Kilims

A kilim has no pile. The pattern is the structure: coloured weft threads packed down over the warp so tightly that the warp disappears, which is why a kilim is reversible and why the designs are geometric rather than curvilinear — a slit-weave loom cannot easily draw a curve.

They suit high-traffic rooms and households with animals, because there is no pile to crush and dirt does not bed into a nap. They are also the honest entry point to handmade textiles: a good kilim costs a fraction of a knotted carpet of the same size and takes a fraction of the time to weave, and neither fact is hidden here.

Look for tight, even beating — hold it to the light and the slits at colour changes should be short and regular. Long ragged slits mean a rushed weft.