There are about fifteen "carpet factories" around Turkmenistan. These are not factories as we know them but collections of hand looms where Turkmenistan women tie the knots that make the rugs. Not counting the loom, they use only three tools: a knife to cut the yarn after they tie a knot, a comb-like device to pound the knots down to increase density, and a special scissors to even the nap.

Above, three Turkmen women are at the beginning of a carpet. Each holds a knife that is used in the seamless motion of tying a knot and cutting the wool. At the bottom of the picture on the bench is the "banger" that is used to compress a line of knots. The sound made when the ladies pound a carpet is unique and hard to describe.

Above, the rug makes tie that knots that bind. Each person is expected to tie 10,000 knots per day. You can see the very sharp knife in the foreground. The string that seems to descend from the handle of the knife is used to draw the warp string backward and forward as each row of knots is completed.

Above is the crowning jewel of the Carpet Factory in Ashgabat: A huge rug that shows all the ethnic groups in the former Soviet Union. (Note the Turkmen on the far right holding a lamb.) This rug took 30 women six months to weave. (Yes, that is 15 people years!)

A Virtual Tour of Turkmenistan © 1998-99 Joe Kelley
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