About the craft
The Points of the Openwork Border – a Distinctive Feature of Down Shawls.
Beautiful, cosy and gentle Orenburg down shawls have certain canons of making, developed over more than two centuries of history.
Gossamer shawls and stoles are as a rule fine and openwork, slipping easily through a wedding ring. Warm shawls are warm, thick and dense, knitted to provide as much warmth as possible even in the fiercest frosts. Kerchiefs can be light and openwork, or dense and warm.
In terms of composition, all down items consist of a centre (openwork or dense), a grid (an openwork band separating the centre from the border) and a border with points.
While the choice of pattern for the centre and grid can safely be attributed to the down knitter's flight of fancy, the border with points deserves a separate story.
Finishing down items with points began around the middle of the 20th century. Before that, it was customary to decorate the edges of shawls with tassels or fringe. That was beautiful, of course, but not very practical. The fringe matted, tangled, wore out and spoiled the look of the shawl.
The points, however, do not just add aesthetically, giving each item its own character and individuality. They perform an important function when drying shawls after washing. It is by the points of the openwork border that the shawl is attached to a special frame and stretched. Thanks to this, the items do not deform or lose their original shape.
Who exactly came up with knitting points instead of tassels? The question is open. Or perhaps they first appeared as a result of stretching the shawl on special frames during drying, and only later began to be knitted on purpose. But how beautifully the openwork border frames all Orenburg down shawls. The number of stitches in a shawl is calculated from the number of points. Craftswomen knit the points in knit stitches. And they are formed when the stitches are cast off. The fewer stitches cast off, the sharper the points.
Every handmade down item is unique, one of a kind, made with soul and for good people. The composition of patterns can be very varied, but it will always be completed by the points of the openwork border.
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