By Hope Broadhurst | Story-telling Volunteer
In our pursuit of capacity building for rural indigenous artisan weavers in the Andes region of Peru, we continue to commission the artisans for textiles designs that we can help sell, through our reach of a broader market. Thanks to your generous support, Awamaki recently held a new set of training programs.
Artisan Dionicia Chacca opened the training, explaining that learning the new knitting skills will allow them to improve their economic condition and highlighted the importance of learning what is taught through continuous practice. Fiorella, an expert crochet-er, another of Awamaki’s partner artisans, was the enthusiastic teacher. She emphasized the importance of effort and willpower in achieving positive results, encapsulated in her guiding principle: “I learn and I practice.”
The primary focus was on the artisans gaining a new crocheting technique, specifically mastering the delicate art of crocheting the intricate baby toy, the llama. The training began by creating the face of a toy llama, starting with a magic ring of 6 stitches. Participants incrementally increased the stitches to 12 and continued until they completed the llama’s snout. From there, we focused on the llama’s belly using the magic ring method. Facilitator Fiorella provided hands-on guidance, jotting down the steps on a board for clarity. The artisans diligently practiced, successfully completing this critical part of the toy. The sessions concluded with crafting the llama’s legs, involving a chain of 12 stitches followed by a row of 10 stitches advancing towards a fully finished toy.
Crocheted fully by hand, this little friend has become a favorite with babies. It has also historically been stuffed with plastic-based polyfill to give it its squishy form. At Awamaki, we are committed to ensuring our products not only offer our artisan partners a better life, but care for our planet too. While Awamaki has always considered our impact on all of those fronts, we have recently looked to put new emphasis on our environmental conscientiousness.
This year, we hosted our first sustainable design intern Sammy. Sammy is the first person to fill that role at Awamak and we charged her with a tall order: Reviewing our supply chain and helping us identify leftover materials; designing and sampling products that use these leftovers; discovering alternatives to any plastic used in our products; and helping us confront the ways in which fine alpaca fiber is threatened by climate change by brainstorming products that use coarser alpaca wool. She rose to the challenge in every conceivable way.
When woven textiles from the artisan partners are sourced, the textiles must include a fringe, which is trimmed, creating a collection of short pieces of unused thread. Sammy discovered that these thread scraps can be repurposed using a process called “carding”. The fringe material is teased into a gentle fluff that makes a perfect non-toxic upcycled stuffing for llama toys. “It's not only reusing, it’s fully plastic free,” she says proudly.
Sammy didn’t stop there. Although the design process at Awamaki rarely leaves much waste, when goods are all handmade, there is always a portion of woven material leftover. Sammy resourcefully sifted through the intricate, ornate fabric fragments. Using her remarkable eye for design, she pieced together the unused material to create bucket hats! This latest product has been flying off the shelves of the Awamaki store in Ollantaytambo.
Through the support of donors like you, Awamaki has continued to facilitate programs that strengthen the artisans' economic independence while also contributing to Awamaki’s environmental sustainability efforts.
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By M. Kennedy Leavens | Executive Director
By M. Kennedy Leavens | Executive Director
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