1. Exciting
“It is exciting to know that the work of our hands is being sold and enjoyed by people far away from here. The money makes such a difference -we want to be able to sell even more”
Taype textiles
Cooperative,
Yauli
Peru
This group are knitters in Ambato-Yauli, a town high up in the region of Huancavelica in the central mountains of Peru – they make the knitted hats, scarves and gloves that have been really popular with Created customers.
When we first put a few items from this group in our catalogue –who could have guessed how popular they would be!

2. The group were delighted to see their hat and gloves on the front cover of our catalogue a few years ago.
Leon Taype is head of the group. It is a cooperative so the profits are shared

3. This is the raw material!
The alpaca wool is mixed with 20% acrylic fibre and 10% sheep’s wool to give the yarn strength and durability.
This also ensures that the product retains it’s shape when washed and worn.

4. There are five men currently in the group
There are five men currently in the group. They tend to be responsible for weaving and quality checking.

5. At the beginning the women would get together in the Mothers Club
At the beginning the women would get together in the Mothers Club. Those that knew how to knit would knit. They then organised themselves into an official co-operative to sell the knitting about 4 years ago. It is Leon Taype that is in charge of designs and coordinates the orders.
The group meets on Saturdays when there are orders. When there are no orders they meet once a month. The women knit at home to allow them to also take care of homes and livestock. About 75 women aged between years work in the group. They all live within an hour’s walking distance of the centre.

6. The youngest women are the fastest workers – but they also have the biggest responsibilities at home and on their land so don’t have so much time to spend on production.
The women speak only Quechua, the language of the Incas.
More than half of them live in homes with no electricity.
Their work is inspired by their pre Inca culture; the designs represent the animals that are present in the region, such as the llamas, and the flowers and plants that are abundant in the mountains. Even the technique they used has been passed down for generations, with a few modern tools to help them out.

7. We are selling 6 different colour-ways this year
We are selling 6 different colour-ways this year. This is Marinera and is one of the new designs.
All the old favourites are still available.