Peru: a yarn enthusiast's guide

When I decided to go to Peru a few months ago I was not actually aware of the fact that this is one of the best countries in the world to visit for textiles. Of course I knew about alpaca yarn but I just didn't make the connection. So, I find myself across the ocean on a different continent and I end up doing exactly what I do back home: buying yarn and knitting.

The trip was great in so many ways but one of the outstanding aspects was definitely to see all the amazing craft work that Peruvians produce and actually use in their daily lives. While most of the knitting, weaving and spinning by hand is done only for recreational purposes in Europe it is still part of the Peruvian culture. You can see people knitting pretty much everywhere and it is definitely not just for the tourists!

Market vendors in Cusco

The popular acrylic yarns for sale at the market

Of course you have even more specific things like the knitting men of the island of Taquile in Lake Titicaca which are (in knitting circles) pretty much world famous but anywhere I went, textiles were present. You just have to look at the ladies that take their produce to market or carry their babies in their colourful "mantas" (blankets) - even though these are most likely machine produced they are a practical, everyday item that is used frequently.

Lady in Puno with the traditional manta

Taquile knitting - the hat in the top middle had incredibly tiny stitches

Weaving demonstration

Funnily the Peruvians seem to actually prefer the acrylic yarn because that's what you get mostly at the markets. I cannot blame them as I LOVE the vibrant colours and I even got a fake alpaca hat in rainbow shades myself but it was actually quite a mission to get real alpaca yarn. I was most successful by sticking to the big brands, mainly Michell Group. They have a factory outlet where you can get alpaca, baby alpaca and acrylic mix yarns at wholesale prices - I paid 100 soles (ca. 35 €) for 1 kg of undyed, 3-ply alpaca yarn which I think is a decent price. That also means minimum quantities of 1 kg but that didn't deter me, of course, in contrary. 

Michell have stores in Arequipa, Lima and Cusco but I think the best place to shop was Arequipa where they have their base and the funny mix between shop, exhibition, zoo and factory outlet called Mundo Alpaca. It's a 5-minute walk from the city centre and very easily accessible. In Cusco I also saw that they had a type of "hole-in-the-wall" shop in Plaza San Francisco but it was much, much smaller and the opening times seemed to be a bit erratic.

The factory outlet at Mundo Alpaca in Arequipa, a yarn lover's dream

The raw material

And the fibre source!

Uncomparable vicuna-softness...

Museum exhibits

If you haven't scheduled a stop in Arequipa I would advise just to approach the knitting grannies on the tourist markets if you can see they have real alpaca garments in their stalls. I did that in Puno because I had a sudden craving for some more grey alpaca yarn that I didn't buy in Arequipa. The lady brought me an extra 500 g the following day, charging me the wholesale price. I'm pretty sure it is from the Michell factory as it used the same cardboard cones but I don't have 100 % proof that it's real - it can be quite tricky to tell if they're blends, even for yarn lovers like me! So if you're unsure it's better to stay on the safe side and use the factory shop as most of the market sellers will stubbornly insist that they sell "real alpaca" yarn which, in most of the cases, it's not.

The lady in Puno that sold me the extra yarn

Sadly I didn't find any handspun varieties and even when I saw people "spinning" with a drop spindle in tourist locations it was mainly fake, just posing for photo opportunities. It probably still exists but that would require some more scouting, preferably with a local who knows what you're looking for and maybe more on the countryside. 

All in all it was a great trip and I came back happy with my 1.5 kg of alpaca yarn and my head filled with lots of other memories - not all textile-related.

The loot!