This piece hangs on the wall directly above my computer monitor at home, so I see it every day. And I've known since I got it about a year ago that it has red wefts.

One thing I didn't notice until last night is that when you look straight at it, the ivory part has a red tinge. It doesn't show up in this image at all. From an angle, even a small one, the red tinge disappears. It's clear when I vary my angle of view and look closely at the pile that the red tinge isn't in the white wool, it's just the red wefts peeking through the pile (which is quite full, by the way).

So this is one specific example in which I can absolutely explain the stray reds. And, obviously, if a piece with red wefts has worn areas, those areas will look more red and will look red even from an angle. No doubt some of the published examples showing stray reds can be explained this way. I suspect that the Tekke germetch in the Salon essay is one of them. It would be easy to tell if it were in hand.

Steve Price