Pashmina Shawls and Scarves

Pashmina scarves are made from the wool of the pashmina goat, whose abode is in the high Himalayas. Pashmina is the same material as cashmere. The terms are interchangeable, but many people use the term pashmina when referring to the more traditional items such as shalws and scarves, while cashmere is more often used when the material is made into sweaters and other garments. Some people also think of pashmina as referring to some sort of higher grade cashmere. The wool comes from the fine undercoat fibers of a pashmina or cashmere goat. In fact this is one requirement, amongst others, that has to be satisfied before a product can be described as cashmere under U.S. legislation on the labeling of wool products.

The handmade pashmina shawl is a popular item. The Kashmiri shawls go back centuries, but was given an impetus in the 15th century when Central Asian weavers were introduced by a ruler of Kashmir into a vibrant industry.

Pashmina shawls and scarves, as well as wraps, have a large price range depending on the quality. Many items use 70% pashmina, with a silk blend. Under U.S. law, cashmere products must contain more than 3 percent, by weight, of cashmere fibers.

Like all high quality products, there is also a market for mimicry. You need to watch out for products that label themselves as "authentic viscose pashmina". These are made from a man-made fabric called viscose, and not genuine pashmina. The viscose products are fine for what they are, but if they are given a misleading description it is deceptive and confuses the buyer who is really after the genuine article.

Pashmina comes from the Persian word pashm which means wool. The wool came to be called cashmere, following the name of the region where is it was produced - Kashmir.

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The handlooms in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal do a thriving trade in producing pashmina textiles. When people look for pashmina, they generally look to products made in this part of the world. Apart from the material itself, the art of weaving pashimina requires skill and mastery. The handmade products are of finer quality than those that are machine made. Handmade can mean using machines operated by hand as opposed to using automatic weaving machines. This is sometime described as hand woven. Hand knitted refers to manual knitting by hand without the use of any machines at all.