This is a book I want: Andean Folk Knitting: Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia. Apparently, it is out of print, but recommended by Suzanne.
The place I want to visit is Otavalo. It has a huge market, where one can find wool, alpaca, and things made from both, including yarn! I can't wait to go. I will, of course, send pics and info.
One thing that is both frustrating and encouraging is that there is almost no information for knitters about where to buy yarn in the Andes (or any country outside of the US and Europe for that matter) on the web. I hope that this blog becomes a resource for those of you who want to buy yarn when you travel. It is a start, but ideally, it should be collaborative. So, if you want to share recommendations about where to buy yarn in the Andes, South America, or anywhere else, please email the blog at lanapuraquito at gmail dot com or leave a note in the comments.
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Stories of yarn and travel and travel for yarn in South America and wherever else...
2 comments:
hi maureen! bienvenidos a quito! what brought you here?
will you be living here our traveling all around?
i'm not much of a knitter, but what i can tell you is that the yarn available at most of the little sewing/craft stores in the malls, etc. don't have very high quality yarn.
there is wool available in otavalo, but i've never seen alpaca yarn, only things made with alpaca.
i do needlepoint rugs and the woman who i buy stuff from has nice wool that she dyes herself. it's not great knitting wool, better for weaving. she also does some basic weaving. i can give you her info if you want.
where do you live? there is also a store near me on eloy alfaro that has some decent crafting supplies, a place to get cheap ribbons and buttons and bead on naciones unidas in ccnu and a great button and ribbon place in el centro.
plus i've gotten great ribbon in otavalo, although i think they all come from india.
if you go to peru, i can give you some great trips from the textile tour i went on there and there you can buy some great alpaca for knitting.
there was a knitter living in quito who emailed me awhile ago, i'll see if i can dig up her site...
feel free to send me an email and i can give you more specifics...
ps-my email is muerto_de (at) yahoo (dot) com
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