Riches of the Southwest
 
 

 
 

Over the years the book, Working with the Wool, by Noel Bennet and Tiana Bighorse has become recognized as the definitive work on Navajo weaving. Here is found a step-by-step analysis of how a Navajo rug is created. For our brief introduction, a traditional Navajo rug passes through the following stages from beginning to completed piece.

1. Raising the sheep

2. Cleaning the wool

3. Carding the wool

4. Spinning the yarn

5. Determining the color

6. Setting up the loom

7. Weaving the rug

 

Raising the sheep

Initially brought by the Spanish, Churro wool was ideal for spinning. After the Navajo displacement during the late 1800s, the American government issued Spanish Merino and French Rambouillet strains of sheep to replace Churro herds which had been lost. The sheep are usually sheared in May or June when the wool is thickest.