The magic of Orenburg Shawls
Since antique, shawls are knowned, with references even in the Bible, but the recent Shawls story came from the English's Kashmir discovery in the 18th century.
The immediately appreciated quality of these shawls is their softness and the extraordinary delicacy of their cloth, which comes from their manufacture in Tibet goat's down.
The goat's down has outstanding qualities because of the delicacy of the fiber (3 to 4 times lower in the thickness of a hair, so less than 13 microns), and the necessary extreme conditions for its production (Himalayan winter).
Thanks to these not so common natural qualities, the goat's down allows to work out very fine, very insulating and very soft touch cloths, which explains its interest for shawls.
What differentiates Orenburg Shawls?
Good question :-)
The Tibet is located on the Himalayas which, as any mountain, has two sides: the south side overlooks India and especially Kashmir, where the north side overlooks the Kirghizstan which is a Russian province, near to the Orenburg city.
Both products use the same goat's down.
An essential difference exists however between both products: the technique of manufacture.
Orenburg Shawls are knit, what gives them an exceptional filling and an even bigger softness, while the Kashmir shawls are loom weaved.
There are in fact two techniques for the Orenburg Shawls: the most common consists in knitting them either with hand needles in a traditional way, or with specialized machines which still leaves a big part to the manual work, or the exceptional method of the "fork", which allowing a wider mesh size, gives to the shawls an extraordinarily light texture.
Thanks to the "Fork's method", the specialized workers get the "Spider web" aspect, which besides improving the esthetics and the filling, keeps a very good insulating capacity.
Haven't you ever seen the wedding ring test?
It consists in trying to get an Orenbourg shawl over a wedding ring, what seems disproportional and unachievable a priori.
The first time you assist to this "experience", you are a bit septic, and slightly anxious, but each time, the miracle occurs, and the shawl get through the ring, without any problem.
To still improve their aspect (if it is possible) and their softness, the Orenburg Shawls are blended with a good silk proportion, which gives them a brilliance and a really luxurious aspect.
Where is it possible to find Orenburg Shawls?
If you like too the Orenburg Shawls, perhaps you know of a boutique near from you where you can obtain these splendid shawls, but this is not always easy.
The simplest is to turn to Internet where a research on a search engine will probably gives you the choice that you can wish.
About the Author: In the boutique orenburg shawl you will find a wide range of very nice Orenburg Shawls chosen for their beauty and their softness.
See also châles d'orenbourg and châles d'orenbourg
More articles by alchar23
Print Article | Download PDF | 30 views | Jun 21 2008
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