Secrets of Spinning, Weaving, and Knitting in the Peruvian Highlands

Winner, Silver Medal in the Craft/Hobby Category, 2018 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Awards

Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez has gathered artisans of all ages to share their knowledge, lore, and deep skills, highlighting many of the techniques used by craftspeople in the Andes. They reveal clever highland secrets for everything from skeining yarn and knitting in reverse to weaving tubular borders and embellishing fabric with complex stitches. For many of these techniques, they provide concise step-by-step instructions accessible for North American crafters. Thoughtful, detailed descriptions of Andean cultural traditions frame each section, providing context and rare insight into what textile work means as a living heritage of the Quechua people.

• Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands: Dreaming Patterns, Weaving Memories
• Silk Weavers of Hill Tribe Laos: Textiles, Tradition, and Well-Being
• Weaving Patterned Bands: How to Create and Design with 5, 7, and 9 Pattern Threads
• Textile Traditions of Chinchero: A Living Heritage: Tradiciones Textiles de Chinchero: Herencia Viva
• Women Artisans of Morocco: Their Stories, Their Lives
• Faces of Tradition: Weaving Elders of the Andes
• Spider Woman's Children: Navajo Weavers Today
• Weaving Iridescence: Color Play for the Handweaver
• AlterKnit Stitch Dictionary: 200 Modern Knitting Motifs
• Knit Like a Latvian: 50 Knitting Patterns for a Fresh Take on Traditional Latvian Mittens