Common Myths About Orenburg Down Items

Myths convey human ideas about events or objects. Some reflect the truth, others fiction or misconceptions. We will tell you about the myths that have grown up around beautiful handmade items – Orenburg down gossamer shawls.

Myth one: Gossamer shawls become fluffy during knitting.

In fact, there are almost no down fibres on the surface of a new gossamer shawl. It will become truly fluffy only after several months of wear. Every day the item will become softer and more delicate. Fluffiness appears gradually; the shawl seems to gain strength once it is in the hands of a beautiful woman.

New fluffy gossamer shawls look attractive. But this outward beauty indicates that the down has been artificially combed out of the shawl. When combed, the finest hairs tear and break. After such "cruel" treatment, the gossamer shawl will not last long.

Myth two: A genuine Orenburg shawl must pass through a wedding ring.

In the old days, the quality of openwork shawls really was determined by passing them through a ring. And today the finest gossamer shawls are checked in the same way. A rectangular openwork stole will easily pass through a small diameter.

When a gossamer shawl is knitted as a large square, it is probably not worth trying to push it through the opening of a ring of, say, size 17. The larger the area of the shawl, the more likely it is that it will not pass the "gold ring" test. But most small stoles and finely knitted gossamer shawls will pass through a ring without much effort.

Another way of proving the quality of a gossamer shawl was to compress it to the size of a goose egg. The test was done by placing it in the shell of such an egg. An openwork gossamer shawl measuring 170x170 cm will hardly fit into such a small form. But a shawl with sides of one metre by one metre will fit into the shell without problems, with room to spare.

Myth three: Gossamer shawls are knitted from the finest wool.

The idea that gossamer shawls are knitted from wool is a misconception. These lightest of shawls won their worldwide popularity thanks to the down of Orenburg goats.

To obtain the down, the animals are combed as soon as their spring moult begins. The finest silky fibres are carefully cleaned of dirt, washed and combed several times before work on making the down yarn begins. The knitting thread is very light and fine, but it is not wool – it is down.

 

Myth four: A good gossamer shawl consists only of down!

Only people far removed from everything connected with knitting and rural life could claim that a gossamer shawl should contain one hundred percent down. Anyone who took an interest in how down yarn is made would discover that the down is combined with a base. Most often this base is a silk or cotton thread. This "symbiosis" made it possible to obtain strong, delicate yarn.

If you look closely at the threads of a gossamer shawl, you can find the central thread. In a good gossamer shawl, down makes up about eighty percent. Twenty percent goes to the inevitable "additions". Far from losing out because of this, the shawl gains the ability to serve for many years.

Myth five: Gossamer shawls are knitted only by hand.

In tsarist times, and in the first years after the revolution, shawls were knitted exclusively by hand. Since the first down-knitting factory appeared in Orenburg, there have been more openwork shawls. Craftswomen from the countryside stood at the origins of machine knitting. With their help, engineers worked on creating machines capable of knitting down items.

Today technology has developed so far that the making of openwork shawls has been put on a production line. And yet none of them can compare with one made entirely by hand – from obtaining the yarn to stretching the finished item on a frame.

In fairness, it must be said that modern down knitters use machine-spun yarn. Hand production takes too much time and is not justified by the price of the items.

Numerous retailers sell mainly factory-made gossamer shawls. They differ from hand-knitted ones in their clear but rather monotonous pattern. Although it takes knitters at least two weeks to make one gossamer shawl (much longer than a machine item), handmade shawls cost only slightly more than factory ones.

Myth six: Orenburg gossamer shawls are knitted and sold only in Orenburg itself.

The first gossamer shawls – openwork down shawls – were knitted not in the city itself but in the countryside. Knitting was done by peasant women. All the villages where the "down craft" originated were near Orenburg. For this reason the shawls came to be called Orenburg shawls.

Almost all visitors to Orenburg intend to buy a local down shawl. Gossamer shawls are offered right at the railway station. Soft, fluffy, beautifully knitted items invariably catch the eye. Your hands reach for the down shawls by themselves, they are so attractive. However, you should not rush to buy a gossamer shawl! The fluffiest shawls are far from the best quality.

A huge choice of gossamer shawls of all sizes and colours can be found at the city market. But despite their flawless appearance, the shawls there may turn out to be fakes.

You can get hold of the local wonder by going into the Orenburg countryside. There, in the villages, whole dynasties of down-knitting craftswomen live and knit gossamer shawls. A shawl bought directly from its maker will be soft, warm and unique. Such a gossamer shawl will last for decades!

You can also buy an openwork gossamer shawl of excellent quality in an online shop that specialises in selling exactly this type of item. The range of such shops is wide. Online shops work directly with enterprises and individual knitters.

Myth seven: Down items have gone out of fashion.

Over the past two centuries, down gossamer shawls have sometimes come to the fore and sometimes given way to new artificial materials. Today everything natural is valued more than artificial.

Down gossamer shawls enjoy special regard today. They appear in the outfits of the most famous designers. Weightless shawls are becoming an essential attribute of brides. Snow-white shawls cover heads and are thrown over shoulders. Framed in down, a bride looks like a fragile flower. Down gossamer shawls give their owners tenderness, warmth and comfort. Therefore, given the climate of our country, they will never go out of fashion!