The Process · Six Steps · Twenty-three Days

From fleece to fold

A shawl at Kalangan begins as wool on the back of a Bhotiya sheep, on a slope above Ukhimath and ends folded in a paper sleeve in your hands. In between are twenty-three days of work by six different pairs of hands.

shear

01 कतरना

Once a year, in late spring, the Bhotiya sheep are sheared on the slopes above Ukhimath. The fleece is washed in the Mandakini river and laid on flat rocks to dry — a single sheep gives us roughly 1.2 kg of usable wool.

Spin

02 कातना

The cleaned fleece travels by mountain bus to other villages, where women hand-spin it into single-ply yarn on takhli drop spindles. The work is done in the courtyard, often while watching grandchildren and stirring afternoon tea.

Dye

03 रंगना

Yarn is hand-dyed in small batches, with shades carefully matched as closely as possible to Pantone references. We sometimes use natural dyes, and each piece is finished to ensure rich colour with minimal bleeding.

Warp

04 ताना

Two women take a full day to dress the loom, over 1,200 threads must be measured, tied and threaded through heddles in the right order. A single mistake means unpicking the whole row. We do this in good light, never in a rush.

Weave

05 बुनना

The longest step. A heavyweight shawl takes 8–10 working days on a handloom, roughly 18 cm of cloth a day, in good winter light. Every weft pick is thrown by hand. Every centimetre is felt by the weaver.

Finish

06 पूर्ण

The cloth comes off the loom, fringes are twisted, edges are trimmed, the piece is washed, pressed under a flat river stone overnight and the maker stitches her name into the lower corner. Then it travels by bus, by van, by post to you.

In total

A single shawl is the work of twenty-three days and at least nine pairs of hands.

When you buy a piece from us, you are buying time, not just cloth. We hope you wear it for a long while, and pass it on to someone who will too.

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