ich have come to a state of
mischievousness instead of usefulness. Ink gives various shades of gray
according to its strength, but it would be cheaper to purchase it in the
form of logwood than as ink.

[Sidenote: _Vegetable dyes_]

"There is a strong and well-founded preference among art producers in
favor of vegetable dyes, and yet it is possible to use certain of the
aniline colors, especially in combination, in safe and satisfactory
ways.

[Sidenote: _The variety of shades_]

"Everyone who undertakes domestic weaving must know how to dye one or
two good colors. Black, of course, and the half-black, or gray, which a
good colorist of my acquaintance calls _a light black_. Indigo blue
equally, of course, in three shades of very dark and light. Here are
seven shades from the three dyes, and when we add white we see that the
weaver is already very well equipped with a variety of color. The eight
shades can be still further enlarged by clouding and mixing. The mixing
can be done in two ways, either by carding two tints together before
spinning, or by twisting them together when spun.

[Sidenote: _Carding and twisting_]

"Carding together gives a very much better effect in wool, while
twisting together is preferable in cotton.

[Sidenote: _Blue_]

[Sidenote: _Pink_]

[Sidenote: _Gray_]

[Sidenote: _Clouding_]

"Dark blue and white and medium blue and white wool carded together will
give two blue grays which cannot be obtained by dyeing, and are most
valuable. White and red carded together give a lovely pink, and any
shade of gray can be made by carding different proportions of black and
white or half-black and white. A valuable gray is made by carding black
and white wool together, and by black wool I mean the natural black or
brownish wool of black sheep. Mixing of deeply dyed and white wool
together in carding is, artistically considered, a very valuable
process, as it gives a softness of color which it is impossible to get
in any other way. Clouding, which is almost an indispensable process for
rug centers, can be done by winding certain portions of the skeins or
hanks of yarn very tightly and closely with twine before they are thrown
into the dye pot. The winding must be close enough to prevent the dye
penetrating to the yarn. This means, of course, when the clouding is to
be of white and another color. If it is to be two shades of one color,
as a light and medium blue, the skein is first dyed a light bl