PHOTOS SHOWING VARIOUS STEPS IN THE PROCESS OF WEAVING TIBETAN CARPETS

Tib-carpet-weaving FRM

This page consist of photos and textual descriptions regarding various steps in the process of carpets being woven in the Tibetan fashion, that is using the Tibetan loom and Tibetan knot.

The first three rows of photos below were taken in 1972.

Tibetan men sorting mixed raw wool. What they have initially chosen is at the very front of the photo.

Tibetan women spinning wool after it has been sorted.

A Tibetan woman ‘balling’ spun wool after it has been dyed.

Tibetan men and women perform various stages of carpet weaving on several looms.

A Tibetan women ‘beats down’ the gauge rod – with what will become the pile of the rug looped around it – with a wooden hammer to compress the weft rows. (More on ‘gauge rods’ directly below,)

Two Tibetan women make the final ‘trims’ to newly woven carpets fresh off the loom.

The following seven rows of photos below were taken in 2010. Text descriptions to be added shortly.

The Tibetan looping (or ‘knotting’) technique. The weaver is weaving in the direction of the arrows, i.e. from left to right. To make the loops the yarn is brought forward and pulled down tight over the gauge rod (1), then woven back into the carpet by going under the gauge rod and passing behind the next two warp threads (2) before being brought back out to pass in front of the next two warps threads (3), then feed back in and back behind the same two warp threads (4) before being brought forward and over the gauge rod again (1) with the same procedure being repeated across the carpet. The pile is then formed by cutting the loops all along the gauge rod before it has been removed to be used again for the next row of knots..

Top image. A gauge rod before any pile looping has been done. Lower image. A gauge rod after the pile loops have been wrapped around the gauge rod, but before those pile loops have been cut.

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Loom-&-weaving-tools

TO BE CONTINUED AND FURTHER UPDATED, SHORTLY! 😉