Yesterday’s Wordless Wednesday photo was of one of the ladies sitting in the doorway opened onto the sidewalk as she is finishing up her work on a shawl. They are always so relaxed and laid back. It is truly amazing how much they love to knit.
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Posts Tagged ‘Hand-Knit Alpaca’
Finishing the Product
Thursday, October 22nd, 2009
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, October 21st, 2009
Measuring
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009One important aspect of our artisans knitting is measuring the product to make sure it is the correct length and size. Just as the ladies can be found knitting almost anywhere, even on the street corner, they measure anywhere as well. Here are Elivra, Bercilia, Norma measuring a shawl outside in the street. A beautiful day to work outside!
Maria is measuring on a table in the picture below:
Grams and Grampa
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Yesterday’s photo is of my host grandma putting the recently dyed wool into balls so it can be more easily woven by the grandfather. This is inside their house where they have a large weaving machine. Do you see Gramps in behind the machine? Often, they’d do these tasks related to preparing and weaving in the afternoons. This photo was actually being taken to show me at work. I started weaving a blanket and unfortunately, wasn’t fast enough and Grampa lost patience with me so he wove the entire thing. That was ok with me and I wasn’t offended at all. It’s a learned art and he’s done it for many years.
Grams has the fabric on a tarp and in the plastic bins so it doesn’t get dirty – the floors were dirt…
So, after the shearing, the spinning, the dying, this is the next step with the wool.
Meet Our Artisans – Norma
Tuesday, October 13th, 2009
This is Norma, who is notorious for wearing a hat all the time. It’s her trademark. She is one of our artisans who works at a nursery school in the morning – for very little pay, and knits in the afternoon for Mayu, to supplement her income. She is also a single mom.
Here is an interesting fact. Norma did not know how to knit. However, she did crochet and, therefore, learned to knit very easily. It is fascinating that she went from not knitting at all to knitting the luxurious hand-knit alpaca products Mayu has to offer. Each of our artisans is very gifted in the skills they possess.
If I remember correctly, Norma is working on a fringed halfie in this photo; tying on the fringes. Here you can see a few of the colors the fringed halfie comes in, as well: eggplant purple, chocolate brown, cream and charcoal grey.
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, September 30th, 2009
Two More Artisans – Bertha and Elvira
Tuesday, September 29th, 2009
Featured today are Bertha and Elvira. They are working on a patchwork scarf. Mayu’s patchwork scarf takes the ladies approximately 8 hours to make.
Elvira is a very active artisan and one who is able to afford to send her children to school in the city because of her work with Mayu Hand-Knit Alpaca. Working for Mayu opens doors for the Peruvian ladies to earn income they would not otherwise have access to and still remain at home with their children. Isn’t that the heart’s desire of many mothers all over the world?
Wordless Wednesday
Wednesday, September 23rd, 2009
