Wool from the Karakul sheep, the breed of the region where the Turkoman (Turkmen) nomads live. The fleece has two layers, a thicker, coarser outer coat and a softer, finer inner coat, and Turkoman rugs are made from the softer inner layer.
Rugs woven by mostly nomadic tribes, chiefly in Iran but also across the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa; a few names, such as Bakhtiari and Gabbeh, span tribal and village weaving. Tribes move with their flocks from spring to fall and typically settle in winter to weave on compact, portable looms, so rugs are small, often 4 x 6 ft (1.2 x 1.8 m) or 5 x 7 ft (1.5 x 2.1 m), or runners, and rarely oversized. The flocks' wool, dyed with local plants, often forms foundation and pile; goat hair is also used. Designs, mostly geometric, are passed down and woven from memory without a drawing, so, unlike in city rugs, corners often fail to resolve neatly. Qashqai, Baluchi, and Turkoman rugs are named after their tribes.
Tribal rugs woven by Turkoman (Turkmen) nomads, whose forebears came from the Afghan and Uzbek region and who later settled in the Turkmen region of Iran. Rows of octagonal guls (“flowers”) cover a deep red, reddish-brown or occasionally cream field, accented in black, blue, green or beige; prayer designs also occur. Foundation and pile are usually wool, said to come from the soft undercoat of Karakul sheep, though a cotton foundation is occasionally used. In older pieces each tribe kept its own gul design, whereas newer rugs freely mix them. Turkoman designs inspired Bokhara and Khal Mohammadi rugs and are the Persian design closest to Baluchi work, which they predate; the low-to-medium pile suits places where doors swing over the rug.