At Sara Textiles in Chinchero, our guide with her daughter, and showing off one of the bones the weavers use to lift the warp threads on a loom—which she joked came from her ex-husband.
Showing posts with label Chinchero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chinchero. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 26, 2024
Monday, July 3, 2023
Alpaca glamour shot
It turned out I did have a few pictures of the alpacas from Chinchero. I like llamas but I think alpacas have the sweetest faces.
Saturday, June 24, 2023
Weaving
Weaving using a backstrap loom. It will take her more than forty hours of work to finish this piece.
Thursday, June 22, 2023
Giving it a spin
All of the washing, dying, spinning and weaving is done by hand. The shampoo is a grated root they jokingly referred to as “Inca shampoo,” and they only use natural dyes, mostly from roots and herbs plus cochineal from insects. I was especially fascinated by the dyes, and how many colors it is possible to produce using plants. If I ever want to take up another craft, I would love to try playing with natural dyes.
On the other hand, I have actually tried spinning using a hand spindle like these and I never managed to produce anything resembling yarn. So although it was fun to see experts in action, that's not something I'm likely to try again.
On the other hand, I have actually tried spinning using a hand spindle like these and I never managed to produce anything resembling yarn. So although it was fun to see experts in action, that's not something I'm likely to try again.
Where the wool comes from
I didn't get any good pictures of the alpacas because I was too busy feeding them. But I like the expressions on their faces here, when the group had moved on to feeding the llamas. “Wait! I'm still hungry!”
Wednesday, June 21, 2023
Speaking of textiles
One of the highlights of the trip was a visit to one of the weaving cooperatives in Chinchero, a small town in the mountains about an hour from Cusco.
Chinchero is famous for its textiles, and is a center for using and promoting traditional techniques. The cooperative we visited, Sara Textiles, was formed by a group of single mothers. Our visit began with meeting (and feeding) the alpacas and llamas who supply the wool, and ended in the adjoining shop, where scarves, coats, hats, and wall hangings in every color of the rainbow are for sale.
And in between, we saw how the raw wool is washed, spun, dyed and woven to create those masterpieces.
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