Turkish Carpets
Turkish carpet weaving is a centuries-old art. Traditionally, carpet weaving has been the domain of women and young girls. Each carpet can take months or even years to complete and is either used within the home or made specifically to sell in the marketplace.
Sheep’s wool is the most common material used in Turkish carpets. This soft, durable material is easy to work with and offers insulation against heat and cold. The natural colors of white, brown, yellow and gray are often used without dyeing, although sheep wool absorbs dye well. The wool is traditionally hand spun, with several strands twisted together to add extra strength to the material. Cotton is usually used in the foundation of the carpet warp and weft. The advantage of using cotton as foundation is that cotton is stronger and does not warp during the weaving process. A wool on cotton carpet is made with finely spun threads, which allows the weaver to weave with a high knot count. There are also traditional Anatolian carpets that have wool pile woven on wool warp and weft. However, because the wool in these types of carpets cannot be spun as finely, they have a lower knot count and do not have as high a quality as wool and silk or pure silk rugs. Silk carpets have the finest weave and highest knot count. No matter what material is used, carpets are used as floor coverings, wall hanging, pillows and tapestries.
Turkish carpets use the unique Turkish double knot. This symmetrical knot is made by twisting the pile thread around two warp threads so that both ends of the knot are between two strands on one side of the carpet. Then the thread is pulled down and cut with a knife. After a row of knots is completed, rows of weft are woven into the fabric. The carpet is compacted by pulling a heavy comb across the rows. After completion, the carpet pile is cut with a special knife to even it out. Sometimes the carpet pile is cut at different lengths to create
Turkish carpet weaving is a centuries-old art. Traditionally, carpet weaving has been the domain of women and young girls. Each carpet can take months or even years to complete and is either used within the home or made specifically to sell in the marketplace.
Sheep’s wool is the most common material used in Turkish carpets. This soft, durable material is easy to work with and offers insulation against heat and cold. The natural colors of white, brown, yellow and gray are often used without dyeing, although sheep wool absorbs dye well. The wool is traditionally hand spun, with several strands twisted together to add extra strength to the material. Cotton is usually used in the foundation of the carpet warp and weft. The advantage of using cotton as foundation is that cotton is stronger and does not warp during the weaving process. A wool on cotton carpet is made with finely spun threads, which allows the weaver to weave with a high knot count. There are also traditional Anatolian carpets that have wool pile woven on wool warp and weft. However, because the wool in these types of carpets cannot be spun as finely, they have a lower knot count and do not have as high a quality as wool and silk or pure silk rugs. Silk carpets have the finest weave and highest knot count. No matter what material is used, carpets are used as floor coverings, wall hanging, pillows and tapestries.
Turkish carpets use the unique Turkish double knot. This symmetrical knot is made by twisting the pile thread around two warp threads so that both ends of the knot are between two strands on one side of the carpet. Then the thread is pulled down and cut with a knife. After a row of knots is completed, rows of weft are woven into the fabric. The carpet is compacted by pulling a heavy comb across the rows. After completion, the carpet pile is cut with a special knife to even it out. Sometimes the carpet pile is cut at different lengths to create