Spring Cleaning #2

Spring cleaning of another sort.

The cottage is finally nearing completion.  The new French doors are in. The cabinets are getting their finish this week.  The new sofa and chair are in the warehouse, waiting for the construction crap to be hauled away. It was time for me to dig my rugs out of storage.

Today, they came out of the garage and onto the front lawn for a hose down. I first vacuumed them out with the vacuum beater brush, then used the strongest spray I could get out of my garden hose.  After spraying the first side for about 30 minutes, it was time to turn them over.  Guess what? They were still dry on the underside.  I’m never going to worry about the wine soaking through to the floor again!

All the rugs are wool. Left to right:

• Room sized kilim, approx. 8’x10′ or 12′, purchased about 15 years ago. Provenance unknown. Purchased from Bloomingdales (yes, how authentic is that?)  This will go in the conversation area with my new conversation sofa. It’s possible that natural dyes were used given the variations I see in the rug, but I don’t know for sure.  Woven on cotton warp.
• Area rug, approx. 2’x3′. Gift from Ian & Sandy. Purchased from Mexico. Handspun, dyed, and woven.  Natural dye.  I even have the receipt somewhere with the plant material used for each color!  Warp and weft are both wool.
• Area rug, approx. 3’x4′. Purchased from Mexico. I doubt that natural dye was used here since the colors are so even, but I could be wrong (and pleasantly surprised). Warp and weft are both wool.

Having taken a navajo rug weaving class after acquiring these rugs, I have a new appreciation for the amount of work that went into weaving these rugs, natural dye or not.  The ones with natural dyes? Wowza! Even more impressed, given the number of times the yarn had to be put into dye baths to get the saturation you see here.

They are still damp, but I’ve since moved them from the front lawn to hang on fences and tables in the courtyard. I wouldn’t want these babies to disappear before they dry and repacked.