The blocks below my socks

With colder weather comes warm clothes and hot chocolates. As the winter approaches, the rhythmic tradition of unboxing sweaters and beanies packed away during summers begins. Then comes the larger part of the unboxing - the quilts and rugs.
 
Most homes decorate their cold tiled flooring with beautiful rugs during winters to keep their feet warm. From Oriental and Persian rugs to more modernised abstract rugs and fluffy faux fur rugs - have you ever looked down at the beautiful aesthetic surrounding your feet and wondered how its made. How often do we pay attention to what’s below our feet?

Humans have made rugs out of any possible material they found suitable. Ancient civilisations made rugs out of reeds and grasses to keep the cold ground warm. It soon evolved to rugs made out of camel, sheep and goat hair. While originally rugs were primarily functional and meant to keep floors warm, animal domestication continued and civilisations began to dorm, fancier rugs became a sign of prestige and class. Soon intricate hand knotted rugs started evolving, a symbol to showcase wealth and prestige. These hand-woven rugs then became pieces of art decorating and adding warmth to the homes that welcomed them. Nowadays, rugs are produced industrially, making them much more affordable. Still, hand woven carpets are praised for their artistic value, for the material used and are still sort after by most.
 

‘The blocks below my socks’ is an ode to the beautiful collection of handwoven rugs made in the studio. Woven using our Cotton knitting yarn DK/8 ply and Wool roving yarn, these rugs are unique pieces of contemporary art by themselves woven using simple yet experimental weaving draft of Taqueté weave.

Taqueté is a weft faced compound tabby weave. Interestingly, when Rome ruled the western world, the weavers of the East and Coptic Egypt wove two and three colour Taqueté textiles of wool, linen and wool and sometimes even silk for pillows, coverlets and clothing. This particular Taqueté weave is woven using Ashford 8 shaft Jack Loom. Out of the 8 shafts, 6 shafts are used to create the pattern blocks whereas 2 shafts work as binding warp. The warp used is a 5/2 mercerised cotton yarn which is barely seen because of how beautifully the DK weight yarns/ Wool roving yarns pack themselves. The beautiful play of colours is achieved using weft-clasping, which plays a major role in creating these different pieces of rugs from a single drafted warp.
 
Every rug has a story, weave one of your own.