The little girl and the little loom.
CHAPTER II
WEAVING ON A HOME-MADE LOOM
IT is easier than sewing or knitting or crocheting, and comes so natural to many of us that one would almost think we should know how to weave without being taught. Why, even some of the birds do a kind of weaving in their pretty, irregular fashion, and it was probably from the birds and other small, wild creatures that the earliest human mothers took their lessons in weaving, and learned to make the mats for their babies to sleep on and baskets for carrying their food. No one knows how long ago these first baskets and mats were woven, but in the beginning weaving was done without looms. Afterward rude frames were tied together and hung from the limbs of trees, then softer and more flexible material was used and finer fabrics were woven. To this day almost the same kind of looms are used by the Indians in our far Western country, many miles away from the roar and clatter of machinery, and on them are woven the wonderfully beautiful Navajo blankets for which Eastern people are willing to pay such large sums.
Fig. [12].—The frame for the loom.