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Hemp

Hemp jewelry uses hemp twine material which is made from the Cannabis sativa plant, in other words, “Common Hemp”. It is then cultivated to make vast amounts of goods including foods, fuels, clothing and textiles, cosmetics, paints, paper, building materials, plastics, and other useful tools. Industrial hemp, a dependable raw material, matures in one growing season, is easily cultivated in many climates, and grows without herbicides or insecticides. However, it can replace many products manufactured from cotton, timber, or petrochemicals; which all in all, gives it a durable, mildew resistant, and stronger feeling than cotton fiber that is favored by Macramé jewelers. Hemp Jewelry consists of bracelets, necklaces, anklets, ring, watches, masks, purses, and other adornments. The jewelry can also go more abstract, instead of using just the hemp with a bland type of style, adding glass, wood, bones, rocks, gems, and other knick knacks would extravagant it.

Controversy

Cannabis sativa, the plant from which hemp twine is made from, and marijuana are two distinct varieties of the genus Cannabis. Marijuana contains 3 to more than 15 percent of the chemical tetrahydocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient that produces a euphoric state when consumed. Industrial hemp contains negligible amounts of THC (less than 1 percent). These facts are proven today by the use of gas chromatography. Smoking hemp would only cause a headache and no euphoric high. Before gas chromatography proved industrial hemp to not be a drug, many Americans used the terms “marijuana” and “hemp” interchangeably. This mistake prompted legislation that prevented the cultivation of both the psychoactive plant and the industrial farm crop.

In 1937, growing political antidrug sentiment brought the Marijuana Tax Act before Congress where it was determined that no Cannabis plant had permit for cultivation. Many farmers and lobbyists objected to the act exclaiming that it would prevent the cultivation of hemp which at the time was used for many products in the American market. Despite the objections, Congress passed the Marihuana Tax Act and it was signed into law by President Franklin D. Roosevelt on August 2, 1937. The industrial hemp industry in America was then crippled for many years. Despite the act, American farmers were allowed to grow hemp for wartime needs in 1942 during the U.S. governments “Hemp for Victory” campaign. After the war hemp mills were shut down. Hemp then returned to oblivion while elsewhere in the world hemp production flourished until the 1970s when a resurgence of antidrug policies outlawed hemp cultivations in the UK, Germany and Central and South America.

Macramé

Macramé is the ancient art form of knotting many different geometric patterns together without the use of hooks, needles, or hoops. This knotting can be used to not only make jewelry, but decorative coverings and wall hangings as well. Materials used for this include natural fibers such as cotton, jute, sisal, linen, and hemp which all come from plants and herbs and synthetic cords such as yarn, rayon, rattail, and nylon. Finally, they are processed into strands in which the fibers lay parallel to each other.

History of Macramé

The terminology “macramé” dates back to an Arabic origin and translates to ‘fringe’. This skill originated in the 13th century when Arabian weavers would knot excess fabric at the edges of loomed fabric. It then became popular in the fourteenth and 15th centuries on French and Italian ships and was known to the sailors as “square knotting”, a fancy rope work used to make small decorative items aboard a ship. Sailors would describe the rope materials used by their circumference, however, now cord size is given in diameter length. They typically used cotton, hemp or steel cord to ornament the ships rigging. The round braids, hitching and Turk’s head macramé styles were often used as protective wrappings for rails, spars and rigging. Mats were made from hemp and cotton to create nonskid surfaces on deck. Macramé has evolved into an art form in which the possibilities of creation are endless. Wall hangings, clothing, pot coverings, bags, belts, and jewelry are all products that can be made at home with cord. ^[1]

Macramé Jewelry

There are many types of macramé knots. Macramé art also includes lacings and crossings created when two or more knot segments are joined together. The square knot is considered the simplest knot and the half hitch, also known as the half knot, is the second most basic knot. These knots are typically used when hemp making hemp jewelry. The half knot produces a spiral cord and the full square knot produces a flat cord. Beads and other decorations are also weaved into the jewelry. Hemp is ideal for this jewelry because it is durable and keeps its shape well. A book called Making Beautiful Hemp & Bead Jewelry By Mickey Baskett^[1] can show a few different ways to make certain jewelry, the right utensils and tools for it, and the right statistics. There are many other books and webistes, including Wikipedia, that will try to show how to make this beautiful jewlery.

Recent Interest

Hemp has gained growing interest in recent years. In 1993, the United Kingdom lifted its ban on hemp and in 1994 Canada granted the business Hempline a research grant to grow the crop. By 1995, hundreds of entrepreneurs in Canada, the UK, Germany, Austria, Australia and the United states started hemp companies. Then in 1996 the North American Industrial Hemp Council was founded by environmentalists, entrepreneurs, and representatives from industry, government, agriculture and academia. This proved a strong commercial interest in hemp. By 1997, articles about industrial hemp appeared regularly in such publications as the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post and the Kiplinger Letter. Also in 1996 the Adidas shoe company released “The Hemp”, a model whose upper was made of hemp. When asked to discontinue the model Adidas president Steve Wynne replied “I don’t believe you will encounter anyone smoking our shoes any time soon”.

Fun Facts

George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp, Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper, and Jefferson also supported hemp; using it to draft the Declaration of Independence. When the US sources demand for “Manila hemp” (not true hemp) got cut by the Japanese during WWII, the US Army and US Department of Agriculture promoted the “Hemp for Victory” campaign. This campaign tried to persuade the need of hemp. Because the hemp importance for ship rope and sails, hemp became a US truly acknowledged and required crop. Some hemp industrial, scientific, legal, ecological, and health facts emphasizes and shows hemp’s uniqueness and importance. Henry Ford used hemp to experiment and build car bodies. Ford wanted to build and fuel cars from farm products and admired the hemp's material. Hemp fibers are longer, stronger, more absorbent and more mildew-resistant than cotton. Canada now again allows the growing of hemp because of the believable claim on how hemp can be used in good, useful ways. Hemp can yield 3-8 dry tons of fiber per acre. Surprisingly, this is four times what an average forest can yield. At a volume level of 81%, hemp oil is the richest known source of polyunsaturated essential fatty acids (the "good" fats). It is quite high and rich in some essential amino acids, including gamma linoleic acid (GLA), a very rare nutrient also found in mother's milk. All this is from the North American Industrial Hemp Council, Incorporation website or NAIHC. ^[2]

References

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 ==Hemp==
-Hemp jewelry uses hemp twine material which is made from the Cannabis sativa plant, in other words, “Common Hemp”. It is then cultivated to make vast amounts of goods including foods, fuels, clothing and textiles, cosmetics, paints, paper, building materials, plastics, and other useful tools. Industrial hemp, a dependable raw material, matures in one growing season, is easily cultivated in many climates, and grows without herbicides or insecticides. However, it can replace many products manufactured from cotton, timber, or petrochemicals; which all in all, gives it a durable, mildew resistant, and stronger feeling than cotton fiber that is favored by Macramé jewelers. Hemp Jewelry consists of bracelets, necklaces, anklets, ring, watches, masks, purses, and other adornments. The jewelry can also go more abstract, instead of using just the hemp with a bland type of style, adding glass, wood, bones, rocks, gems, and other knick knacks would extravagant it.
+'''[[Hemp]] jewelry''' uses hemp twine material which is made from the Cannabis sativa plant, in other words, “Common Hemp”. It is then cultivated to make vast amounts of goods including foods, fuels, clothing and textiles, cosmetics, paints, paper, building materials, plastics, and other useful tools. Industrial hemp, a dependable raw material, matures in one growing season, is easily cultivated in many climates, and grows without herbicides or insecticides. However, it can replace many products manufactured from cotton, timber, or petrochemicals; which all in all, gives it a durable, mildew resistant, and stronger feeling than cotton fiber that is favored by Macramé jewelers. Hemp Jewelry consists of bracelets, necklaces, anklets, ring, watches, masks, purses, and other adornments. The jewelry can also go more abstract, instead of using just the hemp with a bland type of style, adding glass, wood, bones, rocks, gems, and other knick knacks would extravagant it.
-===History of Hemp===
+===Controversy===
-The hemp plant is very slender and angular, growing 4 to 12 feet tall and is native to Asia. China was the first region in the world to cultivate and use hemp. The plant (ma in Chinese) was first used for making rope and fishnets as early as 4500 B.C. Eventually hemp was used to make Chinese scrolls. In the 8th century paper making practices using hemp reached Persia and Arabia, and then spread to Japan. Hemp traveled to Europe through the Grecian trade routes. Once in Europe, hempen rope and fabric were brought to Spain and Germany. During the Renaissance every canvas in which the great artists painted masterpieces on were made from hemp. From the sixteenth to the 18th centuries hemp dominated the fiber crops in Asia, Eurpope and North America. The French, Dutch, Spanish, British and German trading ships were rigged with ropes and sails made from hemp.
-In New England, hemp provided the colonists with lamp oil, and Bibles and maps were printed on hemp paper. America’s founding fathers were strong supports of hemp; George Washington and Thomas Jefferson even owned their own hemp farms. Hemp was so commonplace that the first two drafts of the Declaration of Independence were written on hemp paper. Hemp remained a vital crop in American until the mid-19th century when steam and petroleum engines dramatically reduced the need for hempen rope and sails. Also the invention of the cotton gin cut costs in the cotton industry. By the 20th century hemp was only cultivated for cordage and specialty seed and oil.
-===The Controversy===
 Cannabis sativa, the plant from which hemp twine is made from, and marijuana are two distinct varieties of the genus Cannabis. Marijuana contains 3 to more than 15 percent of the chemical tetrahydocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive ingredient that produces a euphoric state when consumed. Industrial hemp contains negligible amounts of THC (less than 1 percent). These facts are proven today by the use of gas chromatography. Smoking hemp would only cause a headache and no euphoric high. Before gas chromatography proved industrial hemp to not be a drug, many Americans used the terms “marijuana” and “hemp” interchangeably. This mistake prompted legislation that prevented the cultivation of both the psychoactive plant and the industrial farm crop.