How Do Gossamer Shawls Differ from Shawls, and Shawls from Warm Shawls?

Down shawls

In essence, shawls are knitted items of dense texture. They belong to the category of winter headwear, since they can warm the head and retain heat.

One of the characteristics of a down shawl is its fluffiness. A shawl becomes fluffy in the course of use. New items are only slightly fluffy or have no fluff at all. On hand-knitted shawls, the fluff appears gradually. This makes the items softer and wonderfully pleasant to the touch. Down shawls do not lose their properties for several decades.

Factory products do not compare with handwork. Machine-made items will never become as fluffy, soft and attractive in appearance as those knitted by the skilful hands of Orenburg craftswomen.

When buying a down shawl, pay attention to its fluffiness. Sometimes sellers deliberately comb up shawls to show them in all their beauty. However, be careful: such artificial fluffing considerably shortens the shawl's service life.

Traditionally, Orenburg shawls are square, with a pattern along the border. The central part of such a square is usually knitted plain, without patterns. The dense centre of the shawls makes them leaders in retaining warmth.

Down warm shawls

Warm shawls (shali) are the same down shawls with some differences. Warm shawls often have tassels along the edges. This element gives the items extra elegance. In addition, warm shawls are distinguished by their impressive size, denser knitting and thicker thread, and most often by a pattern in the centre of the item, with the border also knitted in a pattern. The most common down warm shawls are grey, but in our online shop you can also find snow-white warm shawls of skilful handwork. Handmade warm shawls are never coloured, since they use only down of the goats' natural colour – shades of white and grey.

Warm shawls decorated with embroidery look rich. But not everything beautiful is convenient for its direct purpose. This statement applies directly to embroidered warm shawls made not by hand but on special machines. Such warm shawls are probably not suitable for everyday wear.

Chic and rather expensive items can make an excellent gift that the most distinguished and honoured guests will gladly accept.

How do gossamer shawls differ from shawls and warm shawls?

Gossamer shawls are down shawls knitted in openwork. Openwork gossamer scarves are called stoles.

The beautiful interlacing of threads in gossamer shawls, creating a pattern over the entire area of the item, is literally mesmerising. Gossamer shawls are knitted from finely spun down threads. The item turns out amazingly light, almost weightless. In Rus', it has long been customary to test down items by pulling them through a ring. A genuine, high-quality gossamer shawl will easily pass this test.

Gossamer shawls differ from shawls and warm shawls in the absence of hard particles – guard hairs. In dense knitting they remain for some time and show up as a certain "prickliness". Later, when the items become fluffy, the hard fibres are no longer felt.

As for industrially produced items, guard hairs may remain there for a longer period, and in some places (in particularly dense shawls) may not disappear at all. In gossamer shawls, with loose knitting, both hand and factory, guard hairs fall out already during manufacture, so the finished items are distinguished by special softness and tenderness.

White down items look the most elegant. Various shades of grey are also found. Down yarn is also dyed in colours unusual for it: blue, lilac, red. However, whatever the colour of your down shawl, it will always "gently embrace" you and keep you warm!