Some of our “passion textiles” truly are the handspun and handwoven carpets from the people of Kharnak in Ladakh. They are quite unique in their look – they are all woven on portable backstrap looms and there are three different types of weaves. The two oldest ones are both flatweaves. The flatweaves using 4 shafts are
Today I’d like to tell you more about the carpets from the region of Changthang. Since last year we are working on these carpets and are including them in our home textiles. In the local language they are called “Tsug Den”. Its name is made of the words Tsug (from tsug-ches: putting something on the ground) and den (mattress). A Tsug Den on the ground in the tent of nomad of Kharnak. At the back, hanging down is a Tsug Dul, a blanket. The classic size is 90cm x 175cm, however this can vary and one can find Tsug Dens in many sizes depending on the use. The remarkable thing about these carpets is that they consist of panels which...
What does a working experience at We Are KAL look like? We would like to introduce our intern Jimmy to you, the first one who accompanied us during our wool harvest and processing. He was a great part of our team and we are very, very grateful for his commitment. In this post Jimmy will share his background, the experience with the KAL team in Ladakh in July and August 2018 and his ideas for the future. Enjoy! Jimmy and Angtak collecting the sheep wool in Kharnak. "But who am I? I am from the French countryside, not far from Lyon. I grew up surrounded by fields and since a very young age nature attracts me. I first studied anthropology...
Whenever I connect my hard disk to my computer and spend some time looking through old material, I always come across the videos I made during the first year of KAL's existence. Everything was new, breathtaking and important to document. These times are magical when one discovers a place for the first time, especially such a precious place like Changthang. This is a video documenting this place and what I've seen, with the story told with a voice over - even my first efforts at Hindi are there :) I hope this video will bring you closer to the people of Kharnak and how we first made the connection with our team. Enjoy! "This is the story of our first...
As I’m sitting here in Assam, feeling the tropical heat of this place and smelling mustard oil, chatting about eri yarn and natural dyes with Chandan and Latika, I realize that I have not had the opportunity to tell the story of our summer trip in Ladakh. I returned to Ladakh on the 28th of June, full of energy for another wool sourcing trip and time in the mountains, working on the endless possibilities of the Kharnak wool and meeting all the dear people again. The first two weeks were mostly spent around Kharnakling, where our products are spun and woven. Kharnakling, only 9 kms from Leh, is a small village of settled nomads, most of them from the...
