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How Long Does It Take?

Before you begin weaving your own Oriental rug, consider this. A skilled weaver in India can tie about 6,000 knots per day. Thus the time for one person to knot a 9' x 12' rug in several common qualities works out like this:
(Note that usually more than one person works at a time on rugs from about 4' x 6' and larger. To get the actual weaving time for a carpet, you'd need to divide the "Time required" shown here by the number of weavers working simultaneously on the rug).

 Quality

Knots/sq.in.

Knots/sq.ft.

Days/sq.ft.

Knots in a
9' x 12'
Carpet

Time required to knot a
9' x 12' Carpet


"6/40"


60


8,640


1.4

933,120


151 days
(5 months)


"7/52"


91


13,104


2.2


1,415,232


237 days
(7.9 months)


"9/60"


135


19,440


3.2

 

2,099,520


346 days
(11.5 months)


"12/60"


180


25,920


 4.3


2,799,360


 464 days
(15.5 months)

Remember that these estimates do not include the time needed to prepare the wool (for wool clipping, carding, spinning, and dyeing), to map the design (about 8 days for a 12/60 quality rug), or to wash and clip the finished carpet (more than 15 days for a 12/60 quality 9' x 12' carpet).