Khit

What is Khit?

Khit is a handwoven cloth from Isan, the northeast of Thailand. Weavers work on traditional looms, building up small geometric patterns in a darker shade against a paler ground, so the design seems to hover above the cloth. Red, purple and dark green are the favoured colours, though others appear as well. There are some 72 named patterns, most of them geometric, a few shaped like fish, elephants or turtles. In the past the cloth served the household itself: shoulder cloths, pillows, bed sheets and everyday dress. Today it is worn mainly for ceremonies, formal occasions and folk performances, and its patterns live on in cushions made for visitors.

Where does Khit come from?

Khit belongs to Isan, Thailand's northeastern region, and is counted among the country's old cloths. It sits alongside other Thai weaving traditions: chok cloth in the centre, mudmee and yok elsewhere. Weaving was once part of growing up there. An ancestral custom asked Isan girls to learn khit before marriage and make fine pieces for the home they would keep. As local dress fell away, the craft narrowed to performance and ceremony. Its survival owes much to Queen Sirikit, who pressed villagers to keep the tradition and sell their work, and to a training project she opened at Chitralada Palace in June 1977 that brought silk weaving back to rural areas.

How is Khit made?

Khit is woven by hand on traditional looms. The weaver works the pattern into the cloth as it grows on the loom, so the motifs sit slightly raised and appear to float over the ground colour. Around 72 patterns are known, nearly all geometric, and each carries its own traditional name. In the revival years, a royal programme at Chitralada Palace taught the full silk chain: growing mulberry trees, raising silkworms, reeling the thread, dyeing it and weaving. Among the cloths that came back was praewa, which mixes khit patterns with chok.

Colours, motifs and borders

The palette leans on red, purple and dark green, with other colours alongside. Patterns are woven in a darker tone over a paler ground, which makes them look as if they float free of the cloth. Most designs are geometric; a few take the shape of fish, elephants or turtles. Every pattern has a traditional name. There is also praewa, a cloth that combines khit patterning with chok patterns from Central Thailand.

How Khit is worn

In the past, khit cloth dressed the household: people wore it as local dress and as a shoulder cloth, a length of fabric draped across one shoulder, and it served as pillow covers and bed sheets too. Local-style dress has since fallen out of daily use. Today khit is seen mostly in folkloric performances and in formal or ceremonial wear for men and women.

When Khit is worn

Khit's place has shifted over a lifetime. Girls once wove it as part of preparing for marriage, filling their future households with fine cloth. Ordinary wear has given way to special moments: the cloth now marks ceremonies and formal occasions for men and women, and it is central to folkloric performance in Isan. Visitors most often meet it as the khit pillow, a cushion that shows off the traditional patterns.

Styles of Khit

Thailand's handwoven cloths form a family, and khit is the Isan member. Chok cloth belongs to Central Thailand; mudmee (also called matmi) and yok are other main types. The revival after 1977 brought back several at once: yokdok, a brocade; chok; praewa, which blends khit and chok patterns; hang krarok, known as squirrel-tail; and plain silk. Weaving survives across a band of northeastern provinces, strongest in Chaiyaphum, Udon Thani and Yasothon, and also in Amnat Charoen, Kalasin, Mukdahan, Sisaket and Ubon Ratchathani.

What Khit means

Khit's survival is a story of patronage and livelihood. Queen Sirikit encouraged villagers to keep weaving and to sell their cloth through handicraft organisations aimed at tourists, and a training programme she began at Chitralada Palace in 1977 brought silk weaving back to rural Isan. The trade now centres on craft for visitors, above all the khit pillow. For weavers, the 72 named patterns hold knowledge that once marked a girl as ready for marriage.

Questions people ask about Khit

Good reading and sources

• Khit on WikipediaEncyclopedia
• Wikidata recordOpen data