Kilim - Love at first sight

Close your eyes and let’s make believe that we are in Turkey, in Istanbul maybe?

Hear the sound from the mosque when they call out for the evening prayer, see the light slowly fading in the narrow alleys and feel the heat still coming from the thick white walls and the lovely smell from fresh herbs and spices. Can you feel the feeling?

Now open your eyes and let’s go for a walk… along the streets not in Istanbul but in Stockholm. Turn left at the chimney......

and up the long steep street .....

and there it is at the corner – Taners Kilim Carpets! And if you are lucky the proprietor is standing outside welcoming you to step inside......

Welcome inside.....

And when you are inside? Oh joy! Beautiful, beautiful Kilim carpets, rugs and pillows everywhere you look. And if you close your eyes just for a minute you are right back in Istanbul again......

For me it was love at first sight. I fell like a ton of bricks not only for the carpets, rugs and pillows but for the proprietor as well. A charming man! Very patiently he showed me all the lovely things his shop could offer and told me a bit about the carpets as well.

I learnt that the Kilim carpets are hand-woven in wool or cotton. They were originally made by Asian nomads who used the carpets as interior decorating of their tents. The nomads spun the wool buy hand, colored it with vegetable dye and made carpets and woven fabric for pillows, sacks and saddlebags. The Kilims date over ten thousand years back and the carpets are a part of the nomad’s culture and tell us about their dreams and the environment in which they were living. The Kilims are woven in the whole of the Orient. The word Kilim in fact means "weaving technique" and since a Kilim is never a mass production every carpet, rug or pillow is unique. As the proprietor said

- A handmade carpet is not something you use and the throw away. A “real” carpet should last for a lifetime.

So did I buy me a carpet? No I didn`t. But I bought a beautiful pillow. A pillow that was so very much ME that it felt like it was made just for me. And next time I visit I will maybe buy a carpet. Because I feel very strongly that somewhere in that shop there is bound to be a magical and very special carpet….

........A flying one of course!

And once I have my flying carpet I can take a trip and visit you whenever I want to. I could fly to Angela and Cathy in Australia, Lili in Netherlands, Jane in San Diego or Betty Jo... or take a quick trip to Val in Chulmleigh or why not to Gerda-Thyra in Gothenburg or Anna Stilla or..... Now that beats visits in cyberspace don`t you think? So don`t be afraid if late at night there is a knock at your window - It`s only me on my flying carpet!

But until then..... if you ever are in Stockhom please pay Taners Kilim carpets a visit! It’s worth every minute of it!

And be sure to say Hi from me to the proprietor! As I said, a very charming man!

Take care
Jeanette