detail showing Swedish huck weaving

Ytterbium is named for the Swedish island of Ytterby, where this and several other rare earth elements were discovered in ore from a quarry.* It’s one of the few places where very old rocks are found near the surface.

I chose to do some Swedish huck weaving, which is actually a form of embroidery done on a special fabric. (read about it here) The block features Swedish yellow and blue, and should cheer up this corner of the Periodic Table!

*the others are erbium, terbium and yttrium