My Other Machine Made Rug...Naeen

This is my other machine made rug.  This is called a Naeen rug, if that's the correct way of referring to Naeen.  Color and design of a Naeen is very spiritual.  The blue color represents the sky; the ivory signifies the desert sand and the flowers are the stars in the sky.  The size of the flowers indicates the magnitude of the universe.  This is a small 3'x4' rug and I had it by my bed so that it was the first thing my feet touched when getting out of bed. Made from wool over cotton it is velvety soft.  It's now in storage with most of my other rugs but they will all be reunited with me in early July when they are all delivered, along with my other things, to my new house when I retire.  I can't wait!

#11

Velvety Soft Machine Made - SOLD

Very early on in my rug buying period, I was attracted to lots of different floor coverings.  This was one of them.  This carpet is machine made but I loved it. It is most likely a synthetic blend but I loved how soft it was under my bare feet.  It actually feels like a silk rug.  It was fairly inexpensive and my bedroom in Muscat, Oman needed a rug. It is made in Iran and my receipt has "Tirajeh" written on it. Not sure if that is the design or family name.  Anyway, I really like this machine made carpet! Here's proof that even an inexpensive machine made carpet can be a joy.

11/29/14 - Update...this rug is for sale.  I only have so much room in my new house and other rugs have taken up all available floor space. 

It is 6' by 9' and so luxurious!  Asking $300.  If interested, email me at debidemetrion@gmail.com.

SOLD

#2

Woven Cotton...Washable??

Every once in a while, I would come across a carpet, very cheap, that I really liked.  This is one of them.  It is made of cotton and is woven.  I loved the colors and figured I would always have a little hallway for it.  Or the laundry room!  And cleaning it is so easy!  I've already cleaned it.  I put it in the bathtub with a little Woolite and cold water.  I then stood in the tub, marching back and forth to create the agitation.  And voila!  It was clean.  I put it in the dryer (yes...the dryer!) on air only and it came out looking like new.  This is the kind of rug that could go near the front door to 'collect' the dirt from shoes.  

I may take a lesson from family and friends in Hawaii who remove their shoes when entering homes. That way, my friends can feel the luxury of the carpets on their feet and not deposit the dirt from their shoes!

#19

Kashmir Silk

I love the beauty of rugs in neutral colors.  They will always stand out but in the browns/beiges/navys they can also fit in anywhere.  Just about every time I've considered buying a rug, I've thought of the overall likability of it, just because I won't be the only owner of these rugs.  My kids will get them when I move on, so I try to keep that in the back of my mind when deciding to buy. But hey...if they don't like them, they can always sell them, right?  So all my carpets are loved by me as well as considered investments.

I love this one.  The blue in it doesn't show up too much in this photograph but it's there, and it's beautiful.  It's 4'x6', silk on silk and from the Kashmir region.  And see that little calculator in the picture?  I always had it with me to convert Omani Rials or Pakistani Rupees or whatever currency into dollars. You absolutely must know what you're paying for rugs. And as you can see by rugs laying everywhere, you do have to look at lots before you see just the right one!

Delivery?

I had a dream last night.  This truck was pulling up outside my house...

Trifecta

THIS RUG IS SOLD!
I'm always looking for something different in rugs and this one had it all.  This small 3'x5' rug is comprised of 3 different techniques. Part is hand knotted, some is woven and there is embroidery worked in as well.  It shows the diversity you will see in quality rugs.  I bought this from a shop in Islamabad that had so many wonderful things...probably the largest selection of pashminas I'd ever seen. 

#18

Another Wonderful Kilim - SOLD

The minute I saw this rug, I knew it was going home with me.  As I've said before, I love rugs with lots of borders and this one has wonderful borders!  I bought it at an antique store in Islamabad and didn't get any paperwork on it (a very unusual thing for me since I always want documentation on the rugs I buy).

Anyway, I love it! It's 4'2" x 6'3" and made of 100% wool. Love it!!! And that's Ali proudly holding it up.  I can't tell you how much fun it was to bargain on the price with him. There was definitely a language barrier but in the end I was happy and so was he.  He and his son own this antique shop and who knew I'd find such a terrific rug???

SOLD

#21

Salmon? There's a First for Everything!

I can't believe I bought this rug.  Well, yes I can. I loved it! Not a color I would have ever thought I would possess.  The color just caught hold of me and would not let go! I kept looking at it, then at others but this salmon beauty really held my attention.  What else could I do?  I bought another one but kept coming back to this one.  Sometimes you just have to say yes to yourself. So. It's mine.

#23

And that corner of another carpet that's showing?  Yep, I bought that one too. 

Love This One!

I spent 4 months in Islamabad after having to leave Lahore due to some threats to the Consulate and staff.  While in Islamabad, there was a bazaar and about 100 vendors came to the Embassy to sell their wares. It was like being in Disneyland!!  I flipped out when I saw the carpets...about 5 vendors there. I was like a kid in a candy store!  I saw a rug and talked to the guy about it for quite a while.  I just couldn't make up  my mind and felt I already had enough carpets. So I didn't buy it. 

A week later, a friend wanted to go see the same carpet guy in his shop so I went and what luck...he recognized me and walked over to a carpet and unrolled it.  It was the same carpet!! Serendipity!!!  As is usually the case, they started unrolling carpets for me and my friend. OMG...so many gorgeous carpets!  I bought this one with an even deeper discount than he was offering me at the bazaar. I was bad...I even bought another one. More on that in another posting.  Nice, huh?

#24

All Natural, No Added Anything!

THIS RUG HAS BEEN SOLD.
I bought this carpet because it was different. It has this Navajo-like look but the different thing about is not the design.  It contains wool of varying shades of brown/beige and none of it was dyed.  Whatever the color you see is the color of the sheep. Au naturale.  That's why I bought this.  It will go anywhere I want it.  And there's a story to go with it. This rug was made in Lahore, Punjab (Pakistan).  The carpet will last longer because there's no dye in it.  Even though most carpets are colored using natural dyes, any dye will cause the fibers to break down sooner than natural fibers.

#16

70 Year Old Kayseri Rug

This is the second rug I bought when I was in Istanbul, Turkey.  There were all these rugs spread out on the floor, my head was spinning!  They unroll them so fast that you can't remember which one you liked the best.  I finally had to tell them to take out the ones I liked and then, finally had to say NO MAS! Taking second looks at the ones I thought I liked, I chose this one and the other Kayseri already posted on this blog.

This rug is about 70 years old, is wool on cotton and is 4'x6'.  I loved the pattern and the soft colors. And the red. :o)

#3

Kilim Runner

This is a cool Kilim runner.  It's 13"x51" and will look great on the wall or on a table.  It's really beautiful!  100% wool and hand woven...very tribal.  I just can't wait to have a house again and get all my rugs out of storage and on the floor or wall!

#10

Persian Kilim

Kilim rugs are made in many places, but mostly in Persia, also known as Iran. They come with lots of color and are woven rather than hand knotted. The backs look like a mass of strands of wool going every which way, but the fronts are beautiful. There is no denying that these are hand made.  Lots of geometrics and patterns.  These are much thinner than knotted rugs.  But they look great in any room.  This one is 6'x4' and 100% wool.  It will outlive me. And by the way...I sure hope my kids like my choice of rugs!

#9

Rust, Brown and Black Beauty

I love the feeling of movement in this rug...lots of swirls.  The rust color is really rich looking and different from anything else I've bought.  But it seriously appealed to me. It's a silk on silk, 3'x5', hand knotted and from Kashmir.  Love it!

#8

Love The Center on This One!

I loved the center and the border on this rug.  I'm a border kinda gal...the more borders, the better.  And the more detailed, the better. This one is silk on silk, 6'x4' and it comes from the Kashmir region of India.  Kashmir makes some of the most beautiful carpets around.  

#7

My White House Runner

THIS RUG HAS BEEN SOLD.
This carpet is a bit different from all my others.  This is a hand stitched rug and the White House is home to a much larger version of the same carpet by the weaver.  So says my favorite rug seller, Sheikh in Muscat, Oman! He is in the Sabco Center and his shop is The Jewel Box. If you visit him, tell him Debi said Hello! 

It is made of pure Cashmere wool, is 2.5'x8' and was made in Kashmir.  It has a more formal and elegant look to it than my hand knotted rugs. It will look great in the hall of whatever house I buy next week!!

#12

Ardbill Design from Kashmir

I tend to gravitate to the richer colors...brown, beige, black, cream.  Maybe it's because I have one piece of living room furniture and that's a brown chair and ottoman.  I really don't like carpets with light backgrounds. I just think the dark rich colors are prettier.

This is a silk on silk, 3'x5', has 900 knots per square inch and comes from the Kashmir region. Silk carpets have a light side and a dark side.  If you look at them from one side, the colors are much lighter.  Look at it from the opposite side and the colors darken.  This is because the rugs are woven on a vertical loom and the weaver will yank down on each knot, causing the nap or pile to go one way.  Thus, a dark and light side to each silk carpet.

Bakhtiyar Qum from Kashmir

Qum rugs are gorgeous.  The detail is intricate and you can spot one a mile away.  Well, i can.  This beautiful brown rug that I think looks like lots of doors was bought in Muscat, Oman.  Sheikh would always give me a good deal and he knew just what I liked.  It is silk on silk, many knots per inch (which is what you want...lots and lots of knots!) and is 4'x6'. This was the beginning of my love of silk rugs.  


The thing I like is that Oman is known for their antique doors.  They make gorgeous tables out of the doors. I couldn't snag a door table but this rug will remind me of their beauty for years to come.

UPDATE:  It's time to make hard decisions on my rugs.  Time to part with a few. This is one of the finest silk rugs made, Qum.  It is well worth $6000 but it's time to deal.  If you are interested, email me at debidemetrion@gmail.com.  

#5

Afghan Kundus...because I can't resist anything red!

I love red. It inspires me in some way I can't explain. There is a shop here in Karachi (and Islamabad too) called Afghan Carpets. They carry carpets from all over the world.  I went in with a friend a couple of months ago and he and I both succumbed to the same kind of carpet.  Fortunately, we each liked a different one!  The difference in carpets from Afghanistan is many of them have gray fringe, which is the warps.  Warps are the parallel strings stretched from loom beam to loom beam upon which rows of knots are tied.  Wefts run across the width, over and under the warp strings and between rows of knots. Wefts help hold rows of knots in place.  

Some carpets are machine made. This is fine, if this is what you're looking for. Machine made carpets are much cheaper than the hand knotted ones. One easy way to find out if you are looking at a hand knotted or machine made carpet is to look at the fringe, if there is any. No fringe means a machine made carpet.  But if you look at the fringe and can tell, with a good close look, that it appears to be attached to the rug, it's machine made.  The fringe is what's left over of the warps and will be a little shorter at one end than the other.  Most weavers want that uneven look; some will trim it so both are equal.

Back to my Kundus rug...I loved this the minute I saw it!  It's a 3'x5', wool on cotton and so soft!  Oh yes, the softest wool comes from the chest of the sheep so if you hear someone telling you the wool is from the chest, feel it just to make sure he isn't feeding you a line!

#22

Lahore Carpet Manufacturing Co. Carpet

While in Lahore, Pakistan, several of us visited the Lahore Carpet Manufacturing Co.  This place was amazing...and huge. I learned so much about carpet making! I wrote extensively about it on my blog, www.atexgal.blogspot.com.  Search on the right hand side for the blog archive and go to August 2012 for "Hand Knotted Carpets 101."  Very interesting!

After our tour, we went into his showroom and had the opportunity to buy what we wanted for a very nice discount. This place was about half the size of a football field...and I'm talking just the showroom! For at least an hour we all wandered around looking at all kinds of carpets.  I settled on the one below. It's very detailed and I loved the part of the design that looked like snakes. Not sure why that appealed to me since I hate snakes.  But...maybe in a rug, they don't look so bad. It is 6'x9' and on my invoice, the design is called Avari.  It's hand knotted wool on cotton.

#17

Shalimar Garden Rug

Lahore, Pakistan was a really interesting place.  There were so many places to see and fortunately I was there when we could get out and see some of the city.  Lahore is the cultural center of Pakistan and even though it can be old, dirty and scary, it was also beautiful.  One of the places that was beautiful was Shalimar Gardens.  If you visited it at the right time in Spring, you might have seen a lovely place.  However, it seems that it has lacked the attention it so deserves.

This small 3'x5' rug is called Shalimar.  The design mirrors the garden.  It is divided into quarters, just like the garden.  I love the reds, grays and blues in it and it will always remember my trips to Shalimar.

#14

Kayseri Rug from Turkey

In 2010, I met a friend in Istanbul and we had a blast walking all over.  We had to go to the Grand Bazaar, which, if you ever go to Istanbul, you must visit.  I was told that there was a shop right at a specific entrance to the bazaar and he would give us great deals.  He did!  

This is one of the 2 rugs I bought from Mr. Pirlanta.  This is a Kayseri, hand knotted, wool on cotton and it is about 50 years old.  There is no sign of wear, which is a testament to the quality of rugs made 50 years ago. My father was born in Turkey so this rug has a special place in my heart.

#4

Kilim Beauty

Kilim rugs are tapestry woven and made in many regions from the Balkans to Pakistan. The name Kilim has many origins, but the one for me that defines a Kilim rug comes from the Persian word gelim which means 'to spread roughly.' Kilim rugs are beautiful and many have numerous borders and a central design.  I'm always drawn to the borders so it's no wonder I love Kilim rugs.

This rug is for sale for $650  Email me at debidemetrion@gmail.com if interested.

#20

My First Rug...or is it a Carpet??

This beauty is the first carpet I bought shortly after I arrived in Muscat, Oman. It is 9'x12' and is 100% wool knotted on cotton. It is from the Kashan province, Iran and is so much prettier than the picture shows.  Its age is between 30-40 years.  I love the red, black and blues in this carpet.  What is the difference between a "rug" and a "carpet?"  Anything larger than 6.5 feet is a carpet. Anything smaller is considered a rug.  Now you know!

#1

Tabriz Mahi Rug

Today I broke down and bought another beautiful rug.  This is a Tabriz Mahi. The name Mahi refers to the design which many times will resemble fish scales.  I loved the richness of the browns in this rug.  

This just has to be the last one I buy. I think it is #27.

#25

My Favorite Carpet

I fell in love with this carpet for a number of reasons.  The colors are beautiful and each section of the design is an actual design of a carpet.  It's called a Bakhtiyari and is from the Kashmir region.  For the price of one, I got lots images of carpets! It's silk on silk, meaning the knots are silk, knotted on a base of silk.  I bought this one in Muscat, Oman where many of my carpets come from.  It's from the Kashmir region and is 4'x6' and could very well end up hanging on a wall in my new home.

#6

Collections...things I just couldn't leave behind

We are all tempted on a daily basis.  Whether we give in to temptations depends on our situation in life.  Sometimes it's a new dress, a big piece of chocolate cake or whether to redecorate.  This list of temptations we all face is limitless.

However, for me, I've been faced with some of my greatest temptations over the past 6 years.  Seven years ago I decided to join the Foreign Service.  The allure of new challenges, meeting new people and being exposed to life around the world was a temptation I just couldn't resist.  This chapter of my life will end in June, 2014 when I retire.  

This blog is the result of many of my friends wanting to see just what all I've failed to resist the temptation to buy, specifically carpets.  Oh, there have been many other things I've seen and failed to leave the shop without and those will be included.  And as my life proceeds forward and I resume my life in Fort Worth, Texas, I'll be adding to this blog.  There's so much to re-establishing life in the states after living and traveling the world for 6+ years. 

For me, this is my way of sharing my joy of surrounding myself with memories of my travels.  My new home will reflect where I've been and my love of diverse cultures and color.

For a larger view with better detail, click on any photo posted.