Handmade Persian rugs are not just throw rugs that you scatter on the floor to add interest to a room. Handmade Persian rugs are works of art that may have taken several weeks to create and it may have taken several years to make. These items are placed in the homes in the area of origin, but no one enters one of these homes wearing shoes, and it is may be that the tradition of removing the shoes from the feet may have started as respect for the people that had made these wonderful carpets.
The handmade Persian rugs may be crafted from wool, or cotton, or silk. When silk is used the finished carpet is so delicate that the items are frequently used to hang on the wall as decoration rather than to lie on the floor. All of the items do have the common feature of being crafted from wefts and warps. These are the names of the two main strands of yarn that is used to create the pattern, the texture, and the pile of the carpet.
The warps are very strong threads that run the length of the carpet being made. The weft is the second strands that run under and over the warps creating intricate patterns in the carpet. The patterns to create these carpets are often passed down from generation to generation. The area in which the people lived, the type of living their family made, and the occasion for making the carpet, all play a part in deciding the final pattern that will be used to create the item.
The weaving of these items begins with the passing of several wefts through the bottom warp so as to shape a base. Loosely piled knots of the dyed threads are then tied in successive sets of the adjacent warps. As more and more rows are added to the foundation rows the knots that are being tied will create the pile of the carpet. Between each of those rows one or more of the shots of weft will be tightly packed down to make the rows of threads secure.
The firmness of the weave and the quality of the materials used during creation can vary the number of knots that are in every square inch of the carpet. You will find anywhere from sixteen knots per square inch to five hundred and fifty knots per square inch. Of course, the more knots per square inch, the more expensive the carpet will be when finished.
The majority of the patterns that are used to make these carpets have at one time or another been copied to create cheaper pieces. The cheaper pieces are similar to the originals, but they are much lowered priced, and they are of inferior quality and craftsmanship. Before you pay a large sum of money for one of these items you will want to make certain that you are buying an original carpet and not one of the knock-offs.