2017 was quite an eventful year for me! Last February I embarked on a 6 month trip to Peru, where I interned for a non-profit organization that works with indigenous artisans to help generate more income from their textile crafts. The artisan women are talented weavers, knitters, and crocheters, and they regularly produce their own designs to sell to the local tourist market. The non-profit organization, by designing a collection of fashion products that appeals to modern tastes and trends, seeks to help the women connect to markets beyond the local tourists. The products that the organization designs are skillfully crafted by the indigenous women and then sold on the non-profit’s online shop as well as at various boutiques throughout the US.
My experience with hand-knitting led to my becoming the knitwear designer while I was there. I was able to complete the designs for 7 accessories. The process included knitting the prototype samples, writing the knitting instructions, and assisting with the translation of the instructions into Spanish. The following photos are of my designs!
I returned to Michigan from Peru in mid-August, and now I’m settled back in and working full-time. My hope for 2018 is to develop a small line of knitwear patterns to publish here and on Ravelry!
