Oceania - Modern Nature Design

Modern Nature Designs makes beautiful hand knotted wool and silk rugs. 

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 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.

 Machine-Spun vs. Hand-Spun Yarn

 The primary difference between machine-spun vs. hand-spun yarn is that machine-spun yarn is much more uniform in thickness.  While on the surface this sounds good, in fact, the inherent variability of hand-spun wool creates a much more valuable product.  There are several reasons for this:

• Hand-spinning produces a looser yarn that exposes more of the surface to the dye and creates a better knot.
• Because of the variability of hand-spun wool, when is dyed it absorbs more dye where it is looser and less dye where it is tighter.  This creates more variegation in the colors, resulting in more depth of color and the prized “abrash” effect in the finished product.
• Hand-spinning is less abrasive to the wool than machine spinning and produces a more resilient and stronger yarn that lasts longer and wears better.
• Rugs created with hand-spun wool have a distinct pile direction which creates different colors depending on the light.  This effect is not nearly as distinguishable in rugs made of machine-spun yarns.

 We’d better stop there – that’s a short blog on a very long and laborious process!

See Foundation part 1 of 5
See Knots part 2 of 5
See Dyes part 3 of 5

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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. 

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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!

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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! 

However, traditional hand-knotted rugs are most often made in traditional oriental patterns and colors.  They can be hard to fit into today’s décor – whether your style is Modern, Art Deco, Arts & Crafts, Cape Cod, or your own personal mix and match style.  Traditional hand-knotted oriental rugs can also be hard to fit into a room as they are traditionally made in a rectangular or round shape with a defined border around the edge.  If you have an unusual room shape or furniture arrangement, it can often clash with the rug layout.

Luckily, there is a way to have the best or both worlds – a Custom Rug, made in the traditional hand-knotted method.  Today, there are weaving centers in Nepal and India populated by displaced Tibetans who hand make rugs for export.  This allows them to be self sufficient and not reliant on their host countries.  In the 50 odd years since they were forced from Tibet, they have managed to retain their culture and identity, and kept their centuries’ old tradition of rug making alive.  These centers are often the hubs of the community, housing children’s schools and adult education classes. 

With a hand knotted custom rug, you can select from the wide range of modern designs available, or you can utilize the graphic designer to match a wallpaper or fabric swatch.  You can select from over 1200 color samples, or can use your swatch to obtain a perfect color match.  In the Tibetan tradition, these custom rugs are only made from the highest quality hand-combed and hand-spun wool – made from Tibetan highland sheep – and Grade A Chinese silk.  The Tibetan rug knot is a unique high density knot that produces a denser rug, increasing its durability.

So, you really can have it all!  A custom rug made to your size, shape, color, and pattern specification – usually for less cost than a traditional hand-knotted rug, and you can usually have it in less than 3 months.  A short amount of time to wait while talented Tibetans hand knot a custom rug just for you!

Please let me know your thoughts in the comment section above.