Foundation of Carpet Weaving
When a kilim, soumakh, or piled carpet is being produced, the loom must be prepared with care. Usually, if a piled rug is to be made, a few rows of kilim are woven first to protect the ends of the weaving. Long kilim ends are usually an indication of considerable age in a rug.
Once the ends of a piled rug have been secured, the knots either Persian or Turkish are tied over two warps by hand and cut with a knife. In Tabriz, the knot is tied by a hand-held hook, which also contains a knife for cutting the pile to the required length. When a complete row of knots is completed, a single, double, or sometimes multiple weft threads are inserted and beaten into place with a heavy wooden or heavy, metal comb. The process is repeated row after row until the desired length of the carpet is reached. Finally, the knot count is calculated in four warps instead of the usual two. This is known as a Jufti knot. A rug made with knots in this manner can be completed much more quickly, as the density is 50 percent lower than a regular rug, although it will not be as durable. The selvedges (side cords) are strengthened with the addition of further warps. At this stage, the pile is given its final clipping.
Traditionally, most weavers have tended to be either women or children. An experienced nomadic weaver can work from memory, having been taught the design in childhood by her mother. Accomplished village weavers also work in this manner, provided they are familiar with the design. More inexperienced weavers refer to a cartoon (a scale drawing or design) that depicts the colour and design. Cartoons have been widely used in workshops for centuries. In the past, the head weaver of a workshop might call out the colour of the yarn required to the rows of experienced weavers.
Main types of Carpet Knots
Broadly speaking, two types of knot are used for piled rugs and carpets. The first is the Turkish or symmetrical knot (also known as the Ghiordes knot after an Anatolian town of that name). This knot is used throughout Turkey (except in Sivas, Sparta, and some Hereke workshops, where the Persian knot is applied), in much of western and north-western Persia, and in the Caucasus and Europe. Some villages and tribes in southern Persia also use the Turkish knot. The second type of knot is known as the Persian knot (or the asymmetrical knot), and is used widely throughout central and eastern Persia, India, and Central Asia. It is often also called the Senneh knot. This is a useful term but can lead to confusion, as the weavers of Senneh use a Turkish symmetrical knot. In the symmetrical knot, the yarn is wrapped around two warp strands, and then the two ends are looped around the warp strands and drawn back out to protrude between the strands. The pair of free ends forms the “tuft” of the pile. In the asymmetrical knot, the yarn is wound around one warp strand. If you would like more information, please visit us.
