"Pashmina" is derived from the Persian word "Pashm" meaning finest wool fiber, the "soft gold" king of fibers. Pashmina wool is also known as the softest, most luxurious and the best "pashm" wool in the world.
It comes from high Himalayan region of Nepal, Tibet, Mongolia and Kashmir also Cashmere which is derived at the altitude of 12000 to 14000 feet where temperature drops below 40 degree centigrade.
Every summer, Himalayan farmers climb the mountains to comb the fine woolen undercoat from the neck and chest of Chyangra (Capra Hircus), a Himalayan mountain goat, not to be confused with the endangered Tibetan Antelope that is killed to produce Shahtoosh shawls. THE THERMOCONDUCTIVITY OF THE WOOL IS BEST IN THE WORLD as it survives the animal at below 40 degree centigrade far below zero degree temperature in pollution free climate of the world. Blessed by nature with a unique very thin short inner coat of hair which is the best insulation in the world and this inner coat of hair is PASHMINA. The animal in such a freezing temperature survives because of its nature gifted hair.
Pashmina fiber is 15 - 19 microns in diameter making it very soft where as human hair is 75 microns in diameter. Because it is only 15 to 19 microns in diameter , it can not be spun by machines, so the downy wool is hand woven into shawls, stoles, mufflers or other pashmina products for export, predominantly to America, Europe, Japan and Korea.
One goat produces 3 to 8 ounces of Pashmina per year.
Origin of pashmina dates back to ancient civilization. Earlier in olden days pashmina shawls found favor with EMPERORS, KINGS, PRINCES, RULLERS and NOBELS. This precious fabric was known as FIBER FOR KINGS. Now this royal luxury is being offered in wide variety of shawls, stoles, mufflers, scarves, sweaters, blankest, throws and wraps in pure pashmina wool and in silk blended pashmina in all possible colors, styles, sizes, patterns in plain, with embroidery work, bead work and in printed designs. Although Pashmina have been popular with aristocracy in Southern Asia since the 15th century, pashmina sales in the West suddenly took off in 1998 when designers in London, Paris and New York started to include them in their fashion collections. Since then the demand for pashmina is growing day by day and it has helped to push the price of pashmina down to an affordable level.
The Pashmina Making Process includes following steps:
1. Wool Collection
First of all the wool from Chyangra (Capra Hircus) goat is collected. The pashmina wool is collected every spring. Then the soft fine pashmina is separated form the thick coarse hair. And both the soft pashmina and the thick coarse hair is taken for their further process.
2. Spinning
The pashmina wool is collected every spring and is basically spun by hand. The yarn is spun on a spinning wheel locally known as 'Charkha'. Prior to spinning, the raw material is treated by stretching and cleaning it to remove any dirt and soaked for a few days in a mixture of rice and water to make it softer. Hand-spinning is an extremely painstaking task. It requires immense patience, dexterity and dedication and is amazing process to watch.
3. Weaving
Pashmina yarn is too fragile for the vibration caused by power looms, the weaving of the traditional 100% pashmina shawls are therefore done on hand-looms. It is essential for the weaver to have a uniform hand. for par excellence fabric. Weaving here is done with a shuttle carrying the soft pashmina yarn through the fine yet strong silk warp. The weaving process is in itself an art, which has been passed down over generations, to give you the fabulous shawls, which we offer. It takes about four days to weave a single pashmina shawl. The weaving of pashmina products differ according to the nature of pashmina products. Different looms are required to weave different pashmina products. For pashmina shawls, pashmina stoles, pashmina mufflers, pashmina scarves, pashmina blankets and pashmina sweaters are woven in different looms and they takes different amount of pashmina fibers and takes time accordingly.
4. Fringes and Designs
The attractive and excellent fringes and beautiful designs in pashmina shawl will be different than the others. Fringe and designs add extra beauty to pashmina shawls and other pashmina products. The making of the distinctive pashmina fringe and designs is an interesting stage of shawl making. Because the fringe and design making process is artistic and delicate process it takes hours to fringe and design each pashmina shawl or any other pashmina product by the expert.
5. Dyeing
Dyeing is also done by hand, and each piece individually. Dyers with immense patience and generations of experience are the one who dye the pashmina shawls, Pashmina stoles, pashmina mufflers, pashmina scarves, pashmina sweaters, pashmina blankets and other pashmina products, as even the smallest negligence reflects on the quality of the product. Only metal and azo free dyes are used, making the shawls and other pashmina products completely eco-friendly. The pure water used for dying is pumped up from deep beneath the surface. Dyeing is done at a temperature just below boiling point for nearly an hour. Pashmina wool is exceptionally absorbent, and dyes easily and deeply.
In this way a fabulous pashmina shawl, pashmina stole, pashmina scarf, pashmina muffler, pashmina sweater, pashmina blanket and other pashmina product is made. Since making of pashmina products is an pain staking, artistic and time consuming process therefore the quality and the price of pashmina products are incomparable to other garments or fibers.
(http://pashminastores.com)
(http://pashminastores.com)
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