Velvet

Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel. By extension, the word velvety means "smooth like velvet." Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibers.

Construction & composition

Velvet is woven on a special loom that weaves two thicknesses of the material at the same time. The two pieces are then cut apart to create the pile effect, and the two lengths of fabric are wound on separate take-up rolls. This complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, and well-made velvet remains a fairly costly fabric. Velvet is difficult to clean because of its pile, but modern dry cleaning methods make cleaning more feasible. Velvet pile is created by warp or vertical yarns and velveteen pile is created by weft or fill yarns.

Velvet can be made from several different kinds of fibers, traditionally, the most expensive of which is silk. Much of the velvet sold today as "silk velvet" is actually a mix of rayon and silk. Velvet made entirely from silk is rare and usually has market prices of several hundred US dollars per yard. Cotton is also used to make velvet, though this often results in a less luxurious fabric. Velvet can also be made from fibers such as linen, mohair, and wool. A cloth made by the Kuba people of the Democratic Republic of Congo from raffia is often referred to as "Kuba velvet". More recently, synthetic velvets have been developed, mostly from polyester, nylon, viscose, acetate, and from either mixtures of different synthetics or from combined synthetics and natural fibers (for example viscose mixed with silk produces a very soft, reflective fabric). A small percentage of spandex is sometimes added to give the final material a certain amount of stretch (hence "stretch velvet").

Velvet (Sirius XM)

Velvet is a music channel that plays contemporary pop from vocalists like Adele, Andrea Bocelli, Sam Smith, Alicia Keys and Idina Menzel, it can be also heard on Sirius XM Radio 13 and Dish Network 6013.

Velvet was pre-empted to Holly on November 2, 2015, Sirius XM Love retained its normal format through December.

Velvet was an online-only channel.

Selected Artists Played

Adele
Alicia Keys
Sam Smith
Idina Menzel
Andrea Bocelli

See also

List of Sirius XM Radio channels

References

Velvet (bus company)

Black Velvet Travel Limited, trading as Velvet, was an English bus company based in Eastleigh, that operated between November 2007 and January 2015.

History

Velvet was established on 3 November 2007 by former Go South Coast manager Phil Stockley, and in January 2008 commenced running a temporary shuttle for Tesco staff.

On 25 February 2008, Velvet took over the running of Red Rocket A in Eastleigh, which was given up by previous operator Solent Blue Line as part of their network restructuring. Velvet gained a number of contracts to run other routes, as well as many new commercial ventures.

Since the start of 2014, Velvet had been withdrawing or reducing services following what is describes as 'a very difficult winter'. On 12 May 2014, Velvet surrendered the contract with Hampshire County Council to operate route 67 Winchester-West Meon-Petersfield, which moved on to Xelabus and Stagecoach South operation. All Barton Peveril College routes were transferred to Xelabus on 22 June 2014, along with the Eastleigh-Hedge End section of Velvet's A service. This followed the collapse of a deal in March 2014 which would have seen Xelabus take over the company.

Medway

Medway is a conurbation and unitary authority in South East England. The unitary authority was formed in 1998 when the City of Rochester-upon-Medway amalgamated with Gillingham Borough Council and part of Kent County Council to form Medway Council, a unitary authority independent of Kent County Council.

It is colloquially known as the Medway Towns. Over half of the unitary authority area is parished and rural in nature. Because of its strategic location by the major crossing of the River Medway, it has made a wide and historically significant contribution to Kent, and to England, dating back thousands of years, as evident in the siting of Watling Street by the Romans and by the Norman Rochester Castle, Rochester Cathedral (the second oldest in Britain) and the Chatham naval dockyard and its associated defences.

The main towns in the conurbation are (from west to east): Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham, and Rainham. Many smaller towns and villages such as Frindsbury, Brompton, Walderslade, Luton, Wigmore etc., lie within the conurbation. Outside the urban area, the villages retain parish councils. Cuxton, Halling and Wouldham are in the Medway Gap region to the south of Rochester and Strood. Hoo St Werburgh, Cliffe, High Halstow, St Mary Hoo, Allhallows, Stoke and Grain are on the Hoo Peninsula to the north. Frindsbury Extra including Upnor borders Strood.

Medway (Mount Holly, South Carolina)

Medway or the Medway Plantation is a plantation in Mount Holly, South Carolina within Berkeley County, South Carolina. It is about 2 mi (3.2 km) east of U.S. Route 52 from the unincorporated community of Mount Holly, which is directly north of Goose Creek, South Carolina. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places on July 16, 1970.

History

Jan Van Arrsens, the Seigneur of Wernhaut (also "Weirnhoudt"), led a small group of settlers from Holland to the province of Carolina around 1686. He built his house on the Back River, which was formerly called the "Meadway" or "Medway" and is a tributary of the Cooper River. Van Arrsens died soon after his arrival and was buried at Medway.

His widow, Sabrina de Vignon, married Landgrave Thomas Smith around 1687, which made Smith one of the wealthiest men in the Province. Sabrina Smith died in 1689 and was buried at Medway. Thomas Smith was appointed governor of the Province of Carolina in 1693. He died in 1694 and was also buried at Medway.

Medway (1902)

The Medway was a four-masted barque built in 1902 by A. McMillan & Son, Dumbarton, Scotland. It was originally named the Ama Begonakoa when built for Messrs Sota and Aznar of Bilboa but was registered in Montevideo and first flew the Uruguayan flag.

The ship's figure-head was the Madonna and Child.

Devitt and Moore purchased the ship in June 1910 for £30,000 as a sail training ship for their company Devitt & Moore's Ocean Training Ships Limited. Devitt and Moore also used the ship in the Australian wool and wheat trade, and South American nitrate trade.

During one voyage, in December 1916, the Medway passed east to west around Cape Horn, which is possibly the last occasion that a square-rig sailing ship passed in that direction. Passing east to west around Cape Horn could take some square-riggers six weeks to beat around.

During 1918, the exigencies of the Great War necessitated the sale of Devitt and Moore's, then, only training ship, and it was sold to the Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company (later Royal Dutch Shell ) for £41,000. The ship was then converted into a bulk oil carrier and renamed the Myr Shell and used for service in the Far East. Subsequently the Myr Shell became an oil depot ship in Singapore before being sold to Japanese shipbreakers for £1,500 in 1933.