Manos del Uruguay Trunk Show

In spite of an unwelcome blustery winter storm, Serenity Knits hosted a Manos Del Uruguay Trunk show last night. Our brave distributor from Ashley Yarns in Hamilton endured the horrible road conditions and spent a few hours "crawling" to our store. Our customers, who also deserve credit for struggling through the ice and snow, were rewarded with an exciting line of beautiful yarns.

There was plenty of anticipation as Letha from Ashley Yarns, brought bags (and a "trunk") full of garments, yarn and patterns into the store.

The new Manos silk and fine merino blend in a lighter DK weight had a lustrous palette of colours. There was also the traditional aran weight 100% wool and the worsted weight cotton "Stria" for us to enjoy. Over 100 hand dyed colours are now available.

Heather ( above left) and Gabriela (above right) both cuddled some "yummy" yarn that was begging to go home with them.

Joan (left)with help from Doris had fun trying to figure our which was the right way to wear the Manos "many options" knit jacket. It did look great!

Patti (right) checked out the colour choices - the hardest part was picking just one favourite.

Letha explained the Free Trade aims of the Manos Del Uruguay Cooperative. "The goal was to develop economic opportunities for the women in rural Uruguay, where there were and continue to be few opportunities for work." The dyeing process that was originally done in iron kettles heated over wood fires has been refined. The colours are now kept consistent using stainless steel pots and steam heat to produce the beautiful Manos "stria" trademark product. The co-ops spin and dye Manos yarn as well as knit blankets and garments. These artisans and handworkers are provided with a fair wage for their high quality products.

If you weren't able to attend the Manos Trunk Show, Ashley Yarns has graciously allowed us to display most of the garments, yarn and patterns for another week. You still have time to be inspired by this exciting yarn and as the Manos co-operatives say "We'd like to change the world, one skein at a time".

Karen