Handknitted Carpets

Carpet manufacturing has been the traditional business of the villages in the northern mountainous belt of Nepal. But commercial carpet manufacturing began in Nepal along with the exodus of Tibetan refugees in Nepal, in 1959. Though Nepalese were weaving carpets for generations, Europeans through Swiss association for technical Assistance (SATA) contributed in the development of the carpet industry in Nepal through financial and technical support to the Tibetan refugees, In the beginning it was started as a source of living for the Tibetan refugees and the products were just the items for tourist consumption. Gradually, it began to attract a consumer adored initiated, in 1964. From the first commercial shipment to Europe, particularly Switzerland. Since then, it has transformed into a more value-added, labor-intensive commodity and remains the most important export product in Nepal by abysmal effort entrepreneurs with international vision.

Carpet production is manually done right from the beginning to the finishing stage. The vital process include.

Wool sorting & washing: Tibetan wool is sorted to pick out foreign materials & other forms of wood to have stable product. It also needs normal washing to remove fat & wax from the wool.

The wool is then dried in sunlight for two to three days. Wool obtained from the third countries is generally obtained after scouring process hence it doesn’t need sorting & washing.

Carding:
Carding is performed by hand previously. But the hand carding couldn’t fulfill the expanding carpet industries. Hence machine carding is also performing for larger supply of carded a livers for spinning.

Spinning: Wool spinning is one by hand charkha. The experienced Nepalese spinners are capable of producing course as well as finer yarns for higher knots carpet.

Dyeing:
Dyeing was carried out in huge copper vessels. But with the introduction of machine dyeing better fastness has been obtained. Also, the use of synthetic dyestuffs has provided a large scale of spectrum color. The yarn is dried in the sunlight.

Weaving: Carpet weaving is performed by hand using graphs & sketches. The carpet weaving is a creative task which is performed by three or four laborers according to the size of carpet. Carpet weaving is done with the help of yarn balls, scissors, iron-rod, levers, comb beater, etc. Tibetan double knotting system is applied for knotting.

Trimming:
The sharp design & pattern is carved out by scissors from the woven carpet. The level of the pile is also made smooth according to the design.

Washing & drying: Carpet is washed with fresh water using household chemicals to keep free of germs and wipe out the gloomy appearance. The carpet is then directed out in the sun light for 4- 5 days.

Stretching:
The carpet has to be stretched to bring into the original loom- stage size by stretching. Stretching provides the good appearance of carpet if it is under sized of twisted anywhere.

Final Trimming: The carpet is given a final trimming of the unusual yarn. In this case any error in the design & Pattern is trimmed and given the final touch.

Packing:
Finally the carpet is packed with the environment friendly packing material. After that the carpet is ready for export.