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Oceania - Modern Nature Design
Modern Nature Designs makes beautiful hand knotted wool and silk rugs.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section above.
Welcome to the 4th part in our series on the construction of hand-knotted rugs! Today’s blog will focus on preparing the wool for dying and knotting.
Sheep Shearing, Wool Sorting and Washing
Shearing Wool
We won’t spend a lot of time talking about the first 3 steps since they are pretty much the same whether you are gathering wool for making rugs, or the thousands of other uses wool has in our society! Basically, the sheep gets a “haircut”, the wool is sorted based on quality, and then all the dirt (and stones and sticks) is washed out of the wool. Washing the wool is a pretty important step because you have to be careful to wash some of the natural oils (lanolin) out, but not too much. If you leave too much oil in the wool, the wool will repel the dye, but you can’t take too much oil out because you need enough lanolin to make the wool easy to handle and to produce a higher quality thread.
Carding the Wool
Carding Wool
Carding is the process of combing the wool to align the fibers. For the highest quality wool, this is done by hand between 2 combs. To keep labor expenses down, this process is often done by machine – but be aware that this produces an inferior product because a machine pulls the fibers more strongly, weakening the fibers.
Spinning the Wool into Yarn
Spinning Wool
Now here’s where the real skill comes into play! While the majority of wool is spun by machine (more on that below), we will focus on the process of hand spinning. There are two basic types of spindles; the top (or high) whorl spindle which originated in the Middle East, and the bottom (or low) whorl spindle which is used in Europe and the US.
Both types of spindles require a very experienced and skilled spinner to pull a few wool fibers and twist them into yarn – constantly batching in more fibers as the yarn is created. read more »
Custom Lobby Rug
This custom rug was created for the Marriott lobby in Bangalore, India. The lobby rug was to be a 116′ x 16′ piece that was to be inset in the lobby of the hotel. We would have had to make the rug in 3 pieces and then put them together. For the design, we were given images of the hotel decor and asked to design something based on elements such as the wall paper, light fixtures, etc. We came up with the design (picture of 3’x 3’ sample) and the designers absolutely loved it. The design includes 4 wool colors and 16 silk colors.
Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section above.
Although this blog is primarily about hand-knotted rugs, many people find once they have purchased a beautiful custom made rug, they want to upgrade some furniture around it! We spent a wonderful weekend driving around Amish country and stumbled into Walnut Creek Furniture. The Amish craftsmen were able to design and craft a large desk and several bookcase from scraps of pictures and ideas we had in our minds, and they are now showcase pieces in our home. These will be heirloom pieces which our family will enjoy for generations to come.
Custom rug for Flair Tower-Lobby
This Modern Nature Designs custom rug was created for the Flair Towers lobby in Chicago. The owners of the building wanted something different, with “flair”, so we designed this rug based on a classic motif that includes elegant looking dogs. The rug is an 100 knots per square inch 100% Tibetan wool 8′ x 10′. The design includes 11 colors. The detail in the design came out perfect!
Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section above.
Custom Tibetan Rug (Pebbles)
When decorating a home, whether you are a professional interior designer or a self-sufficient home owner, you will have run across the question of what to do with the floor. Wall to wall carpeting can be boring, stone and tile can be hard to live with (and hard on the feet), and hardwood floors can need something to break up the endless parallel lines. An area custom rug is often the answer.
But, once you have decided you need an area rug, now what? Well, you may have spent hours trolling through various shops, department stores, and home improvement stores. Many people have found what they need in these places and often you can get a machine-made custom rug for an additional fee. However those who are not interested in “disposable” rugs made with cheap materials (meant to be used for a couple years and then tossed out) are often frustrated by the selection. And increasingly, people have discovered someone in their family has developed allergies to the synthetic nylons and glues that make up these mass produced rugs.
Hand-knotted rugs on the other hand, are desirable for their beauty, quality, warmth, natural organic materials, and investment properties. They are often family heirlooms that have been passed down by generations. If you are lucky enough to have one of these beautiful rugs, you may in fact, be starting with it as a base and decorating the room around it! read more »
