Knotted pile is the most exclusive and time-consuming technique,but also one of the artisans' favourite. The cut-open pile makesthe color deep and intense and allows for detailed patterns.

The knotted pile rug is a knotted rug with a thick, raised pile. The knots are knotted by hand, around each warp thread and a double ruler. The surface is tied together with background wafts in tabby which are hidden under the pile. When the background waft has been woven, the knot row is cut open with a pile knife and the weaver can begin on the next knot row.

The pile is cut to a smooth, velvety surface with a pair of pile scissors, as the weaving is progressing. The cut-open pile makes the colour deep and intense. The densest knotted piles make possible very detailed patterns.

Knotted relief pile makes use of both flatweave and knotted areas to create a three-dimensional surface that is full of interest even when monochrome.

The pile knots are knotted by hand, albeit only some of the warp threads. They cover only parts of the rug and form a pattern in relief. The densely woven tabby background in a different colour emerges between the relief pattern. The technique makes it possible to create patterned rugs which are still relatively monochrome. Märta Måås-Fjetterström used this technique primarily in the 1930s.

Knotted rya rugs are soft, tactile and full of life. At the studio these pieces had their peak in the 1960s, but its origins dates back to 15th century Sweden. 

The knotted rya rug has a long hand-knotted pile of shiny, soft wool. The pattern is rarely detailed but receives its special character from the yarn’s pile, which creates a rich texture. Märta Måås-Fjetterström claimed that a knotted rya should be of a moderate size. Perhaps because it should be easy to shake up the pile. The knotted rya is documented as early as the 15th century in a Swedish text describing the required bedding of a young woman who wanted to join the religious life at Vadstena Abbey. At the time, the knotted rya was used with the pile against to body for insulation.

The gobeläng flat weave technique is unique to our studio. Introduced by BarbroNilsson in 1942, it allows for freer forms than the traditional flatweave techniques.

Gobeläng flat weave is a flat-weave technique that makes it possible to weave in freer forms. A full-scale working drawing with the contours of the pattern is positioned under the warp in the loom. The wefts are picked by hand and follow the drawn shapes.

For a gobeläng flat weave one does not use the loom’s batten; instead the wefts are packed by hand using a gobeläng pod which covers the entire warp. The lines of the pattern move diagonally and receive freer forms as there are no straight angles.

The Märta Måås-Fjetterström studio has produced gobeläng flat weave since 1943 when Barbro Nilsson created the rug Snäckorna. She developed the technique in a quality suitable for flat-weave rugs, inspired by the many large, wall-hung gobeläng flat weaves she had created. Subsequent artists, such as Marianne Richter and Ann-Mari Forsberg, also created many designs in the gobeläng flat weave technique.

The rölakan flatweave is very similair to a kelim. However, the colors areinterlocked into each other, creating ridges - unique to the rölakan technique.

The rölakan is a flat weave with the same pattern on both sides, so-called Norwegian rölakan flat weave, which makes either side usable. The wefts are picked by hand and at each color change the wefts are laid across one another to create a solid ridge. The tightly spun weft yarn covers the warp completely and makes the surface dirt-repelling and extremely durable. The patterns always have straight angles.

Wallhangings and tapestries are woven in many different techniques,
but they all have in common that they are more delicate than our rugs.

Wall hangings and tapestries require thinner yarns than rugs. Some of the wall hangings are woven in rölakan flat weave or gobeläng flat weave, while others, where a more delicate expression is desired, are woven in the MMF technique, also called inlay on a linen ground, which was specially developed with the purpose of filtering light through the weave. The wool pattern is picked in a shuttled background of hand-spun linen yarn over the entire width of the wall hanging. The warp of linen yarn is relatively loose.