Rya
The knotted rya began as a warm cover on the bed and became a woven artwork on the wall.
In the Nordic countries the rya was used for hundreds of years as a bed cover, in boats and in cold cottages, with the pile turned in towards the body. The patterns were woven on the flat side or in the pile.
In the twentieth century the rya became a woven artwork, and designers made modern ryas for wall and floor. Older ryas from the countryside are sought after at auction.
Materials: Wool yarn knotted into a ground of wool or linen
Manufacture: Hand-knotted on the loom: yarn ends are tied in between the wefts and form a long pile.
The long pile that softly covers the pattern.
Geometric patterns, steps and squares, sometimes with a date and initials.
The back: on older ryas the flat side was often the one on show.