... weavers often had to be idle for lack of yarn. Weaving could then be done more quickly, but it still was delayed until yarn was available in more abundance. In 1771 Richard Arkwright's ''water frame'' was producing yarn. Then in 1779 Samuel Crompton combined the jenny and the water frame in a machine known as ''Crompton's mule,'' which produced quantities of fine, strong yarn. The yarn famine had come to an end. Between 1780 and 1860 other textile processes were mechanized. In 1784 a machine was patented which printed patterns on the surface of cotton or linen by means of rollers. In 1894 Northrup produced an automatic loom, and when the power loom became efficient, women replaced men as weavers, although there were still hand weavers in the paisley shawl trade as late as 1850. By 1812 the cost of making cotton yarn had dropped nine-tenths, and by 1800 the number ...

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