Yay!

I know it is a cheesy post title, but I don't know what else to say! I was just invited by the microenterprise project manager here in our Peru office to accompany him on a survey of our microfinance clients in and around Cusco. While cool no matter what they do with our money, this is an especially cool opportunity because SOME OF THEM SPIN ALPACA! I know. You hate me. I promise I'll take pictures, maybe video if you're lucky, and I'll definitely buy buy buy.
This is a great breakthrough for my not-so-secret alpaca and wool marketing project idea. Just imagine -- fair trade alpaca and wool, just like fair trade coffee and chocolate. Now, I'm not usually the biggest fan of fair trade stuff (really, I could go on for hours), but if we can actually do it in a fair way, or at least work with the producers to get them to be able to enhance their role in the value chain or enter a specialty value chain, I will feel like I can retire in peace.

The graphic below is a copy of the drawing our microenterprise guy put on my whiteboard to show me how the value chain for yarn works. Our clients are in the 1-3% group. The graphic shows the percentage of the final sale price (the price you pay in the yarn shop) goes to each group. We know that almost all yarn shop owners are honest brokers, so take that into consideration:

I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to concentrate for the rest of the day.

Notice on flying in Bolivia

BTW: If you fly domestically in Bolivia or out of Bolivia, do not take your needles in your carry-on. They are very strict about it.

Get Yarn in La Paz

While also not as easy as you would imagine it to be, it is possible to find alpaca and sheep's wool yarn in La Paz, Bolivia. On Calle Sagarnaga, where there are a ton of touristy souvenir shops (some of which sell great stuff), there is a store in a random shopping center where you can buy yarn in skeins, and two stores where you can buy very very very (light fingering, laceweight) yarn on cones. Even the yarn I bought (seen resting on my seedum at right), four 250-gram skeins in black and dark grey, are very light weight. Each skein cost a rather expensive 75 Bolivianos, or almost $10. I thought that it would be cheaper. In fact, the high price made me angry enough that if I knew of another place to buy, I would have gone there.

If you think about it, what are the chances of all $10 of those dollars, or even $9 of them, going to the women who washed, carded, spun and dyed that yarn? Very very low. The guy who sold it clearly wasn't a yarn expert, so he surely didn't earn whatever cut he was getting. Thus, I'm even more committed to figuring out the whole wool industry here in the Andes, and from that finding a way to get better prices to the producers.

If you want to buy yarn on cones (probably cheaper, and you can double it, but it was too awkward for me to carry back this time), or if you want to go and bother the other guy, the places are on Sagarnaga, below San Francisco by 1/2 a block on the left hand side. The shopping center is called the Galeria Palace Center, and is in the bottom of the Eva Palace Hotel. The stores are on the upper level once you go inside.

Some pics for you:
1) The FINISHED Afghan that I made for a friend as a wedding gift (shhh), using Cascade Superwash (which is AWESOME):














2) A finished scarf for hubbo, k2p2 rib with a 100% wool called Pecora from LHO that I bought at Manos de Hada. The yarn is a single that is wonderfully slubby, and makes a great show:














3) A silk rayon blend being made into the back of a sweater based on MDK's "Perfect Sweater" (losely based on), yarn also from LHO. You really can't tell, but the colorway has such great gradations of color and is really lovely:

A Knitting Afternoon

Much thanks to Risa, who invited me to knit with some other superfab ladies yesterday afternoon here in Quito. There were eight or nine of us there, with good food and lots of yarn. The new knitters learned to cast on, and the rest of us worked on projects. It was very fun, and I'm so glad to have met cool knitters here. Thanks, ladies, for welcoming me!

Yarn at Megamaxi

I can't find the reciept from the store to let you know the name, but there is a store in the Megamaxi on 6 de Diciembre (parking garage side, by the tailor) that sells yarn. Unfortunately, they only sell acrylic. They do have some novelty yarns, though, for those of you who like that sort of thing. The woman working there was unable to tell me why they didn't carry wool. If I go back and see someone else there, I'll ask again. This aversion to the most fantasic commonly available fiber for textiles is a mystery to me.

They also carry embroidery floss, thread, and other things you need for sewing, including a limited selection of patterns.

Hojasdegracia -- I see your comments, and will check out the places you mention when I get a chance.

Oxfam superfab project: Tejiendo con Las Mujeres (Weaving with Women)

My colleague just handed me a great book about an Oxfam project, funded by ECHO (the European Commission Humanitarian Office), to help women recover from the trauma of Hurricane Stan (October 2005). The project, in Guatemala, taught women in affected communities how to weave, or how to embroider, and brought them together to weave and embroider huipiles, which are the traditional blouses of Guatemalan women.

The book is full of testimonials about how the project helped the women to recover from the loss of family and friends and to regain the confidence to move on with their lives. My favorite quote in the book is, "when we weave, we chitchat and we play. It is like medicine for us."

All of you who do crafts know how true it is that making something is like medicine.

Whole Wheat Love

As always, the Harlot says it best.
http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/archives/2007/02/14/love_is_all_you_need.html

Yes, Virginia, there is a decent yarn shop...

I found one! On my way back from dropping some things off at our new condo today, I looked to my right and saw a sign that said, "Lanas de Argentina!" (Wools of Argentina). Yeah, I couldn't walk past it. So, even though the shop was closed, the lady let me in because they were having a class. They have classes!

The shop is called Manos de Hada (Fairy Hands). They distribute only LHO yarns from Argentina, most of which are unfortunately not made from pure wool, but all of which are nice for what they are. And cheap! I got four 250 gram skeins of a silk-rayon blend for $24, and two 100 gram balls of pure wool in a sort of slubby heavy worsted for $8. The shop is run by the Fiorella Group, which also sells some scarves and things made by the women in the shop.

Manos de Hada is located on Noboa Caamano 438, between Coruna and 6 de Diciembre, near the La Colina (or La Paz). They are open until 6 on weekdays.

I'll post pics of the yarn when my camera battery is charged.

Back from Guatemala

Yes, Risa, I was in textile heaven, but no, I didn't get any pics. I did, however, buy a bag, a shawl, a pen case, and a blanket for our new bed, so you can see some stuff when you visit.

Overall, Guatemala was a textile disappointment because I had no time to really explore. I'll have to make sure that I have another trip sometime soon with some more free time.

Before going, however, my husband came to visit me and we went up the TeleferiQuo, Quito's cable car, to the top of one of the mountains to the west of the city. I, of course, took my knitting, and below are some pics of me knitting pretty much as close to the sun as you can knit.

This is my Yummy Scarf. It is just a reversible scarf pattern, but the yarns, ah, the yarns. It is knit in blank mohair and a silk-rayon blend, both of which I forget the names of, but knitting it was a dream. A hat to match is in the works, but trapped in my stash in the States.

The next photos are of me knitting a sock at the top of the teleferico ride.

Getting the Scent

Today while I was working on some things here at home, the maid came in to clean my apartment. She complimented my knitting (a strip for an Aran afghan), so I asked her if she knew where to buy yarn in Quito. She did! I hope.

Apparently, one can buy yarn somewhere in the old town section, near the Santo Domingo church and up Calle Flores to the Teatro Sucre and to the east. I didn't see anything when I was there the other day, but I was very preoccupied with not being robbed. She suggested that I not take a purse at all, but just stick my ID and money in various pockets and my bra when I go down there, and to take the trolleybus.

This weekend, I will. And I'll drag Joe along. Woohoo!

Also, sorry for the lack of photos. I don't have the cable to hook up my camera. When I do, you will see pics, I promise.

A Yarn Shop for those of you in Lebanon

Since I couldn't tell you about a yarn store in Quito today, I thought that I'd give you the skinny on one I found in Beirut.

Y.knot is a really great shop with a fantastic and friendly multi-lingual staff. They carry a wide variety of imported yarns such as Rowan and Anny Blatt. It is a beautiful shop, with a big rustic worktable and endless tea or coffee for sitting around knitting. I highly recommend it.

y.knot
Saifi Village
Mkhalissiya street 162
Beirut, Lebanon
y.knot at cyberia dot net dot lb
+961-1-992211/+961-70-108608

Knits, knits everywhere, but not a skein to buy

Today, during my first exploratory walk through Quito, I landed in the Parque Ejido artisan's market, at the southern end of the Avenida Amazonas. While it is a pretty good little market, as is usual for such things, most of the stalls are selling the same items and most of it is only mediocre quality at best. That said, it is pleasant and manageable, and probably a good place to buy some gifts if you are a tourist.

Probably two-thirds to three-fourths of the stalls sell knitted or crocheted goods in wool, alpaca, and (to my horror) acrylic. Why someone would want to buy a cheesy acrylic poncho in the land of alpaca and wool is completely beyond my understanding. I figured that with all those knitted items around, there had to be some yarn somewhere, right?

Wrong.

I did see some of the women vendors crocheting. No, crochet is no the most traditional of crafts in Ecuador, but whatever. I asked one of them where she thought I could buy wool to knit with (lana para tejer). She told me Otavalo, and said she didn't know where you could buy it in Quito, if at all.

While I don't believe that there are no decent yarn stores in Quito, a city that has almost everything anyone would want to buy, I did find this news disheartening. If she doesn't know of a place, then it would certainly not be easy to find if it existed, and probably expensive at that. Oh well. The search continues.

As I walked through the stalls, I had to resist the repeated temptation to buy an ugly alpaca sweater or poncho just to liberate the alpaca yarn and let it be something more aesthetically pleasing. I can totally see that happening someday.

A Book and a Place

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.

The beginning

I'm starting this blog to chronicle my search for wool and yarn in South America in the course of my time working here. I'm living in Quito, working for an international humanitarian organization, and I knit. I know, I'm in wool and alpaca heaven! But, finding yarn to knit with isn't as easy as it seems it would be. So, I've decided to hunt it down and provide you with the stories, tips, contacts, and wool/alpaca-industry info I find out in the course of my travels.

I hope that you all like it. Send me questions and information that you might have. I hope that you and I both find this blog to be a good resource, and an entertaining read.