Weaving techniques
| Carpet weaving includes the typical warp and weft interweaving and the knotting that makes the carpet a three-dimensional fabric with a separate knot formed by winding around two warp strings. The weavers can choose a yarn of different colors to knot, according to the pattern in the design. Each knot forms a small "colored dot," which, when accumulated, creates a carpet. |
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| Much of the beauty in the weaving of classical Chinese carpets comes from their unique "soft" weaving process, sometimes referred to as a "Ningxia knot." "Soft" weaving encompasses numerous techniques, among which the most commonly used is as follows: the zigzag in the pattern is halved in height or width by replacing a regular knot with two thinner knots (with the colors of the two sides at the interface of the curve). The process is similar to increasing pixels to improve the sharpness of an electronic image. The classical Chinese carpet uses the "soft" weaving method to increase the weaving density along a curved line, thus achieving the desired "rounded" or "soft" effect. | |
| We can see this technique from the back of the "Scrolling Lotuses" carpet (Left). A curve design, such as the tip of the vine, or the petal's edge, can be clearly and smoothly expressed even through a low weave density. The effect of this technique is comparable to a higher density weaving. However, this technique takes more than two times as long as the usual knotting method. In Ningxia carpet weaving, this technique is called "press-knot" or "half-knot" when used in the warp direction or weft direction. |
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