CARPET:

A Carpet is a life long investment- it may well be the single most expensive purchase during your trip to Kashmir. Kashmir Carpets are world renowned for two thing- they are hand made and they are always knotted, never tufted. Carpet weaving in Kashmir was not originally indigenous but is thought to have come in by way of Persia. Till today most designs are distinctly Persian with local variation. A typical Kashmiri design is the tree of life. Persian design not withstanding, any Carpet woven in Kashmir is referred to as Kashmiri . The colour- way of carpet and its details differentiate it from any other Carpet. The colour of Kashmiri Carpets are more subtle and multed then elsewhere in the Country. Only chemical dyes are used vegetable dyes have not been available now for hundred years. The knotting of the Carpet is the most important aspect determining its durability and value, in addition to its design. Basically, the more knots per square inch, the greater its value and durability. Also there are single and double- knotted carpets you can quite easily identify one from the other on the reverse of the carpet. The effect that it has on the pile, too is important a double knotted carpet has a pile that bends when you brush it one way with your hand and stands upright when it is brushed in other direction. A single knotted carpet is fluffier and more resistant to touch.