Each khit or yok dok design has a beautiful pattern and is shiny and raised from the cloth surface. North-eastern people prefer to use pha khit for their pillows with the khit design located at the centre. Most designs are inspired by nature and beliefs, such as maeng ngod (scorpion), ung (frog), elephant, horse, phaya naga (serpent), dow kaew, dok chan, taphao long ko, kho, sing, khotchasi ong noi, spider, kab, castle and thammat (seat of sermon). In the past, North-easterners preferred indigo cotton yarns for khit design. Today, they prefer bright colours and develop natural dyes from barks and leaves.
Khit weaving is different from other textiles as weavers use a stick (mai khit) as long as the width of the cloth to pull bunches of the warp and create a design by putting the weft reel through. The use of mai khit helps create the design as well as a special characteristic. Under a closer inspection, the repeated patterns of the weft are noticeable as a single line of colour (throughout the fabric or not) and have an obvious beginning and end.
Textile from Nong Bua Lam Phu province
