The art of making Pashmina shawls is renowned across the world, nor merely because of the rarity and skill of the master artisans crafting it but because of the fine, soft, warm, and seemingly flawless finished product that they weave. In fact, the fascination for these exquisite shawls has been carried on from the Kings of Kashmir and the royals of the Mughal court to the nobility across the world.
Any fabric is formed by the intersection of warp and weft threads and the way in which the weaver chooses to use the shuttle to intersect these threads defines the type of weave. Of course Pashmina shawls can be woven in numerous ways as well but the most popular ones among them are:
- Kani Weave: Kani means wooden oblong spools. The weave is popular as the most exquisite and tedious form of Kashmir shawl-making. It results in the most luxurious shawls and includes:
- 1. Making of the Kani design by the pattern drawer or Naqash on a graph.
- 2. Preparation of a coded script called Talim that guides a weaver into choosing the number of weft and warp threads to intersect.
- 3. The patterns are then woven into the shawl through the use of Kani.
Twill Weave: Twill weave is one the most durable and simple type of weave. The characteristic feature of these weaves is the parallel ribs that run diagonally to each other. Due to its simplistic design pattern, Kashmiri weavers also prefer to call it plain weave.
- Diamond Weave: Diamond weave is a fine and exquisite pattern of weaving with a pleasing sheen radiating from it. Shahtoosh shawls that are made from shahtoosh wool and are one of the most expensive and luxurious shawls in the world are also woven through the diamond weave. The weaving results in perfect diamond shapes across the fabric.
- Herringbone Weave: Herringbone weave named after the Herring fish’s skeleton as the resultant weave is similar to that. It is also known as broken twill weave. Its shape resembles a V-shaped pattern. There is no perfect order to this weave and the pattern therefore is also a mix of irregular and regular patterns, therefore resembling a zig-zag shape.
