The field guide · How a rug is built
Foundation
The foundation is the woven grid of warps and wefts that holds the knots. Descriptions name its fibre separately from the pile: "wool pile on a cotton foundation" means wool knots on cotton warps and, usually, cotton wefts. Workshop weavers prefer cotton warps because cotton is less elastic than wool and holds its shape better; nomads normally use their own wool throughout.
Also ground weave · warp and weft · foundation fibre
See also Warp, Weft, Wool on cotton, Wool on wool
Sources
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