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

Carding the wool

Most easily explained as brushing the tangled wool until the fibers lay in the same direction, carding further cleans the wool. The wool comes off the cards (wire-toothed brushes) in fluffy rolls. Today, many weavers buy precarded wool to escape this tedious chore.