Axminster weave:
A machine-weaving method long used in the Netherlands to make commercial carpets of the highest quality.

Carved pile:
A three-dimensional design created by cutting into the pile around a pattern or between different colors.

Hand-tufted:
A technique in which an artisan uses a hand-tufting tool to hook each piece of yarn. You can identify a hand-tufted rug by a backing used to anchor the stitches.

Hand-knotted:
A technique in which an artisan crafts a rug by individually tying each piece of yarn. The meticulous process can take up to six months to make a single rug.

Kilim:
A flat-weave, reversable rug, often featuring geometric patterns.

Knot:
A knot is formed when yarn is looped around the warp threads.

Loom:
The basic frame used for weaving. Two horizontal beams are used to tie the vertical warps and hold them tightly in place.

Nap:
Face of the rug where the knot ends are cut.

Pile:
The nap of the rug or the tufts remaining after the knotted yarns are clipped.

Tip-shear:
A technique in which a shearing machine skims the surface of a rug, trimming some loops, while leaving others intact.

Warp:
The beginning part of a rug where strands are attached to a loom vertically, following the length of a rug.

Weft:
Strands inserted horizontally over and under the warp forming the foundation of the rug.