Navajo weavers | Page 4

outside one of the poles, looking towards the centre of the frame, and
proceeds thus: (1) She secures the triple cord to the pole immediately to
the left of the warp; (2) then she takes one of the threads (or strands as

they now become) and passes it under the first turn of the warp; (3)
next she takes a second strand, and twilling it once or oftener with the
other strands, includes with it the second bend of the warp; (4) this
done, she takes the third strand and, twilling it as before, passes it under
the third bend of the warp, and thus she goes on until the entire warp in
one place is secured between the strands of the cord; (5) then she pulls
the string to its fullest extent, and in doing so separates the threads of
the warp from one another; (6) a similar three stranded cord is applied
to the other end of the warp, along the outside of the other pole.
At this stage of the work these stout cords lie along the outer surfaces
of the poles, parallel with the axes of the latter, but when the warp is
taken off the poles and applied to the beams of the loom by the spiral
thread, as above described, and as depicted in Plate XXXVIII and Fig.
42, and all is ready for weaving, the cords appear on the inner sides of
the beams, i.e., one (Pl. XXXVIII and Fig. 42, _h h_) at the lower side
of the yarn-beam, the other at the upper side of the cloth-beam, and
when the blanket is finished they form the stout end margins of the web.
In the coarser grade of blankets the cords are removed and the ends of
the warp tied in pairs and made to form a fringe. (See Figs. 54 and 55.)
When the warp is transferred to the loom the rod which was placed in
the upper shed remains there, or another rod, straighter and smoother, is
substituted for it; but with the lower shed, healds are applied to the
anterior threads and the rod is withdrawn.
§ V. The mode of applying the healds is simple: (1) the weaver sits
facing the loom in the position for weaving; (2) she lays at the right
(her right) side of the loom a ball of string which she knows contains
more than sufficient material to make the healds; (3) she takes the end
of this string and passes it to the left through the shed, leaving the ball
in its original position; (4) she ties a loop at the end of the string large
enough to admit the heald-rod; (5) she holds horizontally in her left
hand a straightish slender rod, which is to become the heald-rod--its
right extremity touching the left edge of the warp--and passes the rod
through the loop until the point of the stick is even with the third
(second anterior from the left) thread of the warp; (6) she puts her

finger through the space between the first and third threads and draws
out a fold of the heald-string; (7) she twists this once around, so as to
form a loop, and pushes the point of the heald-rod on to the right
through this loop; (8) she puts her finger into the next space and forms
another loop; (9) and so on she continues to advance her rod and form
her loops from left to right until each of the anterior (alternate)
warp-threads of the lower shed is included in a loop of the heald; (10)
when the last loop is made she ties the string firmly to the rod near its
right end.
When the weaving is nearly done and it becomes necessary to remove
the healds, the rod is drawn out of the loops, a slight pull is made at the
thread, the loops fall in an instant, and the straightened string is drawn
out of the shed. Illustrations of the healds may be seen in Plates XXXV
and XXXVIII and Figs. 42, 44, and 46, that in Fig. 46 being the most
distinct.
§ VI. In making a blanket the operator sits on the ground with her legs
folded under her. The warp hangs vertically before her, and (excepting
in a case to be mentioned) she weaves from below upwards. As she
never rises from this squatting posture when at work, it is evident that
when she has woven the web to a certain height further work must
become inconvenient or impossible unless by some arrangement the
finished web is drawn downwards. Her cloth-beam does not revolve as
in our looms, so she brings her work within easy reach by the following
method: The spiral rope (Plate XXXVIII and Fig. 42) is loosened, the
yarn-beam