About the craft
Why Viscose Silk and Cotton Thread Are Added to Down Items
When the knitting of Orenburg down shawls was only beginning to develop in our region, these items were made entirely of goat down, without any additional materials. Since Orenburg down is very soft, fine and short, the knitting process was extremely difficult and very long, and only craftswomen with vast experience could knit a shawl from down alone so that it did not "shed" and spin the thread so that it did not fall apart.
As the craft developed dynamically and demand for down items from Orenburg grew, it became necessary to make the items more practical and the knitting process itself less extremely difficult. So, about 150 years ago, the technology of "twisting" goat down thread together with a viscose or cotton thread was invented, depending on what exactly was to be knitted.
This method was approved and adopted by the down artels and partnerships that produced Orenburg shawls in large quantities. At the beginning of the 20th century they adopted GOST standards defining the quality of an item. According to the adopted standards, a gossamer shawl had to consist of at least 60% goat down; the minimum for a dense warm shawl was 70% goat down.
Today, in any item the down thread is twisted together with the so-called "base thread" – a kind of "skeleton of the item", ideally by the "nezapryad" method (you can learn about zapryad and nezapryad spinning here). As already mentioned, the material for the "base thread" was chosen depending on the type of item being made: dense warm shawls use cotton thread as a base, while openwork gossamer shawls and stoles use viscose silk.
Viscose is a unique artificial material made from raw material of natural origin (natural cellulose). Viscose silk is sometimes popularly called "artificial silk"; it is used not only in the production of light down items but also of other clothing. As for natural silk, the truth is that today it is extremely scarce, sky-high in price and practically not used, having been replaced everywhere by viscose – a very soft, elastic, hypoallergenic material with amazing thermal properties, for which, by the way, down items from Orenburg have always been famous.
So, we have established that viscose silk is one of the two options for creating the "base thread" of down items. Why is it used in stoles and gossamer shawls in particular? Because viscose is more elastic than cotton. In gossamer shawls and stoles, openwork, lightness and elegance have always been valued. Using viscose together with goat down makes it possible to spin a finer and more supple thread. Accordingly, in a light openwork item it makes more sense to use viscose silk, which is what our craftswomen do, for example, when creating their "airy" masterpieces.
Viscose silk is used not only for knitting gossamer shawls and stoles. Knitters use it to make a number of other goat down items and accessories, including cardigans, pelerines and ponchos, some kerchiefs and down capes.
To sum up: viscose silk, or viscose, is used alongside cotton thread to create the base of a down item. The difference is that viscose thread is finer and more elastic, which is why it is used to make lighter items, whereas cotton thread is the ideal base for dense warm shawls and large warm Orenburg shawls. Viscose silk is a very delicate, light, hypoallergenic and undemanding material. That is why knitters love it so much, and it serves as the base for a great many light and beautiful items made of Orenburg down.
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