Amazing Antique Navajo Rug

A typical Navajo rug has approximately 30 wefts to the linear inch. A two grey hills from Toadlena average about 45. The finer pieces frequently have upwards of 80. When a textile has 80 or more wefts per inch, it is considered a tapestry, not a rug. The most famous weaver of these textiles was Daisy Taugelchee (1909-1990), who wove upwards of 115 wefts per inch, which created the most finely woven Navajo tapestries anywhere. The weavers preferred to use natural wool from their sheep rather than the commercially produced wool used by other Navajo weavers. After the wool was carded together it was spun very fine, sometimes even as fine as thread. These threads allowed the weavers to weave more wefts to the linear inch, which created a textile of a much higher quality than other Navajo weavings.