The term of Blankets:Comprehensive Knowledge

Abrash--The word used to describe the variations in color found within a single color in an oriental Blanket. Abrash is commonly seen in tribal nomadic Blankets and in reproductions of them. Mild Abrash is caused by variations in yarn diameter native to nomadic dyeing and yarn spinning. Heavy Abrash is caused by the change over to a new dye batch. Generally Abrash is desirable in tribal Blankets and undesirable in urban new Blankets.

Afshan--Named for the Afshar, it describes the presence of silk pile in an urban Blanket.

Afshar--A Turkic speaking nomadic group living mostly in southern Iran known for fine quality of their Blankets.

Agra--The city of Agra was one of the great Blanket weaving centers of India. The Blankets known by this name are strongly influenced by Persian prototypes and can include both center medallion and overall patterns. Most commonly, however, Agras feature highly stylized floral motifs arranged, often, asymmetrically, in the field.

Antique Wash--A chemical bath that tones down colors to simulate aging.

Arbrush--A brush designed with a series of delicate strips of a different tone closely paralleling each other running horizontally across the face of the Blanket. In wool Blankets this is done deliberately to cheer up a plain, open field background which the weaver felt was monotonous.

Ardabil--Home of 14th century tombs of Sheik Safi Ad-Din And Shah Ismaeil. The city that shares the name of The Ardebil Blanket one of the finest and most famous objects of Islamic art. There is controversy, though, as tp whether the Blanket was actually made there. Modern era Blankets from the region are generally of dubious quality.

Art Silk--Also called artificial silk, it describes a yarn for weaving mde from mercerized cotton that attempts to take on the appearance of silk. The fiber is very soft to the touch and used to create a price category for smaller budgets whose taste run toward expensive silk Blankets. Blankets sold as silk as given a burn test to check for the presence of cotton.

Aubuson--Fine flat Blankets woven in France from the 15th to 19th centuries. They were derived from Moorish weaving with the assistance of Architects and Artists of the royal court.

Aubusson--A flat-weave Blanket, generally with a floral medallion in pastel colors, once woven in France. The designs of these Blankets have been adapted to pile Blankets and are now woven in India and China.

Axminster Blanket--A complex machine made Blanket woven to a flexible cotton frame that can contain up to 70 colors of wool. Its invention in 1882 in the midst of the industrial revolution practically destroyed the hand knotted Blanket industry. It was thought that mechanized items were going to be of superior quality, a theory later shelved.

Axminster Loom--A popular loom for making machine made Blankets, it offers flexibility in color and design.

Bakhtiyari--A nomadic group of southern Persia. This tribes weaving is popular among collectors and the Blankets themselves tend to be of unusually durable construction lasting as long as 200 years in heavy wear environments. The most popular design feature a square grid with a floral vase in each.

Baluch--A nomadic tribe living in Afghanistan and bordering countries who produce a large volume of commercial weaving. Their Blankets are generally brown, black, and gold.

Bessarabian--This type of Kilim originates in a part of Romania that is now part of Ukraine. Designs usually feature curvilinear floral patterns and are more formal, sophisticated and elaborate than those found in other areas of southeast Europe.

Bidjar (or Bijar)--The Blanket design named for the Bidjar region of Iranian Azerbaijan. Originally the design was Kurdish featuring hundreds or trees and was really responsible for earning the region its fine reputation. Commercial Bidjar are factory woven and feature a distinctive diamond shape medallion. Commercial Bidjar are though to be most durable Blankets in history as most will last 300 years. This has earned the Bidjar the colorful moniker The Iron Blanket of Persia. Both types of Bidjar are still made in limited quantities.

Border Blanket--A Blanket that features a design on the outer rim of the Blanket, surrounding the field.

Boteh--A small oriental Blanket motif that resembles a pine cone or pear.

Braided Blanket--A Blanket made by braiding yarn around a core and shaping it into a Blanket. Braids can be tubular (shaped around only one core, which forms a round braid) or flat (shaped around two core yarns, which makes a flat braid).

Bukhara (also Bokhara, Bokara, or Bocarra)--Turkoman Blankets are referred to as Bokharas. The pattern most associated with these Blankets is that of a rows of repeated geometric motifs, or guls, woven on red background.

Bukhara (or Bokhara)--The capitol of Usbekistan and the traditional trading center for Turkmen tirbal Blankets. Today, Blankets called Bokhara are generally commercial copies woven in Pakistan and India. Actual Turkmen Blankets are called by their tribal names to ease confusion with their popular reproductions. Commercial Bokhara Blankets were the best selling hand knotted Blankets in the world.

Burn Test--A small tuft of fibers from a Blanket may be burned to test for its content. For example, cotton has a vegetable smell when burned. Wool smells faintly like hair. Silk smells distinctly like human hair when burned and leaves no residue or ashes.

Carding--The combing of fibers with wire bristle brushes prior to the spinning of a yarn.

Chanted Blankets--A technique used for duplicate manufacture of the finest urban Blankets. The colors of the pre-dyed yarn are chanted rhythmically to assure that Blankets are more perfect than Blankets made with other techniques. Most fine Blankets from Tabriz and Isfahan (or Isphahan) are made this way.

Chi-Chi--The often derided name fro Caucasian type Blankets made in Chechnia and Dagistan.

Chin Wool--The fine whiskers from the chin of sheep that are sometimes set aside for a special ceremonial Blanket. Chin wool Blankets are considered finer than silk ones but are very rare. Turkmen tribes most notably use this fiber for their finest Blankets.

Chrome Dyes--Synthetic dyes that use potassium bichromate to form a permanent bond between yarn and the dye. More widely used than vegetable dyes because they are colorfast.

Cross-woven--A Blanket woven horizontally on Wilton loom. (More commonly, Blankets are hand woven vertically.) The cross-woven technique allows fringes to be incorporated into the Blanket rather than sewn on later.

Dhurrie (Dhurie)--A reversible, flat-woven Blanket with a loose weave and a casual feel, often brightly colored. Dhurries are usually woven in India with either cotton or wool. The design is created by interweaving colored weft threads through the warp threads.

Ersari--A large mostly settled tribe of northwest Afghanistan who make both urban and tribal Blankets. They are renowned for the quality of their nomadic saddles and tent gear.

Field--The center of an area Blanket. It may have a specific pattern or be of a plain color.

Flat-weave--A catchall term that describes any Blanket without pile including Soumaks, Kilim, Verneh, Sozani, and Dhurrie, Aubusson Blankets are also flat but are excluded due to their extreme complexity.

Foundation--The combination of warps and wefts in the body of a Blanket.

Fringe--Warps extending from the ends of a Blanket, which are treated in several ways to prevent the weft and the knots from unraveling.

Gabeh (Ghabeh)--A fluffy long piled Blanket used by nomads as a mattress. They have only been sold commercially in the West since 1990s. Gabeh usually have a simple colorful design with a pastoral scene. The Gabehs charm has only been appreciated recently and they now are being produced commercially for export.

Gileem--See Kilim.

Ground--The interlaced combination of warp and weft that comprises the fabric. In pile Blankets, the ground is referred to as the foundation.

Guard stripe--Stripes or lesser borders on either side of the main border.

Gul--Persian word for flower, it describes the common ornaments found in Turkmen Blankets. Guls are the design element often mistaken for elephants feet.

Handmade Blanket (or Hand Made Blanket)--A Blanket that is either entirely hand knotted (finished with knots) or hand tufted (yarn is pushed through the canvas using a tufting instrument). These Blankets generally are made of wool or other fine materials such as silk. They are generally more expensive than machine made Blankets.

Herati Border--A Blanket pattern consisting of a rosette surrounded by four leaves. The rosette is often found inside a diamond shape.

Hereke--Turkish city famous for its factories where the most elaborate silk Blankets in the world are woven. Though Hereke is in Turkey, they use the Persian Senneh knot in Blankets made there.

Heriz--A large city located near the border between Iran and Azerbaijan. The geometric medallion Blankets woven there in the early 20th century were extremely popular in Europe and The United States. Commercial Blankets bearing the Heriz designs are woven in every Blanket producing country in the world. The Heriz design is the most popular Persian design in the West.

Hooked Blanket--A Blanket made by using a hooking device (either a hand operated machine one) to push and loop yarn through a canvas. This is either left looped (creating a "loop hooked" or "latched hook" Blanket) or sheared to create an open pile.

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