Are Handknotted Rugs Straight And Square?

Here at RugKnots, we welcome your questions.  We know that finding the perfect area rug for your home takes time and lots of thought and consideration.

Often, a question we get from one person ends up being the same question others have. That is why we created the Fridays with RugKnots video series.

One common question we receive is "why is the Persian rug not straight and square in the picture?"  Some people mistakenly think this comes from the inexperience of the weavers. But this simply isn't true.

Check out the video we made and then read on for more information.

Hand-Knotted vs. Machine Made Rugs

Computers and rug-making machines have the ability to weave rugs at precise 90 degree angles that human hands simply cannot.

Computer and rug-making machines follow codes that repeat knots at exact repetitions. Human rug weavers using looms, however, invest their time and energy into the art of individual knots.  The talent of rug-making shows in every single loop. This art also means that the corners won’t be as square as a machine-made rug.

Just like a hand-painted oil on canvas will have rough edges and different textures than a computer-printed photograph, a hand-knotted rug shows the “finger print” of the rug maker.

If you find a wool rug that isn't completely square, it is a tell-tale sign that it is a high end hand-knotted rug.

Will The Persian Rug Look Straight in My Home?

Yes it will. Once you place furniture on top and decorate the room, the slight curves of the corners are unnoticeable. In fact, here are some photos of hand-knotted rugs in homes. 

Hand-Knotted Rugs In Homes

This is a stunning Peshawar Ziegler rug. Up close on the website, it looks just a teeny bit out of square. But as you can see in the image below, the rug looks amazing and not a bit crooked. 

A perfect example is In the dining room picture.  Once you place a rug underneath furniture, the colors and patterns are the focal point, not the angles.

Why Do The Rugs Looks So Out Of Square Online? 

We photographs from overhead, in a view that is not commonly seen in real life. The issue of the square is actually exacerbated by the camera. 

Most Popular Hand-Knotted Rugs 

Are you ready to buy a one-of-a-kind hand-knotted rug now? Here are the best rugs at the lowest prices. Browse our other hand-knotted oriental rugs for more choices.

Bokhara Rugs

Our Bokhara rugs are hand-knotted on a vertical loom to exacting standards. They take four months to complete, and are weaved by our artisans with premium grade wool imported from the hills of New Zealand and the finest local wool farmers in Pakistan.

People love the reliability of the Bokhara rug patterns. They are always going to feature the same repetitive geometric patterns. You can purchase them in a variety of colors - all made with organic vegetable dye.

Ikat Rugs

Produced all around the world, from Japan, Asia and India – and by our skilled artisans in Pakistan – the ‘resist dyeing’ technique used to create Ikat rugs requires a high level of expertise.

Ikat Rug Dying Techniques

Resist dyeing involves tightly bundling together yarns into a specific pattern before they are dyed, then re-wrapping the bundles and dyeing them again multiple times before the yarns are woven - creating the distinctive blurred abstract designs so popular with Ikat rug lovers worldwide.

The more precise and less blurred the design, the more adept the artisan was in lining up and retying the yarn bundles between each dyeing stage – meaning while some blurring will always occur, the highest quality examples will feature the most distinctive styling - such as those sold by RugKnots.

Peshawar Ziegler

Also called ‘chobi’ rugs – the word for wood in the Farsi language – these rugs are characterized by their muted, earthy tones.  It is a look which in the modern version is created by hand stone washing and leaving the rugs to bleach out in natural sunlight.

More Rug Questions Answered on Video

Go browse our YouTube channel. We are constantly updating it with answers to commonly asked questions. You can learn rug cleaning tips, explanations of rug types, as well as more educational videos.

Send Us Your Questions

I hope this answers your question. If you browse our online store and wonder “why is the Persian rug not straight” this post should have answered your question. The rugs are photographed from above which accentuates their corners. Being hand-made, they have intricacies that machine-made rugs simply do not.

If you have any more questions, please contact us. We will answer you directly and your question could be featured in an upcoming video.