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!

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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.

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