Dear Kay,
This skein of yarn has been on my desk all week long. I just keep looking at it. It may be the most beautiful skein of yarn I’ve ever seen.
Not long ago, it arrived in a box of sample yarns from Manos del Uruguay. It’s as if all the sunshine in the world has been distilled in this one piece of yarn, 445 yards of sunshine.
The story of these yarn dyers in Uruguay stays with me.
Who dyed this? What was her day like? I don’t really believe in inanimate objects containing human energy, but I have to admit: this skein of yarn gets me thinking about where this yarn has been, how these colors were chosen, and how it came to land on my desk for me to contemplate.
And then I remember: one of the unique things about Manos yarn is that the tag tells me who made it.
Leticia made it. Leticia is Latin for gladness, happiness.
And the tag tells me she lives in Fraile Muerto, a town in eastern Uruguay. The name of this town, population 3,100, means “dead friar.” Kind of the opposite of leticia, but what is life if not a bunch of mashed-up opposites?
When I look on the Manos website to see if I can find more about Leticia or Fraile Muerto, I see this handmade map of Uruguay:
I can’t tell if Fraile Muerto is the orange squiggle or the green one, but this map reminds me that the yarn is dyed in a number of villages all over the country. I wonder if these women wonder where their yarn ends up.
I’m heading out to visit my boy at college, and I’m traveling light.
Taking this yarn with me, in one of Karen Templer’s Fringe Supply Co. Bento Bags, is one of those sublime moments. I feel so lucky, in about twelve ways, to have this bagful of sunbeams.
Love,
Ann
PS You have until 11:59 pm tonight (February 25) to put your name in the pot to win a big pile of Manos del Uruguay’s glorious Gloria yarn. Enter here. Nineteen skeins is enough to make a Moderne blanket or a yurt, basically.
Lovely yarn. Lovely words.
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Lovely, just lovely. Your words, her work, their story, the map with the tiny bits of knitting and weaving, and place names. The whole idea of this company. I just now absorbed it, and so would love to support it in the best way I know – purchase the yarn and create something useful. Thank you. Have a lovely time visiting your son and knitting with this amazing yarn.
thank you, ann. your post is a great way to start my day.
A lovely way to start the day…I am currently knitting a blanket with Manos Maxima. The yarn is sublime. I too was intrigued by their story after reading the tag that accompanied the skeins. The fact that Manos has been in business for so long is a testament to the quality of their yarn – among other things. I am looking forward to seeing the final product – a sunbeam in each stitch.
Thanks for this beautiful tribute to the hands that make the things we love.
:->
What is the name of the color on this yarn?
Maiz. Spanish for corn.
Lovely post, beautiful yarn. Thanks.
If only you’d mentioned sooner it could be used to knit a yurt! You gals are priceless, and a great start to my day. Safe travels!
I love how yarn can tie us all together.
Just beautiful! I need to go through my stash of Mano and read the tags.
chop wood and carry water. alegria* in a bento bag. journeying on the path.
happy trails, ann.
*joy
Have used their thick/thin yarn a couple of times and love it. I can picture something beautiful made from this yarn.
Awesome pattern and yarn. Thanks for chance to win!
Beautiful!!!
I, too, am a fan of yellow (and yellow mixed with green) yarn. In fact, we recently painted our kitchen and downstairs bathroom in just that yellow (with a tint of green). Such a happy color! Beautiful skein.
Just noticed this is also a chance to win some yarn. I would have commented on your yarn anyway — I can’t help it, it’s so beautiful — but I can always use some more Manos del Uruguay yarn!
Already entered the contest, but love the story about Leticia and the yarn. My daughter volunteered in Peru for an organization that helps rural women spinners and weavers get their yarn and works to market. She attended a weekend workshop there and they dyed the yarn using native plant materials. She brought me the yarn back when she returned to the states. I considered it her most precious cargo and wouldn’t allow her to check the bag, made her carry it on board (a big bag). Plan to knit the kiko rug with the steek with the yarn. I do feel the stories bring a certain life to the yarn. Thanks for sharing Leticia’s yarn story
Love Manos, never made a blanket or throw with it, would love to experience it. My mom was a great knitter and I have a special quilt she made. Thinking I would make one for my daughter so she could have the blessing passed on from my hands.
For anyone interested in a great volunteer experience or a workshop in Peru with amazing women, go to Awamaki.org
Tried to submit this comment earlier but something was wrong, I hope it will not be a duplicate…anyway, thank you, I will check them out. Have you done this?
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I finished a pair of socks in Manos del Uruguay Allegria earlier this month and really enjoyed working with the yarn! They’re my new favorite socks, and I can’t wait to knit with more Manos yarn.
Thank you for one more lovely idea to ponder while knitting with beautiful handmade yarns! Manos del Uruguay was one of the first “fancy” (not from Ben Franklin) yarns I ever knit with and I still love it. Safe travels!
How lovely!!
Beautiful! Love Manos and all the possibilities with this yarn.
Mano is an amazingly company. Back in the old days I used to order directly from them using EBay!
Thanks for reminding us all of this vibrant community.
That is some lovely yarn! I like knowing the provenance of my yarn.
Absolutely lovely skein – what you described was exactly what I felt as my computer opened up to your picture.
The color is duly noted, and a stop ay my LYS is planned on my way home!
Thank you, as always, for your inspiration ~
Love their yarn. A missionary went to their store and brought some back for me. I made one shawl. Waiting to start another.
Such a lovely skein of yarn. The map has its own story, too. It all makes me want to go to Uruguay. Maybe with a bento bag 🙂
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I love the map. It is really nice that the name and village are on the tag rather than just the country of origin.
I’m currently knitting a pair of socks in Alegria “Cielo Azul,” also a dreamy color. Lovely, lovely yarn.
Oh my word! I didn’t know they were coming out with a new yarn and all I want is to run out and get some. Sadly my LYS that carries Manos is currently closed. Le sigh. Maybe I’ll win and then I won’t even have to get in the car.
Uruguay is THE most beautiful place, and I am so in awe of the people who produce beautiful yarn there. Years and years ago when I started knitting again, it was with Manos. And in fact, only yesterday, as I stood at my sink rinsing out over-dyed yarn (NOT Manos) I got at a rummage sale (for well more than an hour — I’ll have to skip showering for a week to make up for all the water I used), I had actually a sense of what it might be like to work in a hands-on “yarnvironment” like Manos. It gave me a completely enhanced respect for the workers and their dedication. We cannot thank them enough for the work they do and the amazing yarn they produce.
Well, I’ve already made a Moderne blanket–from the stash–for the last time Afghans for Afghans was accepting blankets, but was pleased to learn my husband was bummed it wasn’t for us. My earliest memory is of a crocheted zig-zag blanket made by my Nana in subtle graduated greens. I thought it was the apogee of blanket-making. I’ve got a huge bag of gold Ella Rae chunky burning a hole in the stash that will probably end up a cabled, moss-stitched throw…But another Moderne is also lurking in the back of my head.
I was telling my Beloved about Manos, on our drive home from CoolArtEvent in CityOnly2Hours Away (that’s how we rock Culture, here) and we discussed sustainability, need, value, and so many other engrossing concepts. The 2 hours passed swiftly.
I love Manos.
And you two, too.
So odd! I went to my LYS today and it was full of Manos – in Sydney, Australia! I’ve never seen it before but it is so beautiful I had to have some.
Ann, I love the yarn and I want it.
About a year ago, I purchased a skein of Manos Fino. Loved working every stitch. I made a wrap, “Imagine When”. It was a little small for me, so a few weeks ago I sent it to my niece, who has a somewhat slighter build. As she has a sense of social consciousness, I included the tag from the yarn, knowing that she’d enjoy it.
Why am I telling you this? Because it was also Leticia, from Fraile Muerto.
Rosemary
AHHHHHH! So, so, so, so wish the giveaways would go over the weekend so those of us who can’t browse during the work week can enter over the weekend. I LOVE MANOS! AND I MISSED THE GIVEAWAY! Very sad.