Pashmina, also popularly known as cashmere comes from the underbelly of the mountain goat known as ibex. Theyare found in the mountainous regions of Tibet and Central Asia in the Himalayas . It is known as king of all wool for is extraordinary quality of softness, warmness and lightness. The pashmina yarn is so fine that its requires a length of 3 km for weaving a small shawl. To put it in another way one shawl requires the annul fiber growth of 7-8 goats. It is much more finer than the human hair which is 50 microns thick where as pashmina fibers are only 14-15 microns thick. The history of pashmina dates back many centuries and its origin is unknown.

But it has taken share of great moments in history. As per popular belief the word cashmere derives its name from the word Kashmir which is a part of India these days. It is believed that for many centuries Kashmir was the only place where the fiber could be woven into shawls according to the treaty that gave the Maharaja of Kashmir the exclusive rights to the Tibet 's pashmina. it is also believed that the empress Enqenie wife of Napolean third brought prominence to the fiber in Europe and popularity that has been strong ever since. Pashmina had been used many centuries back to make shawls and different kinds of clothing. Its popularity has not declined over time but in fact gained more popularity in recent times around the world. The products must have change along with time but its fabric has not due to its unique qualities like warmth, softness and lightness.

   Making of Pashmina

Warping : Warping is the process of rolling silk yarn horizontal on a bean. There warping is usually done according to the width of the shawl you would like to make. In a shawl whose width is about 90 cm there are about 3800 silk yarn threads.

Drafting : This is the process of inserting the silk yarn in the nylon netting to form different patterns on the shawls. There are certain ways in which this can be done as if you insert the silk yarn in the wrong way the yarn will not get locked which will ruin the shawl.

Weaving : This is the process of locking the warp(the silk yarn) with the weft(pashmina yarn). This is done with the help of a hand loom where the silk yarn is places horizontally and the pashmina is the filling. It takes about three hours to weave a shawl but more time is required after this process to finish the shawl.

Mending : This is the process of mending the shawls which is weaved. In this process the shawls are checked for damage. The places where the threads are missing the weavers with the help of needle and pashmina yarn fill the spaces where the threads are missing.

Knitting : This process takes place after the shawl has been weaved. In this process the silk yarn that is left without it being weaved is tied into knots known as fringes. There are usually 90-100 fringes in a shawl whose width is about 90 cm. In each fringe there are about 30-35 silk yarns.

Crushing : This is the process of crushing the shawls in order to give the shawls a softer feeling. The shawls are usually crushed for about 10-15 minutes each. This help to bring the soft feeling to the shawls.

Washing : The shawls are washed after it is finished in order to wash away the odour and allow the shrinkage of the shawls to prevent it from damage later. It is also done to remove the stains, which it could have collected during the process of making the shawls.

Dyeing : This is the process of giving the shawl the color the customers want the shawl to have. In this process the shawls are dyed in big vessels at 100 degree Celsius. The shawls have to be constantly stirred in order to give the shawls uniform color. The temperature has to be maintained at 100 degree Celsius as if the temperature increase the shawl could shrink