In machine-made carpets, refers to the distance between needles on the tufting machine. Lower gauge numbers indicate more needles per inch and a denser carpet.
The frame on which the vertical warp threads are strung first and held taut so the horizontal weft can be interlaced through them and knots tied onto them. Hand-knotted rugs are made on simple looms, from those in weavers' homes to the compact, transportable ones of nomads. Loom size sets rug size: nomads' small looms typically yield rugs no larger than about 4 x 6 or 5 x 7 ft (1.2 x 1.8 m or 1.5 x 2.1 m), city workshops with very large looms weave palace sizes, and the number of looms a workshop runs gauges its scale. Wooden looms in tribal and village weaving expand and contract over time, one cause of crooked rugs. Power looms such as Wilton, Axminster, and Jacquard, the industrial descendants, make machine-woven carpet.