A Carpet is a life long investment-it may well be the single most expensive purchase during your trip to Kashmir. Kashmiri carpets are world renowned for two things- they are hand made and they are always knotted, never tufted. It is extremely instructive to watch a carpet being made- your dealer can probably arrange it for you. Stretched tightly on a frame is the warp of Carpet. The weft threads are passed through, the ‘talim’ or design and color specifications are then worked out on this: a strand of yarn is looped through the warp & weft, knotted and then cut. The yarn used normally is silk, wool or silk and wool. Woolen carpets always have a cotton base (Warp & Weft), 

The finest of Kashmiri carpets are available at major showrooms.
Carpet weaving in Kashmir was not originally indigenous but is thought to have come in by way of Persia. Till today most designs are distinctly Persian with local; variations. One example, however, of a typical Kashmiri design is the tree of life. Persian design not withstanding, any carpet woven in Kashmir is referred to as Kashmiri. The color-way of Carpet, and its details differentiate it from any other carpet. And while on the subject of colors, it should be kept in mind that although the colors of Kashmiri carpets are more subtle and muted than elsewhere in the country, only chemical dyes are used-vegetable dyes have not been available now for hundred years. 

Far less expensive are these colorful floor coverings made from woolen and cotton fiber which has been manually pressed into shape. Prices vary with the percentage of wool- a Namda containing 80% wool being more expensive than one containing 20% wool. Chain stitch embroidery in woolen and cotton thread is worked on these rugs. 

Pampore, outside Srinagar, is the only place in the world besides Spain where saffron is grown. The crocus Sativus which blooms for a brief month in the year, has six golden stamens and one crimson one. It is the crimson Stamen which when collected and dried is referred to as the most expensive spice in the world. Sealed jars of this Spice, with the Government laboratory’s stamp approval, are available all over Srinagar. When buying loose saffron, sampling one strand is enough, for the flavor and fragrance of saffron are unmistakable. The climate of Kashmir is ideal for walnut and almond trees which grow here in abundance. Natural honey too, is a produce of the apiaries which abound in the state. 

Sericulture and tweed weaving are more important industries in Kashmir, with departments of the State got. Closely monitoring the process. Interestingly, just as little or no raw-material for tweed comes from Kashmir, almost no weaving and printing of silk is done in the state. However, the cocoon reared in Kashmir is of the superior quality, yielding an extremely fine fiber, and any silk woven from this thread becomes known. The fineness of the yarn lends itself particularly well to the weaves known as ‘chinon’ and ‘crepe de chine’, in addition to the universally recognized silk weave. 

Tweed on the other hand is woven in Kashmir with pure, never blended, wool. The resultant fabric, made with imported know-how, compares favorably with the best in the world. It is available by the length occasionally as ready to wear garments. 

This garment, somewhere between a coat and a cloak, is eminently suited to the Kashmiri way of life, being loose enough to admit the inevitable brazier of live coals which is carried around in much the same way as a hot water bottle, Men’s pherans are always made of tweed or coarse wool; women’s pherans, somewhat more stylized, are most commonly made of raffel, which splashes of ari or hook embroidery at the throat, cuffs and edges. The quality of embroidery and thickness of the raffel determines the price. 

There are three fibers from which the Kashmiri shawls are made- wool, Pashmina nad shahtoosh. The prices of three cannot be compared – woolen shawls being within the reach of the most modest budget, and Shahtoosh being a once-in-a-lifetime purchase. Woolen shawls are popular because of the embroidery. Shawls are a 'must' buy in the shops of Kashmir.
worked on them which is a special to Kashmir. Both embroidery and the type of wool used causes differences in price. Wool woven in Kashmir is raffel and is 100% pure. Many kinds of embroidery are worked on shawls – ‘sozni’ or needlework is generally done in a panel along the sides of the shawl. Motifs, usually abstract designs or stylized paisleys and flowers are worked in one or two, occasionally three colors, all subdued. 
Another type of needle embroidery is popularly known as Papier Mache` work because of the design and the style in which it is executed. This is done either in broad panels or either side of the breadth of a shawl, or covering the entire surface of a stole. 

The old city abounds with shops where objects of copper line the walls, the floor and even the ceiling made generally for the local market. Craftsmen can often be seen engraving objects of household utility-samovars, bowls, plates and trays. Floral, stylized, geometric, leaf and sometimes calligraphic motifs are engraved or embossed on copper, and occasionally silver, to cover the entire surface with intricate designs which are then oxidized, the better to stand out from the background. The work known as ‘naqash’ determines the price of the object, as does the weight.