Two Grey Hills

Natural Wool Colors

Two Grey Hills is located on the east side of the Chuska Mountains in the New Mexico portion of the Navajo reservation. The weavers in the Two Grey Hills area prefer to use natural un-dyed homespun native wool instead of commercial yarns. The colors in a classic Two Grey Hills design will consist of black, gray, beige, brown and cream. Each weaver will develop her unique yarn colors by blending natural wool colors together by a process called “carding”. To achieve a solid black color the weavers will over-dye the dark brown wool with a black dye.

The area is also renowned for finely woven tapestries. A textile with a weft count of 80 or more per linear inch is considered a tapestry and not a rug. A well-woven Navajo rug will have on average approximately 40 to 50 wefts per linear inch. The use of finely spun yarn enables some weavers to create very intricate geometric designs. Some Two Grey Hills weavers achieve 120 threads per inch or more.

Notable weavers past and present would include Daisy Taugelchee, Cora Curley, Marilyn John, Katherine Nathaniel, and Larry Nathaniel.