In a message dated 1/16/2006 1:16:42 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
(Ramie is getting a lot more popular lately, which I'm delighted to hear about; I like it even better than linen.) Ramie really hit the market about 18 years ago, partly because it was not included in the fiber import quotas into the US. So enterprising Asian manufacturers realized they could produce it and thereby bypass the quotas. Yes, it is more crystalline than linen, which makes it both "stiffer" and harder to dye. The various bast fibers do look slightly different under the microscope, but you really need pictures or known samples to be able to distinguish them. If memory serves me, I believe we found that the cross-section of ramie is more of an elongated hexagon than is flax (linen). Ann Wass _______________________________________________ h-costume mailing list [email protected] http://mail.indra.com/mailman/listinfo/h-costume
