Christmas Pashmina Posting Dates

Latest Recommended Posting Dates from ROYAL MAIL

Beat the festive rush and get all your pashminas and cashmere knitwear in the post on time.

Wednesday 18 December	2nd Class and 2nd Class Signed For
Friday 20 December	1st Class and 1st Class Signed For and Royal Mail Tracked 48*
Saturday 21 December	Royal Mail Tracked 24*
Monday 23 December	Special Delivery Guaranteed

Our warehouse closes at mid-day (12pm) on Monday 23rd December.
Opens again on 2nd January.

*Royal Mail Tracked 24 and Royal Mail Tracked 48 services are unavailable to purchase at Post Office® branches

Christmas 2019 Latest recommended posting dates (LRPDs) International ECONOMY Services to Europe

Dear Customer, Just 8 weeks to go, here's the dates for International Economy mail to Europe. International Economy - Latest recommended posting dates Date Destination Saturday 2 November Cyprus, Eastern Europe, Greece, Iceland, Malta, Turkey. Saturday 16 November Western Europe. Monday 25 November Airmail to Operational HM Forces. We hope you find this email useful. We'll be back with more international and UK LRPDs very soon. In the meantime, you can see all our latest recommended posting dates for Christmas 2019 at a glance by visiting: royalmail.com/greetings.Do you have a Royal Mail daily mail collection from your business? Don't forget to book your Christmas and New Year 2019 collections. Kind regards, Royal Mail Customer Services

Do You Like Our Pashmina Pop Video ?

So ?  Did you like it ?

The loom shown is a Jacquard loom. All the threads are set up and tied to heavy weights to keep them straight and tight. Then the weaving begins.

Each time the shuttle is pushed across, the holes in the jacquard cards mean that a different selection of the stretched yarns are raised or lowered. This makes each row of the fabric individual, which builds up a pattern row by row.

The little boy in the video is my son. He is playing with a wheel which is for hand spinning the cashmere which is found in the angelweave stoles. Hand-spun cashmere is uneven, extremely soft and looks great as well.

If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to ask.

Nadiya Hussain for You Magazine, by photographer Rachell Smith & stylist Anna Fordham

Photographer: Rachell Smith  - Stylist: Anna Fordham -  Headscarf by Mypashmina.co.uk 

The people at YOU Magazine have been doing a photoshoot of Nadiya Hussain wearing some high quality pashminas from MYPASHMINA as head scarfs.

In 2015, Nadiya Hussain was a winner of  'The Great British Bake Off ' - A competitive cooking show on British state TV.

She was a very popular and much loved contestant and was many also loved the stylish headscarfs she wore due to her religion.

YOU magazine wrote an interesting article about her life tribulations and also made some beautiful photos.

This is her new book. It looks very inspirational.



"'A revelatory honest read . . . She writes with clear-eyed insight . . . There's no doubt that the book will make an impact and enable young girls to question the boxes society places them in and to dream bigger than the previous generation thought possible.' YOU Magazine"






Wearing a pashmina on the head in this style is a great idea. It looks fantastic and also keeps your head warm. We also love the choice and use of colours in these pictures.

Photographer: Rachell Smith - http://www.rachellsmith.com
Stylist: Anna Fordham
Creative Director: Natasha Tomlin Hall - https://www.natashatomalinhall.com/

Headscarf by Mypashmina.co.uk

Headscarf by Mypashmina.co.uk

A Customer Photo

What a lovely photo from one of our customers. The pashmina looks great. Oozes quality.



"I love my Teal pashmina. I have got many compliments since it goes so well with so many of my outfits. ... here is a photo of me trying it on for first time."

This is a classic pashmina stole - 70% Cashmere / 30% Silk. More like this can be found here.

https://www.mypashmina.co.uk/product-category/pashminas/70-cashmere-30-silk/7030-pashmina-stole-70x200cm/

I removed the background from the original, In case you were wondering! 

I can officially announce that Mypashmina no longer needs to hire models.

How Cashmere Is Made - Video

I thought this video by Business Insider contains very good information about where cashmere comes from.

Transcript below:

- [Narrator] Cashmere is one of the most

sought-after fibers in the world.

Its fine hairs are softer, lighter

and can be up to three times more insulating

than sheep wool.

It's been a prized material for centuries,

but its quality comes at a cost,

and a luxury cashmere jumper could cost you

well over $500.

So why is it so expensive?

Cashmere doesn't come from a sheep

like you might think, but from the cashmere goat.

These goats are found across the Himalayas

where temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees,

and their freezing cold habitat

means they grow an incredibly thick, warm coat.

It's not the outer hair you can see

that's used for making garments,

but the super soft coat just underneath it.

Johnstons of Elgin has been making cashmere

products since 1851, and to do that,

they need a lot of goats.

- We are using the cashmere from about 1.2 million goats,

and those goats are spread right over Outer Mongolia,

China, a little bit in Afghanistan as well.

- [Narrator] There's a reason so many goats are needed.

While a sheep can produce at least three kilos

of wool each year, a cashmere goat

will only give you around 200 grams.

- So basically, this much cashmere from every goat.

For a scarf, we could be working with

the production of a single goat,

but for a jumper, for example,

you could be working with five, eight,

10 goats' worth of cashmere.

- [Narrator] Because of the tiny amount each goat produces,

the supply is severely limited,

and the fibers can only be collected once a year.

While sheep are sheared for their wool,

cashmere goats are usually brushed

to remove the soft hairs that molt in the spring.

Even when you've harvested the fibers,

the usable weight halves once it's been stripped

of grease, dirt, and thicker hairs.

And despite its popularity,

cashmere still only makes up 0.5%

of the world's total wool production.

Once you have the pure cashmere,

processing it takes a lot of work.

The fibers are first dyed to the right color

and aerated to stop them clumping together.

Cashmere softness means that it needs to be treated

delicately throughout the whole process.

Any chemicals or overprocessing will damage the fibers.

The fibers are then carded,

a process that detangles and lines up the hairs

in thin sheets so that they can be spun into a yarn.

The quality of cashmere is graded on its fineness

and its length, and a high-quality individual

cashmere hair can be as thin as 14 micrometers.

When it's finally ready, this dyed and spun yarn

can then be used to make everything

from jumpers to scarves.

- When you're making a cashmere scarf,

everybody thinks this is the most simple

product in the world.

And of course, when they come to the mill

and they see how it's actually done,

they realize actually there's a huge amount to it,

and there's an awful lot of hands and skilled work

that goes into making that possible.

So it is absolutely about the knowledge of the people,

about the skills of the people,

how you nurture this really delicate fiber

through the process.

- [Narrator] Cheaper cashmere products

have become hugely popular recently.

These claim to offer the quality of cashmere

for a lower price.

Some may use a slightly lower grade of cashmere

or different processing methods

to make the end result more affordable,

and while they are comparatively cheap,

they're still usually at least twice the price of wool.

There have been extreme cases of mislabeling, too,

and some supposedly 100% cashmere products

have been found to contain yak hair or even rat fur.

If you do find a really cheap product

that claims to be cashmere,

it may be too good to be true.

- There is nothing in the world like cashmere.

I mean, there are other precious fibers

or other fine fibers, but cashmere has great properties.

It's very strong. It is very warm.

It's very soft, and you can make from it

anything from a very thick, robust,

almost rug-like product through to

very fine, wispy, cloud-like,

very, very subtle pieces.

There are other precious fibers out there,

there are other fibers that are as fine,

but we can't do as much with them.

Ordering Bespoke Pashminas From Mypashmina.co.uk

BESPOKE PASHMINAS

Not only can you choose your perfect colour and perfect size, but you also get to choose how the pashmina is finished. Your new pashmina will be unique in the world to you.

CASHMERE & SILK

These bespoke pashminas are made from our most popular fabric. This luxury fabric is woven from a 2ply, 28 count yarn which is 70% Cashmere and 30% Silk. The yarn is carefully woven in a tight twill weave which will drape beautifully, feel incredibly soft and is also durable, so it will last a long time.

YOUR PERFECT COLOUR

After knowing you will get the right quality, the most important decision is the colour. The MYPASHMINA swatch book contains over 100 wonderful shades. You can view them on the screen or you can order a swatch book to view real fabric swatches. You can return the swatch book at any time for a full refund, or you can keep it ready for your next order. If your perfect colour is not included in that collection, you are welcome to send us a sample to match or to give us the pantone reference. This service is useful for individuals and also for weddings and corporate events, where a particular shade is important.

YOUR STYLE OF FINISHING

Your bespoke pashmina can be made with tassels or an open fringe or even a hemmed edge.

Open Fringe

Classic Hand Twisted Tassles

Hemmed Edges

If you have any requirements outside of the options listed here, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

DELIVERY FOR BESPOKE PASHMINAS

Delivery takes from three to six weeks for bespoke pashminas. We will keep you updated regularly. During October each year delivery may take an extra 7-10 days due to annual Dashain festival in Nepal.

ALWAYS POPULAR

Bespoke pashminas are some of the most popular items available from Mypashmina. When you take delivery of a high quality pashmina that has been especially made and is unique in the world, you will be understandably pleased.

Please read some of the reviews below to see why customers come back time and time again to buy a bespoke pashmina from Mypashmina. It all comes down to choice and reliable quality.

MADE WITH CARE

We have been working with the same people in Kathmandu (Nepal) since 2002, and your purchase helps provide decent long term jobs to more than 50 people. Staff turnover is exceptionally slow because it is a nice place to work. But we want you to buy from us because you will love your new pashmina for its quality, colour and feel

https://www.mypashmina.co.uk/product/bespoke-7030-classic-pashmina/

Shawl - A History in 7 Interesting Sections

Shawl

The shawl is an important and interesting part of human history and culture. In this guide we will take a look at the origins of the shawl, how it is used and some of the many types that are available today.

View our cashmere and silk shawls or our pure cashmere shawls .

The Origins Of The Shawl

A shawl is simply a woven rectangle of fabric. People have been weaving fabrics for a long time.

The earliest evidence found to date comes from fabric imprints in clay which are about 27000 years old. They were found in the Czech Republic. The article didn’t say where, but I am assuming Pavlov.

Pavlov I in southern Moravia is the most complete and complex Gravettian site to date, and a perfect model for a general understanding of Gravettian culture. Gravettian peoples stretched from Russia to Spain from 29000 to 22000 years ago.

A detailed examination of the impressions reveals a large variety of weaving techniques. There are open and closed twines, plain weave and nets. Twining can be done by hand but plain weave needed a loom. A plain weave piece of fabric could have been a shawl. We will get on to how they might have been used later.

A ring shawl from Mypashmina. Made from 100% Cashmere and 60 count fine guage yarn.

If you prefer to listen to this article, then play this video.

It may be that many stone artifacts found in settlements may not be objects of art as had been supposed but parts of an ancient loom, which should now be considered as the first machine to be made after the wheel and aids such as the axe, club, and flint knife.

The academic who studied this claims that the evidence of net making implies that women were catching foxes with them. Seems like a bit of a leap of faith to fit a cultural marxist feminist agenda, but interesting nonetheless.

History and Etymology for Shawl

The word shawl first appeared in English in 1662. I can’t find the exact source of this, but I assume it came in to use due to trade with Persia or India.

The word comes from the From Persian شال‎ (šâl). It is similar to the Sanskrit शाटी (śāṭī). Some sources claim the word originated in the 14th century. The oversimplified version of that story is that a persian man travelled to Ladakh and made a shawl.

It appears that from quite early on, that a shawl was more than just a regular wrap. It was something more prestigious, and linked to higher quality yarns such as cashmere. Wrap was in English since the early 14th century.

This image came from The North American Indian by Edward S. Curtis. These images were published between 1907 and 1930.

Definition of Shawl

Merriam Webster defines shawl as: a square or oblong usually fabric garment or wrapper used especially as a covering for the head or shoulders.

Wikipedia describes a shawl as : A shawl (from Persian: lang-Urdu شال‎ shāl,^[1] which may be from Hindi: दुशाला duśālā, ultimately from Sanskrit: शाटी śāṭī^[2]) is a simple item of clothing, loosely worn over the shoulders, upper body and arms, and sometimes also over the head. It is usually a rectangular or square piece of cloth, which is often folded to make a triangle, but can also be triangular in shape. Other shapes include oblong shawls.

The cloth can be made from almost any fibre or material. The limit to this is that it should be relatively lightweight. Too thick and it is a blanket.

With regards to size, there is no precise definition. If it is too small it is a cashmere scarf and if it is too big then it would be a throw or blanket.

Types of Shawl

There are many types of shawl. The range of possible materials, designs, sizes, shapes and colours is practically infinite. We will look here at some of the more famous types of shawl.

Embroidered Shawls

Kashmir, in India, is famous for these. However, I have to say that finding a genuine high quality cashmere shawl with genuine silk embroidery is very difficult. Kashmir seems to be full of con men and scammers.

Jacquard Shawls

The jacquard loom was invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1804.The loom was controlled by a “chain of cards”; a number of punched cards laced together into a continuous sequence. The resulting pattern in the fabric of the shawl catches the light and looks amazing.  We sell two types of jacquard pashminas.

Cashmere Shawls

Cashmere is often associated with shawls. It is really the ideal material. Soft and light and comfortable against the skin. if you take a shawl on a flight it will keep you warm, but will still pack up small enough to fit in your hand luggage easily.

Ways To Use A Shawl

The primary use for a shawl is to cover and keep warm, but there are a couple more ways they can be used.

1. A baby carry sling. This is a common use in Nepal. A 90x200cm shawl works well enough to carry a baby, either on your side on on your back. In my experience, it is not as comfortable as the long baby carrying slings, but it works fine for short periods of time. I wouldn’t do this with a pure cashmere one, but have done it with a pashmina shawl that is 70% cashmere and 30% silk.
2. A baby hammock . A hammock is a great place for a baby. It keeps the baby clear of the ground and away from ants. Babies like the rocking motion and find it soothing. A shawl can quickly be turned in to a hammock with some bits of rope tied at the ends. You can hang it under a table. I have done this too 🙂
3. As a bag. If it works to carry a baby, think what else you could carry. The advantage is that you can lay it flat, fill it with stuff, then fold it up to close it.  I have also done this. I suppose in 17 years of carrying shawls around, occasionally they have to be put to work in the less luxurious ways.

This portrait of Jacquard was woven in silk on a Jacquard loom and required 24,000 punched cards to create (1839). It was only produced to order. Charles Babbage owned one of these portraits; it inspired him in using perforated cards in his analytical engine.[1] It is in the collection of the Science Museum in London, England.

Shawl Manufacturing In The UK

John Kay invented the flying shuttle in 1733.  The flying shuttle used in Nepal today to weave a pashmina shawl, looks identical to the one John Kay invented all those years ago.

John Kay was born in 1704 in Lancashire. He apprenticed with a hand-loom reed maker, but is said to have returned home within a month claiming to have mastered the business. He designed a metal substitute for the natural reed that proved popular enough for him to sell throughout England. 

He continued to design improvements to textile machinery; in 1730 he patented a cording and twisting machine for worsted.

In 1733,  he received a patent for his most revolutionary device: a “wheeled shuttle” for the hand loom. It greatly accelerated weaving, by allowing the shuttle carrying the weft to be passed through the warp threads faster and over a greater width of cloth.  It was designed for the broad loom, for which it saved labour over the traditional process, needing only one operator per loom – rather than two.

Kay always called this invention a “wheeled shuttle”, but others used the name “fly-shuttle” (and later, “flying shuttle”) because of its continuous speed, especially when a young worker was using it in a narrow loom. The shuttle was described as travelling at “a speed which cannot be imagined, so great that the shuttle can only be seen like a tiny cloud which disappears the same instant.”

 But by September 1733 the Colchester weavers, were so concerned for their livelihoods that they petitioned the King to stop Kay’s inventions.

The flying shuttle was to create a particular imbalance by doubling weaving productivity without changing the rate at which thread could be spun,disrupting spinners and weavers alike. A weaver could now make fabric quicker than a spinner could spin the thread for it.

 Also, fly-shuttle use was becoming widespread in weaving, increasing cotton yarn demand and its price – and Kay was blamed.

Suggested Books About The Shawl

Alfrey, Penelope. “The Social Background to the Shawl.” In The Norwich Shawl. Edited by Pamela Clabburn. London: HMSO, 1995.

Clabburn, Pamela, ed. The Norwich Shawl. London: HMSO, 1995.

Journal de la Mode et du Gout. No. 11 (5 June 1790): 1–3.

Lochrie, Maureen. “The Paisley Shawl Industry.” In Scottish Textile History. Edited by John Butt and Kenneth Ponting. Aberdeen, Scotland: Aberdeen University Press, 1987.

Mackrell, Alice. Shawls, Stoles and Scarves. London: B. T. Bats-ford Ltd., 1986.

Morgan, Kenneth O. The Oxford History of Britain. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1992, 2001.

Pauly, Sarah. The Kashmir Shawl. New Haven, Conn.: Yale University Art Gallery, 1975.

Perrot, Philippe. Fashioning the Bourgeoisie: A History of Clothing in the Nineteenth Century. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1994.

Cashmere Scarf

Cashmere Scarf

A GUIDE to choosing a cashmere scarf will contain some unexpected nuggets of information that we have gathered since we started back in 2002.
This guide has been split in to four sections, so you can easily skip to the part which is most useful for you.

• Different types of cashmere scarves. A look at six types of cashmere scarf from Mypashmina and other shops.
  
• How to assess quality. A closer look at the details to look for when trying to work out if a cashmere scarf is good value or not.
  
• Advantages and disadvantages of a cashmere scarf when compare to a scarf made from wool or other materials.
  
• Why buy a cashmere scarf from Mypashmina, when you could buy it from somewhere else ? You are not going to believe that this section is unbiased, but we will try!

Let's start with some definitions. The definition of a scarf is quite subjective, and there is plenty of overlap between what people classify as a scarf, a shawl, a stole or a wrap. I think most people would agree that a scarf is for wearing around your neck rather than around your shoulders or body. This means a scarf is usually not as wide as a stole or shawl. I would say a typical scarf can be up to about 45cm (18") wide. I prefer a longer scarf and most of our scarves are at 170cm. If they are too short, they would be classified as a throatwarmer. So I would say at least 120cm for an adult size scarf.

As for materials, as scarf can be knitted or woven from almost any material. Some examples include wool scarves, cashmere scarves, polyester scarves. Each type has advantages and disadvantages over the others. The winner is cashmere of course.

Six Types Of Cashmere Scarf

1. Seeing as this is Mypashmina, we have to start with our classic pashmina scarf. This comes in either pure cashmere or a mix of 70% Cashmere and 30% Silk. They measure 30x150cm. The ones we have in stock have hand twisted tassels at the ends, but you can also order a bespoke one with either an open fringe or a hemmed edge for no extra charge. Our prices start at under £30. This type of cashmere scarf is quite thin and lightweight. It is the ideal type of scarf to carry anywhere just in case you need it.
   
2. I am always amazed by how much the big brands can charge for items. For a mere £495, you can buy this woven cashmere scarf made from 65% cashmere and 35% silk. It is quite wide, measuring 188x66cm, and meant to be worn folded in half. It is made in Italy. The label is Ralph Lauren.
   
3. This cashmere scarf from The White Company is a double layer scarf, with grey on one side and black on the other. It is made from 47% wool, 45% cashmere, 6% viscose, 2% metallic. It was £85, and now it is half price. This was written at the start of march, so a lot of cashmere scarves are on sale at this time of year.  It measures 30x180cm which is a nice size. A double layer scarf is a good idea. The single layer ones tend to curl up and don't have much substance if they are knitted in a standard way.
   
   
4. This cashmere scarf is one of my favourite things that we have ever made. It is 100% Cashmere. It is double layer. The reason we make it double layer is so that it doesn't roll over and it feels substantial. It is 100% cashmere, so it feels much softer than a scarf that is mixed with sheeps wool. It is available in 10 colour combinations. The price is £94.80. The tassels are little knitted tubes. It is very nicely finished. 
   
5. Here is a very nice cable knit cashmere scarf. It is 3ply and 100% cashmere. The 3ply coupled with the cable knit makes it feel thicker. I would like to see it at least 4ply and 6ply would be ideal. The more ply it is the heavier it is and each gram of cashmere is quite expensive. The scarf come from cashmere.com, which is one of the top US based cashmere online retailers. 170x22cm and the price is £129, which includes shipping to the UK. They have some very nice colours in stock as well.
   
6. This is the Mypashmina version of a cable knit cashmere scarf. It is 6ply, so it is thick and warm. It is 35x180cm. The price is only £82.80. Given the decline of the GBP, i think we will have to increase this price very soon. Buy Bitcoin. Twice as good and about 40% cheaper, than the cashmere scarf above,
   

How To Tell If A Cashmere Scarf Good Quality Before You Buy It ?

1. A quick look around the web of how to tell whether cashmere is good quality or not seems to suggest that you should mainly base it on the country it was made in. Chinese bad, Scottish and Italian good. I can't think of any stage in the process where the nationality makes any physical difference to the quality. This might be a personal preference only.
2. You could send a cashmere scarf to a laboratory to have the yarn tested. For about £200, they will tell you the thickness and length of the cashmere fibres and if there are any impurities. They use a microscope to individually examine 600 fibres. We use SGS labs. Here is an example fro m a recent test. Mean Fibre Diameter (μm) 16.3
   Coarse Hair Content (%) NIL
   Number of Snippetts 600
   Coefficient of Variation (%) 20.1
   Of course you are not going to send your new cashmere scarf to have a hole cut in it for testing, but you can ask any supplier for their testing results. If it is a secret, then that is probably a clue.
   
3. You can look at how long a retailer has been in business. You can only stay in business if you get repeat customers and you can only get repeat customers for cashmere scarves if the quality is good.
4. Check the shops returns policy. Do you have a chance to try out your new cashmere scarf to see if it pills or gets holes. A woven cashmere scarf will actually improve with use. You can buy ready brushed woven cashmere scarves, but this weakens the fibres, so you would be buying it half worn out. An unbrushed scarf will last a lot longer.
   
5. Read reviews. Customers tend to write reviews if they are either really happy or really unhappy. There are a few people who write reviews for almost everything. 10 days after every order ,we ask customers for feedback and we explicitly ask for criticism. I wish we got more.

Advantages And Disadvantages Of A Cashmere Scarf Compared To A Wool Scarf

1. More comfortable - a cashmere scarf will not feel itchy against the skin. Once you try cashmere, you can't go back to wool. I guess that's the disadvantage of any upgrade.
2. Warmer - cashmere is so efficient at keeping the warmth in. I was trying to look for U-values to compare scientifically, but I guess not many people use cashmere to insulate their houses!
3. Lighter weight - You forget you are wearing it. Light weight and smooth touch means that is is comfortable. I have forgotten I was wearing a cashmere hat and jumped in the shower a few times! It's also good for travel, especially flights.
4. More expensive - a cashmere scarf costs more than a woolen one. So if you lose your it, or ruin it in the washing machine, it is more of a problem. This risk can be mitigated by buying your cashmere from a source that has no middlemen  and tiny overheads with a focus only on the product.
5. Reaction of others.
6. Packing size - You can squash a cashmere scarf smaller than a wool scarf, which is also good for travelling by air where space and weight are at a premium.

Why Buy From Mypashmina Compared To Other Online Stores ?

1. If you like quality.
2. If you like consistency since 2002.
3. If you like to buy your cashmere in a way that helps support Nepalese people who suffer under an awful maoist regime.
4. If you want bespoke options without any extra costs.
5. If you want a cashmere scarf that is not mass produced, something rare.
6. If you want to buy with Bitcoin with a discount - there are so many positive externalities for this decision.

Conclusion

We hope you found this guide helpful. Any comments you can add below might be useful for other people, so please don't hesitate to say something. Or you can contact us.