artist's performance. As and when the artist exhibits creativity, the audience acknowledge it by clapping their hands. With experienced artists, towards the middle of the concert, requests start flowing in. The artist usually sings the requests, and it helps in exhibiting the artist's broad knowledge of the several thousand kritis that are in existence.


title: Carnatic music

text: Various music festivals featuring Carnatic music performances are held in India, and throughout the world.


title: Carnatic music

text: With the city of Chennai (then known as Madras) emerging as the locus for Carnatic music during the 19th century, its musicians founded the Tyagaraja Aradhana festival in 1846. The Aradhana festival is an annual death-anniversary celebration of the prolific Carnatic music composer, Tyagaraja. Held in the city of Thiruvayaru, thousands of musicians attend the festival to perform his compositions. Since its inception, other festivals were started in a similar manner throughout India and abroad, such as the Chembai Sangeetholsavam in the Indian city of Guruvayur, and the Aradhana in the US city of Cleveland.


title: Carnatic music

text: The city of Chennai also holds a six-week-long grand "Music Season", which has been described as the world's largest cultural event. The Music Season was started in 1927, to mark the opening of the Madras Music Academy. It used to be a traditional month-long Carnatic music festival, but since then it has also diversified into dance and drama, as well as non-Carnatic art forms. Some concert organisers also feature their own Carnatic music festivals during the season. Thousands of performances are held by hundreds of musicians across various venues in the city.


title: Carnatic music

text: The Karnataka Ganakala Parishat is an annual conference of Carnatic music, held in February every year, which has lectures and demonstrations in the morning, and performances in the afternoons and evenings.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, on the Atlantic Ocean.


title: Las Palmas

text: It is the capital (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), the most populous city in the autonomous community of the Canary Islands, and the ninth-largest city in Spain with a population of 381,223 in 2020. It is also the fifth-most populous urban area in Spain and (depending on sources) ninth- or tenth-most populous metropolitan area in Spain.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas is located in the northeastern part of the island of Gran Canaria, about off the Moroccan coast in the Atlantic Ocean. Las Palmas experiences a hot desert climate, offset by the local cooler Canary Current, with warm temperatures throughout the year. It has an average annual temperature of .


title: Las Palmas

text: The city was founded in 1478, and considered the "de facto" (without legal and real recognition) capital of the Canary Islands until the seventeenth century. It is the home of the Canarian Ministry of Presidency (shared in a four-year term with Santa Cruz de Tenerife), as well as half of the ministries and boards of the Canarian government, and the High Court of Justice of the Canary Islands.


title: Las Palmas

text: The city was founded by Juan Rejón on 24 June 1478, with the name "Real de Las Palmas". Rejón was head of the invading Castilian army, which then engaged in war with the locals.


title: Las Palmas

text: The war began at the mouth of the Guiniguada ravine, where he settled together with his 30 soldiers El Real de Las Palmas, which today is the district of Vegueta.


title: Las Palmas

text: The struggle lasted for a period of five years, costing a great number of lives, especially on the aboriginal side, which lacked sufficient means to defend itself against the armies sent by the Catholic Monarchs. Even so, resistance was fierce. The end of the conquest came in 1483, with the incorporation of the island into the Crown of Castile by Pedro de Vera, who managed to subjugate the natives of Gáldar in the northwest of the island.


title: Las Palmas

text: 20 November 1485 the diocese was transferred from El Rubicón (Lanzarote) to Real de Las Palmas. The importance of the city grew gradually, with the establishment of the Bishopric of the Canary Islands, the first Court of the Holy Inquisition, the Royal Court of the Canary Islands and the residence of the Captains General of the Canary Islands. Although the capital, as understood from the 19th century onwards, did not exist as such in the archipelago, given that the Captain General's Residence was in Las Palmas, it can be considered that this was the capital of the Canary Islands during part of the 16th and 17th centuries; afterwards, although without legal or real significance, it continued to be considered the honorary capital of the Canary archipelago.


title: Las Palmas

text: In 1492, Christopher Columbus (Spanish: Cristóbal Colón) anchored in the port of Las Palmas for a repair of the rudder of his ship Pinta and spent some time on the neighbour island on his first trip to the Americas. He also stopped there on the way back to Spain. The - a museum in the district of the city - is named after him.


title: Las Palmas

text: In 1595, Francis Drake tried to plunder the town, leading to the Battle of Las Palmas. A Dutch raid under vice-admiral Pieter van der Does in 1599 was only slightly more successful; some of the town was destroyed, but the raiders were repelled.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas' seaport, "Puerto de la Luz" (known internationally as "La Luz port"), benefited greatly from the closure of the Suez Canal during the Suez Crisis. Many foreign workers migrated to the city at this time.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas is a sister city of San Antonio, Texas, in the United States, which was founded in 1718 by about 25 Canary Islanders.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas is divided into five administrative districts, which in turn are subdivided into districts, not necessarily consistent with the traditional neighborhoods.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas has a hot desert climate ("BWh") with warm dry summers and warm enough winters to classify it as a tropical climate. Its average annual temperature is – during the day and at night. In January, the coldest month, the temperature typically ranges from (and sometimes higher) during the day, and around at night, with an average sea temperature at . In the warmest months – August and September – the temperature typically ranges from during the day, above at night, with the average sea temperature at . Large fluctuations in temperature are rare.


title: Las Palmas

text: August 1990 was the warmest month on record, with the average maximum temperature of the month during the day being . The highest temperature ever recorded was , and the coldest temperature ever recorded was . The highest wind speed ever recorded was on 28 November 2005, measuring . Las Palmas city has never recorded any snow or sleet.


title: Las Palmas

text: Annual average relative humidity is 66%, ranging from 64% in March to 69% in October. The amount of annual sunshine hours is above 2,800 per year, from around 190 in winter (average of six hours a day) to around 300 in summer (average of 10 hours a day). It rains on average only 22 days a year, with total precipitation per year of only .


title: Las Palmas

text: , nearly half (45.9%) of Gran Canaria's inhabitants live in Las Palmas, as well as 18.35% of the Canary Islands' total population. According to a study by the National Statistics Institute of Spain Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has a life expectancy of 80.9 years.


title: Las Palmas

text: Throughout history, Las Palmas received waves of immigrants from mainland Spain and countries from every continent. The majority of the population is Spanish, although large North- and sub-Saharan African and Latin American communities exist (especially the Venezuelan community, which is growing fast), as well as important historical minorities such as Indians (Sindhi) and Koreans and a growing Chinese population.


title: Las Palmas

text: Ethnically, most autochthonous Canarians are descendants of a mixture of aboriginal people ("guanches") of the Canary Islands (now extinct), the Spanish and later European (mainly Spanish, Portuguese, Flemish, Irish, French, Italian, German, and British) colonizers.


title: Las Palmas

text: The Escuela Complementaria Japonesa de Las Palmas previously provided a weekend supplementary Japanese programme.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas offers a variety of theater, cinema, opera, concerts, visual arts and dance performances. The city hosts the Canary Islands Music Festival, the Theatre and Dance and the International Film Festival. The main City Festival, celebrating the foundation of the "City Fiestas de San Juan" is held in June. The Carnival of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria is one of the main attractions for tourists. The city center of Las Palmas, specifically the Vegueta and Triana neighbourhoods, are included in the tentative List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites.


title: Las Palmas

text: Among the places of worship, they are predominantly Christian churches and temples : Roman Catholic Diocese of Canarias (Catholic Church), Spanish Evangelical Church (World Communion of Reformed Churches), Union of Evangelical Baptists of Spain (Baptist World Alliance), Assemblies of God. There are also Muslim mosques.


title: Las Palmas

text: Urban road infrastructure is overburdened on workdays and in certain areas; the city street plan is not at all rectilinear, and may be confusing even to experienced drivers. However, there are no toll roads; entrances, exits, main streets and important zones are all well-signposted.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas, being the centre of the Las Palmas metropolitan area, is the hub for the island's motorway network. The city is linked with three highways: the GC-1 to the south, the GC-2 to the west and GC-3 to the center of the island.


title: Las Palmas

text: The GC-1 links the capital with Puerto de Mogán in the south. It is the fastest route from the top of the island to the bottom and vice versa with a speed limit of . It is approximately in length and runs along the eastern and the southern coasts, and is also the second longest superhighway in the Canary Islands. The road provides easy access from the Airport to the major cities and resorts, which include Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés. The increase in tourism over the years has necessitated the route's upgrading and widening to cope with traffic growth. The GC-1 begins south of the downtown area of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, the highway runs within the beach of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and south intersects with the GC-2 and later runs with a few clover leaf interchanges and later forms a junction with GC-5 and south, the GC-31.


title: Las Palmas

text: The GC-2 North Highway connects Las Palmas with the small northern port and village of Agaete. The highway begins by the beach area of the island, and runs through the downtown area, linking with the GC31 at a roundabout interchange. The freeway runs within the beaches and the coastline of the Atlantic Ocean for the half part but at around the 20th km, it becomes a highway after the unidirectional parclo interchanges and runs within the coastline, it later has several interchanges and several towns as it passes to the northwest and finally, it ends in Agaete.


title: Las Palmas

text: The airport is located in the eastern part of the island, about from Las Palmas city centre. In 2008, it handled 10,212,106 passengers and of cargo, and is the fourth busiest in Spain. It is also the only airport on the islands with two runways, thus can accommodate up to 53 landings and take-offs per hour. The lengthy runways made the airport an alternative landing site for the NASA Space Shuttle. This airport is also a base for Binter Canarias and Navegacion y Servicios Aéreos Canarios, airlines which operate regional inter-island flights within the Canary Islands.


title: Las Palmas

text: An airbase of the Spanish Air Force is located to the east of the runways. Beyond several hangars opposite the passenger terminal, the Gando Air Base ("Base Aérea de Gando") contains ten shelters situated on the southern end of the eastern runway.


title: Las Palmas

text: Puerto de Las Palmas (Las Palmas Port), also known as "Puerto de la Luz", is a main port for fishing, commercial, passenger and sports in the northwest of the city. It has been the traditional base for scale and supplying ships on their way through the Middle Atlantic for five centuries. The Port of Las Palmas is not only the first port of the Canary Islands, it is one of the main ports of Spain and the first of the geographical area of West Africa. As the leading port in the mid-Atlantic, it serves as the crossroads between Europe, Africa and America. In 2007, the port received some 11,262 ships; it welcomed a total of 907,782 cruise passengers, a 16.26% increase on 2006. In terms of annual TEU, the port of Las Palmas ranks as the 5th in Spain, and is among the first 15 ports of Europe.


title: Las Palmas

text: The Port of Las Palmas is the first Mid-Atlantic fishing base, with an annual traffic of more than 4,500 stopovers and with some 400,000 tons of frozen fish processed. Despite experiencing some decline in recent years, it retains its dominance in the fishing industry over other ports in the Canary Islands. At the foot of pier, special refrigerated containers and preparation rooms for frozen products can carry out the entire chain of post-processing and storage of fish, from refrigeration and distribution, to manufacture and supply of industrial ice. The port's EU-approved border inspection post is responsible for inspecting all types of imports and exports between the European Economic Union and its trading partners.


title: Las Palmas

text: Muelle Deportivo is the main yachting marina on the island opposite the commercial port with a capacity of 1250 boats. Close to the centre of the city it is popular with yachtsmen largely as a base for preparing their trans Atlantic passage. It is the start point for the ARC and ARC+ (Atlantic Rally for Cruisers) in which up to 300 yachts of different sizes leave in November for the Caribbean.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas boasts a bus system, provided by the company "Guaguas Municipales". Municipal Bus Lines offers 40 urban transport routes. The main lines are the 1 (Teatro – Puerto), 2 (Alameda de Colón – Puerto), 17 (Teatro – El Rincón), 25 (Campus Universitario – El Rincón), 12 (Puerto – Hoya de la Plata) and 30 (Alameda de Colón – Santa Catalina, via Rehoyas). In addition, two circular lines (A: Santa Catalina – Santa Catalina, via Alcaraveneras) and B (Santa Catalina – Santa Catalina, via Ciudad Alta).


title: Las Palmas

text: The most important bus lines have frequencies of between 3 and 15 minutes during the day and between 10 and 40 minutes at night; some lines have service throughout the night. The bright yellow buses are known simply as 'guaguas'.


title: Las Palmas

text: The 10-ride ticket ('bono de diez') was once a disposable paper card ticket with magnetic stripe at one time widely available in city shops. This is now replaced by a reusable plastic card issued by the company which may be re-charged in multiples of 10 at bus stations and at machines situated at various sites such as public libraries. The Tarjeta Insular (Island Card) which offered a 20% discount on both municipal buses and Global buses was discontinued on 1 January 2011.


title: Las Palmas

text: A separate bus company "Global" with distinctive blue color, inter-hire company, has 119 lines, many to or from the capital. This company was formed 17 March 2000, resulting from the merger of the previous Salcai and interurban lines Utinsa.


title: Las Palmas

text: There is also the "Guagua Turística", which covers the most interesting sites of the city with a guide in several languages.


title: Las Palmas

text: There is currently no rail transport system on Gran Canaria. Between 1893 and 1944 steam tram ran between Las Palmas and Puerto de La Luz. The line was electrified in 1910, although the line reverted to steam traction in 1944, when trams were hauled by a steam locomotive known as "La Pepa". A reproduction of this locomotive is now on display in the in Las Palmas. In the early 1970s an experimental elevated railway line operated through Las Palmas. Called the "Tren Vertebrado" ("vertebrate train"), it was designed by Basque engineer Alejandro Goicoechea and consisted of an unusual low-profile train running on elevated concrete tracks through the city. The project was unsuccessful and was dismantled in 1974.


title: Las Palmas

text: In the early 21st century, plans were put forward by the Gran Canaria Cabildo to develop a rapid transit railway line on Gran Canaria. If built, the "Tren de Gran Canaria" (TGC) line would run along the eastern coast and connect Las Palmas with the airport and Maspalomas in the south. In 2004 the Spanish Ministry of Development put a contract out to competitive tender for a feasibility study on a 50 km railway line from Las Palmas to Maspalomas. This railway project is currently suspended due to funding difficulties.


title: Las Palmas

text: Las Palmas was one of the arenas of 2014 FIBA World Championship for Group D, consisting , , , , and . Matches were played in the new arena – Gran Canaria Arena with a capacity of about 10,000.


title: Las Palmas

text: Many (mainly) outdoor sports are practised in city and neighbourhood, for example: surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing, swimming, diving, skydiving, paragliding, running, cycling, rowing, tennis and golf (mainly in "Las Palmeras Golf", "Real Club De Golf De Las Palmas", "El Cortijo Club de Campo" and "Oasis Golf"). Real Club De Golf De Las Palmas, inaugurated on 17 December 1891, is the oldest golf club in Spain.


title: Las Palmas

text: The two general hospitals of Gran Canaria are in Las Palmas. While Hospital Universitario de Gran Canaria Doctor Negrín (Doctor Negrín University Hospital of Gran Canaria) is geared to health care in the north and west of the island, Hospital Universitario Insular de Gran Canaria (Insular University Hospital of Gran Canaria) is geared to health care in the south and east of the island. There are also smaller private hospitals and clinics.


title: Las Palmas

text: In addition, the municipality has approved in plenary willingness twinning with the following cities, if they are not well formalized these twinning:


title: Crochet

text: Crochet (; ) is a process of creating textiles by using a crochet hook to interlock loops of yarn, thread, or strands of other materials. The name is derived from the French term "crochet", meaning 'hook'. Hooks can be made from a variety of materials, such as metal, wood, bamboo, or plastic. The key difference between crochet and knitting, beyond the implements used for their production, is that each stitch in crochet is completed before the next one is begun, while knitting keeps many stitches open at a time. Some variant forms of crochet, such as Tunisian crochet and broomstick lace, do keep multiple crochet stitches open at a time.


title: Crochet

text: The word crochet is derived from the Old French "crochet", a diminutive of "croche", in turn from the Germanic "croc", both meaning "hook". It was used in 17th-century French lace-making, where the term "crochetage" designated a stitch used to join separate pieces of lace. The word "crochet" subsequently came to describe both the specific type of textile, and the hooked needle used to produce it.


title: Crochet

text: Knitted textiles survive from as early as the 11th century CE, but the first substantive evidence of crocheted fabric emerges in Europe during the 19th century. Earlier work identified as crochet was commonly made by nålebinding, a different looped yarn technique.


title: Crochet

text: The first known published instructions for crochet explicitly using that term to describe the craft in its present sense appeared in the Dutch magazine "Penélopé" in 1823. This includes a colour plate showing five styles of purse, of which three were intended to be crocheted with silk thread. The first is "simple open crochet" ("crochet simple ajour"), a mesh of chain-stitch arches. The second (illustrated here) starts in a semi-open form ("demi jour"), where chain-stitch arches alternate with equally long segments of slip-stitch crochet, and closes with a star made with "double-crochet stitches" ("dubbelde hekelsteek": double-crochet in British terminology; single-crochet in US). The third purse is made entirely in double-crochet. The instructions prescribe the use of a tambour needle (as illustrated below) and introduce a number of decorative techniques.


title: Crochet

text: The earliest dated reference in English to garments made of cloth produced by looping yarn with a hook—"shepherd's knitting"—is in "The Memoirs of a Highland Lady" by Elizabeth Grant (1797–1830). The journal entry, itself, is dated 1812 but was not recorded in its subsequently published form until some time between 1845 and 1867, and the actual date of publication was first in 1898. Nonetheless, the 1833 volume of "Penélopé" describes and illustrates a shepherd's hook, and recommends its use for crochet with coarser yarn.


title: Crochet

text: An instruction book from 1846 describes "Shepherd or single crochet" as what in current British usage is either called single crochet or slip-stitch crochet, with U.S. American terminology always using the latter (reserving single crochet for use as noted above). It similarly equates "Double" and "French crochet".


title: Crochet

text: Notwithstanding the categorical assertion of a purely British origin, there is solid evidence of a connection between French tambour embroidery and crochet. French tambour embroidery was illustrated in detail in 1763 in Diderot's Encyclopedia. The tip of the needle shown there is indistinguishable from that of a present-day inline crochet hook and the chain stitch separated from a cloth support is a fundamental element of the latter technique. The 1823 "Penélopé" instructions unequivocally state that the tambour tool was used for crochet and the first of the 1840s instruction books uses the terms "tambour" and "crochet" as synonyms. This equivalence is retained in the 4th edition of that work, 1847.


title: Crochet

text: The strong taper of the shepherd's hook eases the production of slip-stitch crochet but is less amenable to stitches that require multiple loops on the hook at the same time. Early yarn hooks were also continuously tapered but gradually enough to accommodate multiple loops. The design with a cylindrical shaft that is commonplace today was largely reserved for tambour-style steel needles. Both types gradually merged into the modern form that appeared toward the end of the 19th century, including both tapered and cylindrical segments, and the continuously tapered bone hook remained in industrial production until World War II.


title: Crochet

text: The early instruction books make frequent reference to the alternative use of 'ivory, bone, or wooden hooks' and 'steel needles in a handle', as appropriate to the stitch being made. Taken with the synonymous labeling of shepherd's- and single crochet, and the similar equivalence of French- and double crochet, there is a strong suggestion that crochet is rooted both in tambour embroidery and shepherd's knitting, leading to thread and yarn crochet respectively; a distinction that is still made. The locus of the fusion of all these elements—the "invention" noted above—has yet to be determined, as does the origin of shepherd's knitting.


title: Crochet

text: Shepherd's hooks are still being made for local slip-stitch crochet traditions. The form in the accompanying photograph is typical for contemporary production. A longer continuously tapering design intermediate between it and the 19th-century tapered hook was also in earlier production, commonly being made from the handles of forks and spoons.


title: Crochet

text: In the 19th century, as Ireland was facing the Great Irish Famine (1845–1849), crochet lace work was introduced as a form of famine relief (the production of crocheted lace being an alternative way of making money for impoverished Irish workers). Men, women, children joined a cooperative in order to crochet and produce products to help with famine relief during the Great Irish Famine. Schools to teach crocheting were started. Teachers were trained and sent across Ireland to teach this craft. When the Irish immigrated to the Americas, they were able to take with them crocheting. Mademoiselle Riego de la Branchardiere is generally credited with the invention of Irish Crochet, publishing the first book of patterns in 1846. Irish lace became popular in Europe and America, and was made in quantity until the first World War.


title: Crochet

text: Fashions in crochet changed with the end of the Victorian era in the 1890s. Crocheted laces in the new Edwardian era, peaking between 1910 and 1920, became even more elaborate in texture and complicated stitching.


title: Crochet

text: The strong Victorian colours disappeared, though, and new publications called for white or pale threads, except for fancy purses, which were often crocheted of brightly colored silk and elaborately beaded. After World War I, far fewer crochet patterns were published, and most of them were simplified versions of the early 20th-century patterns. After World War II, from the late 1940s until the early 1960s, there was a resurgence in interest in home crafts, particularly in the United States, with many new and imaginative crochet designs published for colorful doilies, potholders, and other home items, along with updates of earlier publications. These patterns called for thicker threads and yarns than in earlier patterns and included variegated colors. The craft remained primarily a homemaker's art until the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the new generation picked up on crochet and popularized granny squares, a motif worked in the round and incorporating bright colors.


title: Crochet

text: Although crochet underwent a subsequent decline in popularity, the early 21st century has seen a revival of interest in handcrafts and DIY, as well as improvement of the quality and varieties of yarn. As well as books and classes, there are YouTube tutorials and tiktok videos to help people who may need a clearer explanation to learn how to crochet.


title: Crochet

text: Filet crochet, Tunisian crochet, tapestry crochet, broomstick lace, hairpin lace, cro-hooking, and Irish crochet are all variants of the basic crochet method.


title: Crochet

text: Crochet has experienced a revival on the catwalk as well. Christopher Kane's Fall 2011 Ready-to-Wear collection makes intensive use of the granny square, one of the most basic of crochet motifs. In addition, crochet has been utilized many times by designers on the reality show "Project Runway". Websites such as Etsy and Ravelry have made it easier for individual hobbyists to sell and distribute their patterns or projects across the internet.


title: Crochet

text: Basic materials required for crochet are a hook and some type of material that will be crocheted, most commonly yarn or thread. Yarn, one of the most commonly used materials for crocheting, has varying weights which need to be taken into consideration when following patterns. Acrylic can also be used when crocheting, as it is synthetic and an alternative for wool. Additional tools are convenient for making related accessories. Examples of such tools include cardboard cutouts, which can be used to make tassels, fringe, and many other items; a pom-pom circle, used to make pom-poms; a tape measure and a gauge measure, both used for measuring crocheted work and counting stitches; a row counter; and occasionally plastic rings, which are used for special projects.


title: Crochet

text: In recent years, yarn selections have moved beyond synthetic and plant and animal-based fibers to include bamboo, qiviut, hemp, and banana stalks, to name a few. Many advanced crocheters have also incorporated recycled materials into their work in an effort to "go green" and experiment with new textures by using items such as plastic bags, old t-shirts or sheets, VCR or Cassette tape, and ribbon.


title: Crochet

text: The crochet hook comes in many sizes and materials, such as bone, bamboo, aluminium, plastic, and steel. Because sizing is categorized by the diameter of the hook's shaft, a crafter aims to create stitches of a certain size in order to reach a particular gauge specified in a given pattern. If gauge is not reached with one hook, another is used until the stitches made are the needed size. Crafters may have a preference for one type of hook material over another due to aesthetic appeal, yarn glide, or hand disorders such as arthritis, where bamboo or wood hooks are favored over metal for the perceived warmth and flexibility during use. Hook grips and ergonomic hook handles are also available to assist crafters.


title: Crochet

text: Steel crochet hooks range in size from 0.4 to 3.5 millimeters, or from 00 to 16 in American sizing. These hooks are used for fine crochet work such as doilies and lace.


title: Crochet

text: Aluminium, bamboo, and plastic crochet hooks are available from 2.5 to 19 millimeters in size, or from B to S in American sizing.


title: Crochet

text: Artisan-made hooks are often made of hand-turned woods, sometimes decorated with semi-precious stones or beads.


title: Crochet

text: Crochet hooks used for Tunisian crochet are elongated and have a stopper at the end of the handle, while double-ended crochet hooks have a hook on both ends of the handle. There is also a double hooked apparatus called a Cro-hook that has become popular.


title: Crochet

text: A hairpin loom is often used to create lacy and long stitches, known as hairpin lace. While this is not in itself a hook, it is a device used in conjunction with a crochet hook to produce stitches.


title: Crochet

text: Yarn for crochet is usually sold as balls, or skeins (hanks), although it may also be wound on spools or cones. Skeins and balls are generally sold with a "yarn band", a label that describes the yarn's weight, length, dye lot, fiber content, washing instructions, suggested needle size, likely gauge, etc. It is a common practice to save the yarn band for future reference, especially if additional skeins must be purchased. Crocheters generally ensure that the yarn for a project comes from a single dye lot. The dye lot specifies a group of skeins that were dyed together and thus have precisely the same color; skeins from different dye lots, even if very similar in color, are usually slightly different and may produce a visible stripe when added onto existing work. If insufficient yarn of a single dye lot is bought to complete a project, additional skeins of the same dye lot can sometimes be obtained from other yarn stores or online.


title: Crochet

text: The thickness or weight of the yarn is a significant factor in determining how many stitches and rows are required to cover a given area for a given stitch pattern. This is also termed the gauge. Thicker yarns generally require large-diameter crochet hooks, whereas thinner yarns may be crocheted with thick or thin hooks. Hence, thicker yarns generally require fewer stitches, and therefore less time, to work up a given project. The recommended gauge for a given ball of yarn can be found on the label that surrounds the skein when buying in stores. Patterns and motifs are coarser with thicker yarns and produce bold visual effects, whereas thinner yarns are best for refined or delicate pattern-work. Yarns are standardly grouped by thickness into six categories: superfine, fine, light, medium, bulky and superbulky. Quantitatively, thickness is measured by the number of wraps per inch (WPI). The related "weight per unit length" is usually measured in tex or denier.


title: Crochet

text: Before use, hanks are wound into balls in which the yarn emerges from the center, making crocheting easier by preventing the yarn from becoming easily tangled. The winding process may be performed by hand or done with a ballwinder and swift.


title: Crochet

text: A yarn's usefulness is judged by several factors, such as its "loft" (its ability to trap air), its "resilience" (elasticity under tension), its washability and colorfastness, its "hand" (its feel, particularly softness vs. scratchiness), its durability against abrasion, its resistance to pilling, its "hairiness" (fuzziness), its tendency to twist or untwist, its overall weight and drape, its blocking and felting qualities, its comfort (breathability, moisture absorption, wicking properties) and its appearance, which includes its color, sheen, smoothness and ornamental features. Other factors include allergenicity, speed of drying, resistance to chemicals, moths, and mildew, melting point and flammability, retention of static electricity, and the propensity to accept dyes. Desirable properties may vary for different projects, so there is no one "best" yarn.


title: Crochet

text: Although crochet may be done with ribbons, metal wire or more exotic filaments, most yarns are made by spinning fibers. In spinning, the fibers are twisted so that the yarn resists breaking under tension; the twisting may be done in either direction, resulting in a Z-twist or S-twist yarn. If the fibers are first aligned by combing them and the spinner uses a worsted type drafting method such as the short forward draw, the yarn is smoother and called a "worsted"; by contrast, if the fibers are carded but not combed and the spinner uses a woolen drafting method such as the long backward draw, the yarn is fuzzier and called "woolen-spun". The fibers making up a yarn may be continuous "filament" fibers such as silk and many synthetics, or they may be "staples" (fibers of an average length, typically a few inches); naturally filament fibers are sometimes cut up into staples before spinning. The strength of the spun yarn against breaking is determined by the amount of twist, the length of the fibers and the thickness of the yarn. In general, yarns become stronger with more twist (also called "worst"), longer fibers and thicker yarns (more fibers); for example, thinner yarns require more twist than do thicker yarns to resist breaking under tension. The thickness of the yarn may vary along its length; a "slub" is a much thicker section in which a mass of fibers is incorporated into the yarn.


title: Crochet

text: The spun fibers are generally divided into animal fibers, plant and synthetic fibers. These fiber types are chemically different, corresponding to proteins, carbohydrates and synthetic polymers, respectively. Animal fibers include silk, but generally are long hairs of animals such as sheep (wool), goat (angora, or cashmere goat), rabbit (angora), llama, alpaca, dog, cat, camel, yak, and muskox (qiviut). Plants used for fibers include cotton, flax (for linen), bamboo, ramie, hemp, jute, nettle, raffia, yucca, coconut husk, banana trees, soy and corn. Rayon and acetate fibers are also produced from cellulose mainly derived from trees. Common synthetic fibers include acrylics, polyesters such as dacron and ingeo, nylon and other polyamides, and olefins such as polypropylene. Of these types, wool is generally favored for crochet, chiefly owing to its superior elasticity, warmth and (sometimes) felting; however, wool is generally less convenient to clean and some people are allergic to it. It is also common to blend different fibers in the yarn, e.g., 85% alpaca and 15% silk. Even within a type of fiber, there can be great variety in the length and thickness of the fibers; for example, Merino wool and Egyptian cotton are favored because they produce exceptionally long, thin (fine) fibers for their type.


title: Crochet

text: A single spun yarn may be crochet as is, or braided or plied with another. In plying, two or more yarns are spun together, almost always in the opposite sense from which they were spun individually; for example, two Z-twist yarns are usually plied with an S-twist. The opposing twist relieves some of the yarns' tendency to curl up and produces a thicker, "balanced" yarn. Plied yarns may themselves be plied together, producing "cabled yarns" or "multi-stranded yarns". Sometimes, the yarns being plied are fed at different rates, so that one yarn loops around the other, as in bouclé. The single yarns may be dyed separately before plying, or afterwards to give the yarn a uniform look.


title: Crochet

text: The dyeing of yarns is a complex art. Yarns need not be dyed; or they may be dyed one color, or a great variety of colors. Dyeing may be done industrially, by hand or even hand-painted onto the yarn. A great variety of synthetic dyes have been developed since the synthesis of indigo dye in the mid-19th century; however, natural dyes are also possible, although they are generally less brilliant. The color-scheme of a yarn is sometimes called its colorway. Variegated yarns can produce interesting visual effects, such as diagonal stripes.


title: Crochet

text: Crocheted fabric is begun by placing a slip-knot loop on the hook (though other methods, such as a magic ring or simple folding over of the yarn may be used), pulling another loop through the first loop, and repeating this process to create a chain of a suitable length. The chain is either turned and worked in rows, or joined to the beginning of the row with a slip stitch and worked in rounds. Rounds can also be created by working many stitches into a single loop. Stitches are made by pulling one or more loops through each loop of the chain. At any one time at the end of a stitch, there is only one loop left on the hook. Tunisian crochet, however, draws all of the loops for an entire row onto a long hook before working them off one at a time. Like knitting, crochet can be worked either flat (back and forth in rows) or in the round (in spirals, such as when making tubular pieces).


title: Crochet

text: There are six main types of basic stitches (the following description uses US crochet terminology which differs from the terminology used in the UK and Europe).


title: Crochet

text: While the horizontal distance covered by these basic stitches is the same, they differ in height and thickness.


title: Crochet

text: The more advanced stitches are often combinations of these basic stitches, or are made by inserting the hook into the work in unusual locations. More advanced stitches include the "shell stitch", "V stitch", "spike stitch", "Afghan stitch", "butterfly stitch", "popcorn stitch", "cluster stitch", and "crocodile stitch".


title: Crochet

text: In the English-speaking crochet world, basic stitches have different names that vary by country. The differences are usually referred to as UK/US or British/American. Crochet is traditionally worked off a written pattern in which stitches and placement are communicated using textual abbreviations. To help counter confusion when reading patterns, a diagramming system using a standard international notation has come into use (illustration, left). In the United States, crochet terminology and sizing guidelines, as well as standards for yarn and hook labeling, are primarily regulated by the Craft Yarn Council.


title: Crochet

text: Another terminological difference is known as "tension" (UK) and "gauge" (US). Individual crocheters work yarn with a loose or a tight hold and, if unmeasured, these differences can lead to significant size changes in finished garments that have the same number of stitches. In order to control for this inconsistency, printed crochet instructions include a standard for the number of stitches across a standard swatch of fabric. An individual crocheter begins work by producing a test swatch and compensating for any discrepancy by changing to a smaller or larger hook. North Americans call this "gauge", referring to the result of these adjustments; British crocheters speak of "tension", which refers to the crafter's grip on the yarn while producing stitches.


title: Crochet

text: One of the more obvious differences is that crochet uses one hook while much knitting uses two needles. In most crochet, the artisan usually has only one live stitch on the hook (with the exception being Tunisian crochet), while a knitter keeps an entire row of stitches active simultaneously. Dropped stitches, which can unravel a knitted fabric, rarely interfere with crochet work, due to a second structural difference between knitting and crochet. In knitting, each stitch is supported by the corresponding stitch in the row above and it supports the corresponding stitch in the row below, whereas crochet stitches are only supported by and support the stitches on either side of it. If a stitch in a finished crocheted item breaks, the stitches above and below remain intact, and because of the complex looping of each stitch, the stitches on either side are unlikely to come loose unless heavily stressed.


title: Crochet

text: Round or cylindrical patterns are simple to produce with a regular crochet hook, but cylindrical knitting requires either a set of circular needles or three to five special double-ended needles. Many crocheted items are composed of individual motifs which are then joined, either by sewing or crocheting, whereas knitting is usually composed of one fabric, such as entrelac.


title: Crochet

text: Freeform crochet is a technique that can create interesting shapes in three dimensions because new stitches can be made independently of previous stitches almost anywhere in the crocheted piece. It is generally accomplished by building shapes or structural elements onto existing crocheted fabric at any place the crafter desires.


title: Crochet

text: Knitting can be accomplished by machine, while many crochet stitches can only be crafted by hand. The height of knitted and crocheted stitches is also different: a single crochet stitch is twice the height of a knit stitch in the same yarn size and comparable diameter tools, and a double crochet stitch is about four times the height of a knit stitch.


title: Crochet

text: While most crochet is made with a hook, there is also a method of crocheting with a knitting loom. This is called "loomchet". Slip stitch crochet is very similar to knitting. Each stitch in slip stitch crochet is formed the same way as a knit or purl stitch which is then bound off. A person working in slip stitch crochet can follow a knitted pattern with knits, purls, and cables, and get a similar result.