Shades of red, blue, yellow - it's been quite a discovery this summer in Assam! From around 5 shades of last year and this summer we went up to 28 this August which is a big step for us. We would like to show you those colors and we are always happy to hear your feedback. The main dyes we have used are (in order from light to dark) Tea, Teak, Onion, Jackfruit, Turmeric, Madder, Indian Madder (Manjistha), Lac, Indigo. Different kinds of mordants / dye modifiers we used are alum, myrobalan and iron. Nice surprises we had were definitely the coral and salmon shades from madder and manjistha, the variety of onion shades, the beautiful Assamese indigo and chai...
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...
Last week we had the great opportunity to attend the conference by the International Association for Ladakh Studies in Bedlewo, Poland. The International Association for Ladakh Studies (IALS) has the purpose to connect researchers and everyone who is interested in the subject of Ladakh Studies. This way people from all around the world can exchange their observations and experiences and give ideas of how to support the communities in Ladakh. For us it was such an enriching experience, because we could learn so many new things about the beautiful land of the Himalayas, a place full of historical and cultural treasures. The program of the conference included a wide variety of topics based on the region of Ladakh. Discussions around...
What do efficiency, horses and learning have in common? As you might know, we believe in simplicity - and this starts right at the origins. Supply chains often sound complex and products become hard to trace and their journey is lost on the road. We think that the supply chain is like the character of a product, it shapes its state in many ways. Some of you might wonder about how at we are KAL the story of our products is told. Others of you have already heard stories of our venturesome treks through the Himalayas, the origin of our supply chain. Either way, I would like to tell you the story of how we are sourcing our wool from...
The Art of Handspinning “Everyday I'm up here, taking our animals to grass. Walking and spinning feels like a meditation, being surrounded by the animals who give us the wool. It's like a perfect cycle. ” –Dikir Dolma, July 2016 Already 20 000 years back people have been handspinning to create ropes, clothing and accessories. The style of handspinning and the yarn varies from the raw material used and it can be spun in many ways, the only tool necessary is a spindle. For the traditional spinning techniques the spindle that is used can be as simple as a single pointed piece of wood which is twisted in a bowl while the spinner is seated. Another type...
