Kashmiri Shawls

There are two fibbers from which Kashmiri shawls are made – wool and pashmina. Wool woven in Kashmir is known as "raffel" and is 100% pure wool. Many kinds of embroidery are worked on these shawls. First, "Sozni" is generally done in panels along the sides of the shawl. Motifs, usually abstract designs or stylized paisleys and flowers are worked in one or two, occasionally three colours. The stitch employed in not unlike stem stitch, only the outline of the design is embroidered. Sozni is often done so skilfully that the motif appears on both sides, each having different colours. Second, "Papier-Mache" is either done in broad panels on either side of the breadth of a shawl, or covers entire surface of a stole. Flowers and leaves are worked in satin stitch in different colours and each motif is outlined in black. Third, ari work is also done on shawls.

Pashmina is unmistakable for its softness. Pashmina yarn is spun from hair of Ibex found at 14,000 ft above sea level. It is on Pashmina shawls that Kashmir's most exquisite embroidery is worked, sometimes the entire surface, earning the name of "Jamawar." Not all pashmina shawls have such lavish work done on them; some are embroidered on a narrow panel bordering all four sides, others in narrow strips running diagonally through the shawl.