Weaving and Finishing of Pashmina Shawls

Pashmina shawls are one of the finest shawls woven from the cashmere wool that is extracted from Changthangi goats. The fleece of these goats is called Pashm, meaning ‘Soft Gold’ in Persian and they are only found in Ladakh, at altitudes as high as 15,000 feet. Before the weaving process even begins, the cashmere wool goes through a variety of processes in order to turn raw wool into yarn ready for the loom. 

Once the yarn is wound and made into a warp, it is dressed by the warp-dresser and stretched and fixed across the heddle of saaz, or loom in Kashmiri. The following weaving process can then be divided into three activities:

1. Shedding: This is the first process involved in weaving and includes using the loom to raise the warp threads. In this way, the weft can be inserted with ease.
2. Picking: In this stage of the process, the artisan picks up the weft yarn and inserts it into the warp threads.
3. Beating up: This process involves moving the shuttle forward such that one weft yarn is kept close to its subsequent weft yarn.

Finishing

Since the fine Pashmina thread breaks numerous times through the weaving process, the weaver needs to roll the threads over and over. This leads to protruding threads that need to be clipped by puruzgar, the person responsible for this process. This process is also separately called Purz and only after this process does the shawl begins to resemble a finished product. The soft sheen on the surface of luxurious Pashmina shawls is also the result of this process.

A specialist washer is then called up to wash it with mild detergents in running river water. The finished fabric is also struck repeatedly on a smooth stone in order to thoroughly clean it. At last, the final process of Andkadun begins by a specialist called Andgour. It refers to the making of raw fringes by giving finishing to the edges.  

Through a range of arduous and complicated processes, each of which requires a skilled craftsman, the raw cashmere wool is converted into a timeless treasure that is cherished by generations of nobility and royalty.