Borrowing From the '70s.

Wavelength I, one of 11 new rugs from Edward Fields Carpet Makers based on designs from its archives, is an update of a pattern created in the 1970s. ''It was part of a category of free-form designs -- strong colors and big-scale motifs,'' said Yasmina Kossmann, the design director. ''They were done in wool, a high-cut pile, like a shag. It was the era of really heavy, comfortable rugs.'' In the '70s, the rug was not just bold; it was loud and multicolored -- orange, pink, green and purple. The new version, left, is in shades of turquoise, and the pile is multilevel rather than high-cut. It is also a more luxurious wool and silk, rather than pure wool. (Now that the company is owned by Tai Ping, a Hong Kong manufacturer, Ms. Kossmann said, it is cheaper to make a rug of wool and silk than it was in the '70s, when the rugs were made in the United States and the silk was imported.) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]