The weaving of thread into cloth has been practiced for many thousands of years. As it is today, woven fabric was created by criss-crossing threads over and over again to form a tight mesh. Fairly early on, devices were constructed to make the task of...

A loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices. A loom can also refer to an electrical cable assembly or...

Tahar Djaout's Algerian Tale THE WATCHERS By Tahar Djaout Ruminator Books, 206 pp., $23 In death, Tahar Djaout proved himself a prophet. Shortly after Islamic fundamentalists assassinated the 39-year-old Algerian writer in 1993, The Last Summer of Reason, his novel about a...

Traditional weaving lessons focus on the warp and the weft, and the patterns and textures produced when threads and fabrics are woven together. This lesson focuses not only on the final product of weaving, but also on the beauty and possibilities of the...

After a half-year of fruitless contract talks, the Service Employees International Union threatened a long-term strike of Valley and Desert Springs hospitals starting Dec. 4.The threat worked. Hospital officials have agreed to return to the bargaining table for three days, Nov. 27-29.It would be the...

Attention owners of primitive TVs: If you still use an antenna to watch "American Idol," your picture will disappear at midnight on Feb. 17, 2009, unless you buy something called a digital converter box.No one knows how much these boxes, which have yet to be...