Strickmich! Club 2020: Manos del Uruguay

In this series of blog posts we will introduce the dyers who are providing the yarns for Strickmich! Club 2020.
Strickmich! Club is a subscription for four new knitting patterns by Martina Behm plus matching, exclusively dyed yarn.
Sign-ups for the club year of 2020 will start on November 3rd.


 
 
 


 
 




 
Knitters love to do good – and by knitting with yarns by Manos del Uruguay doing good is even better! In 1968, five women founded this cooperative in Uruguay to help women in rural areas to find well-paying jobs by using their knowledge of artisanal traditions and local resources – like wool! Sheep and wool are everywhere in Uruguay, and the skills of knitting, spinning and crocheting are passed on from generation to generation. Nowadays, 250 women work in 19 different locations to make the colorful and soft yarns that are loved and appreciated by knitters all around the world.




Valeria Eliza Gonzales Martinez is one of them, living with her son in Fraile Muerto in Uruguay, close to the Brazilian border, where the dyeing workshops are located. “I have been with Manos del Uruguay for six years”, she says. “In the beginning, I helped to wind the skeins and with the packaging”, she recounts. But Valeria has grown into an experienced dyer, has expanded her knowledge on administration and has even become a member of her cooperative’s counsel.



Valeria und eine Kollegin aus der Färberei

“Manos was my first formal job and I have grown a lot here”, Valeria says. “My hope is that the work at Manos will continue to grow and develop”. She certainly has fallen in love with yarn and dyeing, although she does not know how to knit. “But I would like to learn how to crochet!” she says. Her favorite color? “Jacaranda, dyed on our yarn base ‘Alegria'”, Valeria says – thats a subtle purple on an almost-white yarn base, very light and feminine.



“Jacaranda”, Valeria’s favorite color

We are proud and happy to have a beautiful, exclusive new colorway by Valeria and her colleagues at Manos del Uruguay in Strickmich! Club 2020!