Equally horrifying to the drama in Shahs of Sunset is the lack of Persian carpets seen in the show.  After seeing the promo shot of the cast situated on a Persian rug (hard to tell, might be an antique Meshakabad or some sort of reproduction), I assumed the homes of these characters would be chock full of them.  A few of the condos had a lovely Tabriz rug here or there (and granted, I’ve only devoted 3 hours of my life to studying this), but some of the cast have bare floors and machine made rugs.  Machine made rugs!  In the abodes of the Shahs of Sunset!  Nevermind the cat fights and the materialism, this whole rug situation is disgraceful.

The Shahs of Sunset pose on a Persian Rug. source: ryanseacrest.com

On the surface of the rug you can’t tell a thing.  It looks totally normal.  However, when you hold the rug, you can easily feel that one side of the rug has a lot less heft than the other.

Perfectly normal looking rug. Photo by Me.

Because learning types of weaves is one of the harder things that I’m still trying understand, I thought I’d write up this rug as a little case study from which we can all learn.  In the following picture, you can see that the weave of the rug changes a little bit, right about where the light blue of the bigger, inner border ends.  See?

Notice how the weave appears to change in the lower borders? Photo by Me.

The end of this rug is done in a Turkish knot which is often used in the region of Hamadan and other tribal areas.  Above the outer border of the rug, a Persian knot is used.  This is more prevalent in the area of Arak or Sarouk which is geographically very close to Hamadan.  (Assumption Alert: Turkish knots are not called Turkish because they were invented in Turkey.  The knots have been around a lot longer than Turkey the country, and while it is possible that the technique was invented long ago in what is today the country of Turkey, no one really knows for sure.)

Here is a close-up of the Persian knotted section of the rug:

Persian Knots. Photo by Me.

Let’s look at a close-up of the the Turkish knots now:

Turkish Knots. Photo by Me.

Now, if you have a sec, go ahead and google Turkish and Persian Knots.  You’ll be able to see close up drawings of the structure of these knots.  I know, it doesn’t help much, but maybe after staring at the above pics for a while, it will click later.

I’ll point out what I’m noticing and what I’m hoping I will recognize in rugs down the road.  The Persian knots from the back appear to be perfect little boxes.  The Turkish knots look like two, side-by-side boxes.  If I didn’t know better, I would count each half of the Turkish knot as a separate knot, but now I know that the Turkish knot is a little bit wider and consists of two boxes, bumps, lumps, loops, thingies, or whatever you want to call it, and in the Persian, only one of these per knot is visible.  As a rule of thumb, finer rugs are done with a Persian knot, and less fine rugs are done with a Turkish knot.  Or, translated into Katie speak, formal living room rugs are done in a Persian knot, and family room rugs are done in a Turkish knot.

Now, back to this particular rug with an identity crisis.  I have no explanation for what happened here.  Perhaps the first weaver was fired or won the lottery and left the weaving business entirely?  It isn’t very often that one weaver does both types of weaves.  This rug remains a mystery, but perhaps it has helped us to unravel the issue of the Turkish vs. Persian knot.

Going off just this picture, a rug expert (my dad) and a rug expert in training (myself) believe this rug to be a Tabriz, but maybe there is the slightest chance that the rug is a Bakhtiari.  Whatever it is, it is a beauty for sure.  Mr. President, has this rug be cleaned in the last 5-7 years?  If not, give me a call!

Underneath the tree and the "Bo" statue, lies a gorgeous rug! Photo by AP.

Finally! A way to store the yarn we use for rug repair.

There is a good chance that my next post will be from an insane asylum somewhere, as organizing our ginormous knots of yarn which we use for rug repairs is making me crazy. Recently, I decided that our organizational system (I use the term loosely) needed an overhaul, so I got down to business then and am still working now, but at least I’m getting somewhere.

Our previous "organizational system" involved some yarn being hung on hooks, some stored in baskets, and most of it falling onto the floor.

Using a system somewhat inspired by the way yarns-by-the-strand were sold and displayed at the now closed Inez’s Stitchery, I hung a metal curtain rod underneath a wooden shelf and got a whole host of metal shower curtain hooks to hang each color.  The label with the color and dye lot number are also affixed to each yarn bundle.  We cut our skeins of yarn in half for ease of use in rug repair, so this system may not work for those who wish to have one continuous piece of yarn.

As you can see, the yarn is hung by shower hook onto the curtain rod. The wool's original label is attached.

The one bad thing about our new system is that I may physically hurt someone if they mess it up.  Now I know why the late Inez used to have a sign on her wool that said, “Do Not Touch.  Ask for Assistance.”  That eclectic stitchery is definitely missed, but the organizational system lives on!

Anywho, in the talk show that followed, I was suprised to see a gorgeous rug.  A Persian Heriz rug graces the floor of the talk show stage.  You can see that the furnishings in this room are fairly contemporary, but the exposed brick on the walls is a little more on the traditional side.  A nice, geometric Persian rug pulls it all together.  It is a great touch!  Check it out…

A lovely Heriz is on view on the set of "Talking Dead." source: mukki.org

And now, not just elements, but entire rugs themselves can be seen in non-rug-textiles.  I was surprised to see a Heriz patterned comforter, smack dab on the cover of the most recent Linen Source catalog.  It if were on a floor instead of a bed, I would have thought it was a rug.  A similar rug patterned comforter is also made by Ralph Lauren.  This pattern, dubbed the “Poet’s Society Rug Comforter”, looks very much like a Kashan style rug.  They’re all great!

So now, in addition to having rugs on your floor or hanging on your wall, you can have faux rugs on your bedding (and also on your clothes, but that is another blog post).  Great news for the textile enthusiast!

Here is a lovely Ralph Lauren comforter with a design inspired by Persian rugs. source: ralphlauren.com

So, the other day when my father asked me, “What exactly is Yelp?” I knew it was time to start advertising on Yelp.  (By the time my mother asks me what it is, it is too late.)  We’re giving it a go for the next few months, and I’m hoping that it works out well.  Online advertising is sometimes a tough sell for my folks, who like to see their ad in print and delivered to their door, but times they are a-changing!  So, if you find us on Yelp, be sure to tell my Dad.  Just be prepared to have to refresh his memory as to what Yelp is.