What is pelaas?

Pelaas is a type of wool and coarse woven kilim that is woven in most rural areas. Glim or Pelaas, which is a rug that is almost similar to carpet, is a traditional craft and art.

Pelaas has uses such as kilims and has long been used as a suitable underlay to protect the moisture, cold and heat of the earth and in this regard is used in the floor pattern of nomadic tents and in rural houses. Pelaas is also used for prayer rugs and tablecloths in front of the bride.

Pelaas weaving is usually done with goat hair and sometimes with used cut fabrics. Pelaas, like kilims and carpets, it is tangled. First, it is pierced with a nail. Then the sheets are placed from the two ends, front and end of the work, and then they cover the work with mud on the wood so that the threads do not interfere.

The colorful fibers of the spun wool are then passed through the yarn in the form of horizontal lines and then combed. In Pelaas, the background often consists of horizontal and colorful lines.

The difference between kilim weaving and pelaas weaving (Turkmen kilim weaving) is that in the weaving stage, the back part is placed in front of the weaver and the weaver proceeds to weave the kilim from behind the kilim and the main part is not seen in the so-called work surface.

And the weaver has to see the woven part while working, if the hanger is vertical, and if it was horizontal, which is often the case, he can see his hand-woven by placing a small mirror.

Pelaas is woven in most parts of Iran and in North Khorasan in the form of screw weaving.

History of pelaas weaving

The weaving of kilims was common in Iran long before the advent of Islam. It is estimated to be between 5000 and 3000 BC.

Because textiles, if not specially protected, rot and disappear shortly after production, and the true history of the weaving records of different ethnic groups will never be known.

Bone and wood weaving tools, other ancient weaving tools are not preserved under the soil, and therefore only stone or metal tools left indicate the history of textile production. Of course, the few handicrafts discovered show the excellent quality, sophisticated technique and artistic genius of its creators.