The genuine Khiva and Bokhara rugs are made by weaving and knotting alternately. It will be easier at first to weave a web, or foundation. Choose a tight twisted yarn about the color of the rug to be woven. String a close warp of the wool and weave plain up and down, one string at a time, until you have a rug of the desired size. Put in the pattern first, and then the filling. This work will be almost too difficult for little children. Carpet wools and Germantown wool can be used. It will not be found difficult to follow the pattern, especially if one is used to cross-stitch embroidery. Each stitch counts for one of cross-stitch. Keep the stitches very close together so that the nap will stand up well when finished. Silk rugs can be copied in the same way, using floss or rope silk for the pile. If one prefers, a piece of burlap may be stretched across the loom and secured to the rods, instead of weaving a foundation, as suggested.
Stitches for pile weaving
Stitches for pile weaving
The first stitch
Stitches for pile weaving are very easily made. This illustration showing examples of stitches for pile weaving illustrates the methods used in the stitches, and may be used for Axminster or Wilton rugs, for boxes, sachet cases, and other articles. The tape needle is the kind used for weaving when the large needle cannot be used. It is preferable to use one of this kind on account of the eye and blunt point, and it may be obtained at the notion counter in department stores for a few cents. There are two stitches, each occupying half of the illustration and numbered from left to right, beginning at the top. Make No. 1 by passing a tape needle threaded with wool down through the web, leaving a short end, then up one stitch to the left. This is the first step. In No. 2 continue over on the right side, past the stitch where you started, to the stitch on the right; then down and up through the first hole, and cut off the wool the same length as the end you left at first. No. 3 shows a stitch completed. No. 4, one row of stitches, and No. 5, three rows, showing how one row overlaps another. When the rug is finished, the ends should be cut evenly, so that the nap is like velvet. The children would say that this stitch looks like a two-legged stool, and so it does.
The second stitch
The second stitch is made so that the nap lies sideways from left to right. No. a is just like the preceding stitch. No. b shows the needle passing down the stitch where you started and up one stitch to the right. Cut off the wool and pull the end left at first over the last one. This pile should stand very straight and even. No. c shows a completed stitch; No. d one row, and No. e three rows. These stitches are useful in mending Khiva and Bokhara rugs.
Wilton and Axminster rugs
Wilton, Axminster, or any rugs having a pile, can be woven with the same stitches. The pattern in the illustration may be used for either a Wilton or Axminster rug, for a box cover, cushion, sachet case, or mat; and can be cross-stitched embroidery, on burlap, silk or woolen canvas.