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Children Learned How to Knit Orenburg Shawls

A cycle of interactive museum classes “The Gift of Orenburg Land” has been completed in the Excursion and Exhibition Centre “The People’s House” of the Museum-Reserve of M.A.Sholokhov.

The classes were held from February, 20, to March, 26, based on the exhibition of the Orenburg Regional Museum of Fine Arts. The children went back to the XVIII century to learn the history of wool-knitting manufacture which originated from old Cossack stanitsas, where a mother handed knitting secrets down to her daughter and a grandmother – to her granddaughter. Knitting shawls was a profitable business, and a goat giving wool was considered “a bread-winner” and was cherished and well-groomed. Playing with the baby the mother often told him fairy tales and nursery rhymes devoted to goat.

At the exhibition the children saw the works of the best Orenburg knitters, paid attention to the artistic peculiarities of the shawls that is characteristic of the world famous wool knitting manufacture.

The children learned that at present, all the operations for making Orenburg downy shawls are performed manually: a goat is combed, a woolen thread is spinned on the spindle and patterns of Orenburg shawls are designed. Besides they learned different fashions of wearing shawls.

The classes ended with the song “Orenburg Downy Shawl” performed by Lyudmila Zykina.

Svetlana Usova