Anthracite Plain Handwoven Wool Rug

The surface reads as knitting rather than as weaving — tight, ribbed, built from visible knots. Plain Anthracite Handwoven Wool Rug, 80% wool and 20% cotton, knotted entirely by hand in India, 3,100 g/m² at an 8 mm pile, in an anthracite that is flecked through instead of solid.

The flecking is what stops the color going heavy. A flat anthracite darkens a room; this one gives it depth instead, because pale undertones sit inside the dark yarn and keep coming through. There is no pattern and no border — the knot structure is the only ornament there is, and it turns out to be enough. Solid timber furniture, stone surfaces and dark textiles are the company it keeps best.

All of it is done by hand: knots tied one by one in India, set close enough together to give the piece the springy resistance of a heavy sweater. What comes out is a firm surface rather than a soft one, which is the trade made for durability. Shedding and dust are not much of an issue with a pile this tight. A professional wash when it eventually needs one.

• Handwoven in India — every knot tied by hand.
• 80% wool, 20% cotton.
• 8 mm of pile at 3,100 g/m² — shallow and extremely tight.
• Flat ground with a knitted look, from the knot structure alone.
• Anthracite with pale undertones showing through, so it adds depth rather than darkness.
• Firm underfoot, on the hard side of soft.
• Suits Scandinavian, bohemian and natural rooms.
• Professional washing.

Texture instead of pattern is the older idea of the two, and a rug that keeps to it does not go out of date.