The second stitch is made so that the nap lies sideways from left to right. No. _a_ is just like the preceding stitch. No. _b_ shows the needle passing down the stitch where you started and up one stitch to the right. Cut off the wool and pull the end left at first over the last one. This pile should stand very straight and even. No. _c_ shows a completed stitch; No. _d_ one row, and No. _e_ three rows. These stitches are useful in mending Khiva and Bokhara rugs.
Wilton, Axminster, or any rugs having a pile, can be woven with the same stitches. The pattern in the illustration may be used for either a Wilton or Axminster rug, for a box cover, cushion, sachet case, or mat; and can be cross-stitched embroidery, on burlap, silk or woolen canvas.
[Illustration: _Pattern for a rug, mat or cover_]
[Illustration: _A miniature Indian loom_]
[Sidenote: _Old Indian blankets are rare_]
[Sidenote: _Description of the illustration_]
Navajo blankets were first made by the Pueblo Indians, from whom the Navajo Indians learned the art, and not long after the latter excelled in the making of them. Among the Pueblo Indians the men do the work; but women are the weavers among the Navajos. In the illustration on this page is seen a miniature Navajo loom with the blanket commenced. The two cords woven at the sides with the woof can be easily seen. Simple looms are suspended between two posts or trees, and the weaver sits upon the ground. A twig is used for a shuttle, and a reed, fork-shaped like a hand, is used to push down the woof threads. The blanket is made waterproof by pounding down the threads with a batten, a good picture of which is seen in Dr. Washington Matthews' article on Navajo weavers in the Third Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology. Separate balls of color are used to carry out the pattern, which is sometimes traced in the sand before the work is commenced. As many as twenty-nine different balls have been seen hanging from a single blanket. Some of the designs have been handed down from one generation to another, and are carried entirely in the memory. They are often symbolical "and unfold a whole legend to the knowing eye of the native." The weaving is done from the bottom up, some working in one direction, while others weave first at the bottom, then turn the loom upside down, and, after weaving about the same distance there, finish in the middle. The last part of the weaving is like darning, and is often done with a needle. The colors most used are white, gray, black, a bright yellow, red (a scarlet, generally obtained by raveling bayeta cloth), and sometimes blue. In former times, when the Indians used vegetable dyes, the colors were beautiful and lasting. These old blankets are becoming more and more rare, and to-day in their places we have the bright and not always satisfactory results of aniline dyes. The blanket in the illustration facing this page has narrow stripes in the following colors: On each end (seven stripes) red, black, white, orange, green, white, black. The two groups of six stripes in the middle are: Black, white, red, green, white, black. Before the advent of the present squaw dress, the black, red, and dark blue blankets were used as clothing, but the best blankets were, and still are, worn at sacred dances. Dr. Matthews, in his report, gives an interesting description of the method of making these blankets, with several pictures of the better examples. Navajo blankets are finished with four border cords, which are secured as the weaving progresses, and the ends are fastened at the four corners by small tassels.