Navajo Rug Loom Setup
Navajo rugs are NOT woven on a continuous loom. The warp thread you see in this picture is one continuous length of wool. Heavy yarn was wrapped around the dowel at each end of the loom and the warp was threaded through it.
Navajo Rug Authentication Because the warp threads are continuous, a genuine Navajo rug does NOT have any knots at the ends. Imitation rugs, woven on a continuous loom, will have knots at both ends where the warps were tied off. You can see the edge warps are identical to all the rest of the warp threads. A continuous loom requires stronger edge warp so imitation rugs will usually have two or four ply yarn on both edges. This can be easily seen by pulling apart the weft thread.
