Oriental and Tibetan Rugs

This is the last blog on the construction of hand-knotted rugs and focuses on the looms.

Looms vary quite a bit in size and sophistication, but the essential components are always the same. The most basic loom contains a frame which holds the warp strings and a heddle – or shedding device that allows the weaver to pass wefts through the warp strings.

Vertical Loom

There are 2 primary types of looms – horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal looms are the simplest form of loom and are staked to the ground. The weaver ties the knots from a sitting position, looking down onto the rug. These looms are primarily used by nomadic people since they can be disassembled and transported easily – however these looms can only produce small rugs of lesser quality.

Vertical looms like the one pictured above are much more comfortable for the weaver as they can sit in front and work at eye level. These are the most common looms used in weaving centers around the world, although there are countless variations! There is essentially no restriction on the size of the rug that can be produced on a vertical loom – rollers can be used on the top or bottom to produce any length, and the width just depends on how large you want to make your loom.

In addition to the loom, a weaver also needs a number of essential tools – a knife for cutting the yarn as the knots are tied, a comb for packing down the wefts and each row of knots to tighten the weave, and shears for trimming the pile once several rows are complete.

Loom Tools

And that’s a quick review of rug loom basics!

See Foundation part 1 of 5
See Knots part 2 of 5
See Dyes part 3 fo 5
See Wool part 4 of 5

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Oceania - Modern Nature Design

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

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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 »

In the previous blogs in this series on Hand Knotted Rug Construction, we reviewed the foundation and the knots.  Today’s topic is the dyes used to produce such intricate and beautiful patterns in hand knotted rugs.

There are many rug experts who are trained to be able to differentiate types of dyes – both with their “expert eye”, and through chemical analysis.  This article is not intended to turn you into an expert, but to just share some basic information about dyes.

First, there are 2 primary types of dyes. 

• Natural – also called vegetable or vegetal
• Synthetic – also referred to as aniline or chrome

There is a widespread belief that natural dyes are always superior to synthetic dyes.  While it’s true that a quality antique hand knotted rug made with natural dyes is generally more valuable than one made with synthetic dyes, there are many more factors to take into account when valuing hand knotted rugs.  For most people, the key questions you need to take into account when purchasing a rug is:  are the colors pleasing to your eye and harmonious, or are they harsh and artificial?  Will the colors develop more character and depth as they age, or will they fade or run noticeably? read more »

In the first blog in this series on Hand Knotted Rug Construction, we reviewed the foundation – the warp and the weft.  Today’s topic will cover the key visual element that makes hand-knotted rugs what they are – the knots themselves.

Knot Type

There are several different methods of creating knots, some particular to a region or tribe.  Different people have different preferences, we would not say that one particular knot is inherently “better” than another type of knot; it’s really a matter of preference and tradition!  The two predominant types of knots are Asymmetrical Knot and Symmetrical Knot. read more »

The construction of hand-knotted rugs is one of the very few traditional manufacturing methods that hasn’t changed over the centuries as technology advanced.  It’s impossible to pinpoint when the first hand-knotted rugs were produced, but fragments of rugs have been found in Persian tombs dating from several centuries B.C.  Hand-knotted rugs have been consistently produced by much the same method ever since! 

 Why is it that essentially every other manufacturing method (including farming, writing, and printing, not to mention more recent developments with the industrial age) has evolved and improved over the centuries, while traditional rug making has been constant?  Could it be because it’s the one tradition that you can’t improve? 

 This article is a first in a series on the traditional construction of hand-knotted rugs.  Today’s topic will identify the basic elements of a rug, and discuss the foundation in detail.  Future topics in this series will discuss wool selection and preparation, dyes, types of knots, and weaving looms. read more »