Rug making has been in practice since centuries, though with time the technique has evolved with machines being used to manufacture them, still today the custom rugs which are hand knotted are the one which are regarded of high value and are much in demand than the ones made by machine. These skill of rug making is a handicraft and the rug has two parts in it; the first being the skeleton of the carpet and it consist of horizontal threads and they are made into wraps and wefts. It is the base of the custom carpet and the one which is the surface or one that resembles a picture is called the pile of the rug and it is usually soft and velvety. The pile is being made by knotting together different colors of thread and motifs, flowers and various other designs are made in it.
In order to design a motif in the rug there are two knotting technique that a craftsmen use:
First is Turkish symmetrical knotting or double Turkish knotting where every knot of it is made up of two wraps. Here, every end of the pile thread is being wrapped all the way around syncing into two wraps and then it is pulled down and cut.
The other technique is called non-symmetrical or single Persian knotting and in this type one end of the thread is being wrapped all the way around the wrap and the other end goes beside the other wrap and at the end both the ends are pulled down together and cut.
Here is a step guide about the weaving technique of Persian single knot carpets
- At the very start the weaving starts from the bottom of the loom as the lower part which is the flat woven part or the kilim is woven at the lower edge.
- Then the weaver takes a piece of wool that corresponds with the set pattern and slowly form a knot on two wraps.
- Then the surplus wool after the knot is made around the wraps is cut with a knife.
- As one row of knotting completes, slowly a weft thread is passed between the front and the back wrap. The weft threads are then used to strengthen the weaves of the custom carpet so that they do not come loose later.
- After that the weaver uses a ‘Kirkit’ which is a heavy comb like tool to vigorously beat down the rows of knots and wefts. As the process continues the desired tightness of the carpet takes place making the knots and the wefts compact in their places.
- Following this set pattern and technique at the end all the surplus colored threads are cut symmetrically with an adjustable scissors to get the uniform level of pile thickness.
- The whole process continues till the carpet is complete.