Paul heading back to Nepal

Hello,

The picture is the inside of Abu Dhabi airport ... i've been here before, but had forgotten what an unusual airport building it is... its like being in an inside-out donut with shiny blue and green tiles on all the walls.

I'm heading back to Nepal, after being back at base for 2 months, and looking forward to seeing the new factory which started production last week.

My pashmina (100% cashmere, 90x200cm) came in handy on the overnight flight to here. So much nicer than the airplane blankets...

Not too much to complain about with cattle-class on Etihad airways (except their name, which had me thinking it was an Ethiopian airline!)

/Paul

PS.. i've just discovered that www.flickr.com is blocked in this country!

Clone a goat?

Picture: Paul holding a baby cashmere goat in Inner Mongolia

I couldnt believe it, when i stumbled upon this article from Times of India:

Scientists to clone Pashmina goat

According to the article a gang of Indian scientists, that were the first to clone the buffalo, are set to start work on cloning the Capra Hircus goat. The article also says the six-member-team of scientists will use somatic cells from the ear of a donor goat to create the clone and use a hand-guided Cloning Technique to create the clone this month. The cashmere fibre is very expensive and India is not producing enough. (less than 0.5% of the total world production of approximately 10,000 tonnes per annum). The journalist writes "Even worse, while the world Pashmina production has almost doubled from 5,000 tonnes in the early nineties, the Indian Pashmina industry has remained static with the Changthang plateau of Ladakh contributing almost 90% of the total production."

I personally think it hasnt only got to do with the lack of the goat in India..rather has it more to do with the way the business is done and the extensive cheating, for instance 100% pashmina really being 100% viscos, and kashmiri wool which is really sheepswool from sheep in the region Kashmir. And if you have been to India as a western tourist, and gone into a tourist shop to buy some pashminas, you will surely know what I mean.

I believe that if there had been an government organisation to control this cheating and the quality more people would feel confident with doing business with indian cashmere companies, and not chinese ones. The majority of pure cashmere today actually comes from Inner Mongolia in China, even our own raw cashmere yarn. A controlled production would generate more business for India, and therefore more goat farms in my view.

I feel very strongly against cloning, but on the other hand it could possibly bring some good news too.

One thing that might be good about cloning might be that some diseases could probably be cured, which today is a problem in India. A more natural solution, in my own belief, would be to actually do something about the general garbage & sewage problem in India. It is not so strange the animal gets sick if it eats plastic bags with rotten vegetables off the streets!

Dr Singla says to Times of India that "Successfully cloning the animal will help multiply the number of Pashmina goats drastically, and that one goat would have given birth to a single offspring every year, but through cloning, they can get surrogate mothers to give birth to 40-50 offsprings annually."

Still not convinced.

/Caroline

Don´t forget to have a look at www.mypashmina.co.uk for your pashmina needs.

Mypashmina Stocktake

Hello..

We are doing our yearly stocktake on Thursday 19th and Friday 20th February 2009.

This means that if you order after 1pm on Wednesday, your order will be dispatched on the following Monday.

Thanks for your understanding in this time.

/Paul

Clearance items @ Mypashmina

SAVE YOUR POUNDS - AND BUY FROM THE CLEARANCE PAGE!

Hello!

I have just been updating the clearance page.. reducing some prices and making some more clearance items available.
/ Paul

New - Angelweave Pashminas at Mypashmina

New today ... Angelweave pashmina stoles (55x200cm). The vertical (warp) is pure silk, and the horizontal (weft) is handspun pure cashmere. Handspinning the cashmere gives it this lovely uneven natural look. We chose a dark colour silk for the warp, so that when the pieces are dyed you can see the two colours.

There are 8 colours in stock. The total fibre content is 90% cashmere / 10% silk. They feel amazingly soft.

So , scoot along to www.mypashmina.co.uk and see the other colours available.