How Are Oriental Rugs Made?

Carpet weaving is done on a rectangular loom. Strands of yarn stretched from one end of the loom to the other are called "warp" threads. Drawn across these are "weft" threads, which go alternately over and under the warp threads.

But there is another important element in Oriental rugs, one that is responsible for their variety of colors and designs. To produce these the weaver takes short pieces of colored wool and fastens them with a special knot around pairs of warp threads. This process may be performed by one individual, or by two or more working side by side.

In the East two kinds of knot have come into use: the Gördes, or Ghiordes (geeOR´des), and the Sine, or Sehna (SEN´na). When using the Gördes knot, the weaver takes a short length of colored wool, loops its left end around the left side of a pair of warp threads, and its right end around the right one. The two ends are then drawn up between the two warp threads. The Sine knot goes under one warp thread and has a single loop around the next one. This knot results in an end sticking up between each warp thread.

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