GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Scatter rug (throw rug): Any small rug under 3’ x 5’. Usually used as kitchen, bathroom or front door rugs.
Scouring: The washing of wool to remove unwanted lanolin and other impurities.
Senneh knot: See "Asymmetrical knot."
Selvedge: The edge warps of a rug and the foundation weft around those warps.
Serging: A method of finishing edges of area rugs by using heavy, colored yarn sewn around the edges in a close, overcast stitch.
Shearing: The professional removal of a sheep’s wool.
Silk: Comes from the cocoon of silkworms. Because it is an expensive fiber, it is less frequently used over wool as a pile material in handmade rugs.
Soumak: A flat weave, pileless rug woven from a technique that produces a herringbone effect. This special weaving technique is also known as weft wrapping. Soumaks generally have a mixed cotton and wool foundation with geometric and brightly colored designs. This weaving method is also used to produce storage bags, cradles and other everyday necessities.
Spin: The direction of a yarn's twist.
Staple: The average length of fibers in a yarn.
Symmetrical knot: A knot tied on two warps; also known as the Ghiordes or Turkish knot.
Talim card: A written description of the numbers of pile knots and their colors needed to create a specific design. Used in the execution of a rug’s design.
Tea stain: See Antique Finish/Wash
Tibetan knot: A distinctly different knot. Tibetan rugs are woven by wrapping a continuous length of yarn over a rod laid across the warps stretched on the loom. When the rod has been wrapped for its entire length, a knife is slid along the rod, cutting the wrapped yarn into two rows of pile knots.
Turkish knot: See "Symmetrical knot."
Turn–arounds: Reversals in direction of the new wefts.
