228 THE CAROLINA MOUNTAINS 
was less of a circumstance. Gradually we learned 
of many other dyes, of leaves and barks and flowers, 
giving us a variety of soft hues — browns, yellows, 
greens, orange, and also an excellent black. The 
true green is obtained by dyeing first with a yellow 
dye and then dipping in the blue-pot, but a good 
olive green is given by using hickory bark with 
something to 'set the dye.' Every year we gather 
the ' bay leaves ' for the bright yellow, and harvest 
for winter use the 'yellow dyeflower' growing on the 
high ridges. 
"But to return to the beginnings. When yarn 
enough for three coverlets had been prepared, the 
next step was to find a weaver of the double draft — 
that is, of the coverlet material with shotover de- 
signs. This requires four sets of harness in the loom, 
instead of two as for plain cloth, and four treadles as 
well. The warp is 'drawn in' and the weaving 
'tramped' according to a paper pattern which is 
pinned up on the front of the loom. A number of 
women in the cove knew well how to weave plain 
linsey and jeans, but no one could weave the cover- 
lets. Sixteen miles away, and farther from the rail- 
road, we found a family where mother and daughters 
had great store of spreads, old and new, to which 
they were continually adding. As they showed these 
treasures to us, the variety of design was bewilder- 
ing. At last we chose two patterns, and the women 
undertook to weave our yarn for us. It was an ex- 
citing moment when, two weeks later, our messenger 
returned carrying across his horse's back the long 
