cloud forest natural dye workshop!

A few (okay, a great many) photos from a four day excursion into the cloud forest two weeks ago, to learn how to use natural dyes with expert weaver Daniel and his lovely family. 

We left Ollanta at 4 AM and caught a fruit truck in nearby Calca - minus the fruit, fortunately, but plus about twenty people, a box of baby chickens, and some furniture.

Parobamba itself is a small town with amazing views. Our first day there, we went for a hike down to Daniel's family chakra (farmland), collected some dye supplies and met his bees: 

... and hung out with his awesome sons, Acknar (8) and Nilson (12). 

Once the supplies were collected, we went back to their and spent the next 48 hours boiling vats of yarn with cochineal, leaves, other leaves, tree bark and fungus:

... with help from (or at least the company of) Nilson and Acknar, of course... 

Daniel's wife Leonarda still managed to get quite a lot of weaving in as well. Their collaborative works are some of the most beautiful things sold in the Awamaki store, and we were able to buy a few things from them directly, which was exciting (actually, I was even able to commission a gorgeous, half-woven piece with the tools still in it - hard to describe but so, so pretty) 

By the time we were done, we had a staggering array of colors in an even more staggering amount of three kilos of yarn per person, which, even for me, is quite a lot of yarn. Fortunately, I was able to find a home for most of it back in Ollantaytambo - the rest is sitting next to me in a flour sack here in our hotel in Cusco, waiting to be taken to the post office, because there is no way I can carry it all with me throughout South America! 

pallay

One of my favorite aspects of working in close proximity to Andean textiles over the last two months has been getting to spend so much time staring at the iconography, or pallay, that's worked into most designs. Pallay, a Quechua word meaning "to pick up" (in reference to the actual act of weaving), generally take the forms of aspects of daily life - animals, lakes, flowers and celestial figures. 

Maybe it's because I stare at pallay for hours while working in the Fair Trade shop, but I really like them: 

Some are easy to identify, like this bird.

Others... not so much. 

This guy's confused too. (Actually, this guy is probably Incan hero Tupac Aymaru?) 

One of the weavers I photographed said that frogs were among her least favorite pallay, but I think they're kind of cute. 

And of course, llamas! So many llamas. 

Like I said, maybe it's because I stare at these for hours on end, but I find pallay to be kind of amazing -  Many of these designs have been around for hundreds of years, and often different regions have their own distinct pallay. Though I can really only identify the most basic and literal pallay myself (I *think* those diamonds in the photo below are lakes, flowers, or possibly stars - but I wouldn't put money on it), I love the way the iconography has transformed the way I look at textiles here, from something that's merely decorative to something that tells a story. 

above: a band of hummingbirds along the green tapestry in the top of this photo symbolize reciprocity. 

KIPing in Ollantaytambo

One of the things I love about Peru is how there are women knitting in public everywhere. 

two (more) wips

Two current WIPs are this Mara Shawl in madelinetosh DK (sugar plum), and Acer Cardigan, in madtosh vintage (some discontinued wren), the shawl for when I'm knitting late at night by the light of TV shows on my laptop, and the cardigan for other times. I didn't bring the Mr. Darcy sweater I'm theoretically making for Iain (eleven balls of yarn in a suitcase was a bit unrealistic, even for me), though I do have the Marilinda socks with me, usually for my long and uneventful shifts in the fair trade shop. So that's what's going on here, knitting-wise. 

I'm not making a lot of progress on either at the moment, though, because things have been insane in town lately: in honor of our town's anniversary, there have been parades, dances, street parties, bullfights (of the non-killing variety, thankfully!) and pig-eating festivals: 

How awesome are the flowers in the girl's hat? 

So that's here. Things are finally a bit calm in town, though I'm actually heading up further into the mountains to take a four day long natural dye workshop in the cloud forest. I have no idea what to expect, but it seemed like too amazing of an opportunity to pass up - so, more later when I get back! 

FO : tea leaves cardigan

It's done! Actually it was done almost a week ago, but it took me a long time to block, sew buttons and then drag Iain out for some photos in front of the Inca wall on the other side of town. 

Hey look, it's my standard awkward sweater pose! 

I blazed through this sweater because I desperately need another sweater out here in Ollanta, and I can already tell this is a sweater I'll wear all the time (though maybe not here, because something about life in this town thrashes your clothes, and this sweater is too pretty to be thrashed). The pattern was very easy to follow, and  I made very little adjustments to the pattern, just omitting the increases under the arms and knitting at a very slightly tighter gauge to get a slightly more fitted sweater. I also added button holes all the way down, as you can see - I like the fastened at the top look, but I think it'll get more wear through the winter this way.

I really loved everything about using Codex by Sanguine Gryphon (starting with the colorway name - On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl) and am holding my breath to see how it looks after a few wearings. I love single ply yarn, and could easily see this becoming my go-to such yarn for sweaters. The color is difficult to describe, but is absolutely gorgeous. I was a lazy knitter and did not switch skeins, but I think I got away with it? 

Much as I love this sweater, I can't help but feel that the Inca wall steals the show in these photos, because really, how cool is this wall?

Raveled here.

holy knitted batman, batman!

As promised! Actually, I thought he was a ninja when I bought him, but I'm okay with him being Batman. 

a weaving lesson

Last Tuesday, I got to go up to a nearby village to take a very simple weaving lesson from the Weaver's Cooperative with whom our NGO works. Being tied into a backstrap loom and trying to weave a bracelet was definitely a new experience, as was learning a new skill from someone without actually talking with them (the women spoke mostly Quechua, not that my rusty Spanish is up to the task of a weaving lesson). The woman teaching me probably wove virtually all of the first bracelet for me - it was only early on in the second one that I finally caught on and managed to do it myself.

As you can see, most of the preparation was done by the weavers rather than us (the weaver determines the pattern when she sets up the loom), which means I can't unfortunately do this on my own, especially since I suspect this is the most difficult part. I had fun watching, though: 

They make it look so easy! 

I got so carried away taking photos that I don't actually have any of my own sad bracelet, which I'm OK with, because it's not very pretty - my friend's, above, is much nicer!  Still, it was really fun once I got into the rhythm of it, and since part of my volunteer work involves selling the handicrafts made by these women, I was especially happy that I finally got a glimpse of how it works - not to mention a newfound appreciation for the work that goes into it! I'd like to try doing this on my own someday, but I think I'll need well more than the heavily supervised hour and a half I've had so far. I'm thinking this might be helpful ...

Also, excitingly, there were women spinning yarn everywhere. 

So that's here! More soon, hopefully! In the meantime, because the month when you have next to no internet is the best time to do things like this, I've joined Twitter under @wayfaringknittr (there wasn't enough room for an extra e, which annoys me to no end, but, oh well), so, feel free to add me if you're around :) 

FO: boe

This was a test knit for Anke, whose classic, elegant sweater patterns I have long coveted on Ravelry.  This was the first time I was ever so bold as to volunteer myself as a test knitter, though - shyness aside, I also spent the last month moving myself to a remote mountaintop in the Andes - but I'm so happy I did, because this sweater is gorgeous. I love everything about it - the open, airy gauge, the asymmetry, the floppy neck (which looked better when I first blocked it, but got wrinkled before these photos, in the doorway of our homestay, were taken). 

Though Anke's prototype used a pretty linen yarn, I knit my Boe with less than two skeins of madelinetosh Merino Light, on massive size US 9 needles. There are a few odd bits where I'm not sure I did the short rows correctly, but nothing too obvious. Which is good, because though Ollantaytambo may be too cold, this sweater is perfect for springs back home, so I know it'll get a lot of wear :) I'm not totally sure when this pattern will appear on Ravelry, but when it does, I highly, highly recommend it - I already want to make myself another one in black.

Raveled here. 

Hello from Peru!

Hello from Peru! For the next few months, my boyfriend and I will be volunteering with an NGO up in the Andes that works with local weavers; I'll know more about what we're actually doing once arrive, but in general, details about our travels can be found over here, at my non-knitting centered blog, which has served to reassure my many non-knitting relatives that I've been keeping warm and eating properly for the last few years. 

We've only been here two days, but I'm really liking Peru so far, even if it it's freezing. We've already encountered a number of alpaca, real and otherwise:

... and also seen lots of women knitting things, including some truly awesome Batman finger puppets that I'll try to post photos of later. 

Though I'm not totally sure what the internet situation will be like once we reach our town, I have enough yarn in my suitcase to last me way more than the three months we'll be here, including a few skeins of Bay Area yarn to remind me of home; I started a Swallowtail shawl on the plane, using the Thornill Lace I bought at Piedmont Yarn and Apparel back in Oakland, and have not yet decided what to do with this crazy gorgeous yarn from Pigeonroof Studios: 

Hopefully something good! Anyway, hello from Peru, and talk to you soon from the Andes :)