The Peruvian Knitters
Knitted handicrafts by our Peruvian knitters
Alpakita is a Peruvian women's project. Our knitters in Peru string stitch after stitch and knit a woolly hand-made item from high-quality alpaca yarn. We can say: "We knit with passion". We design and knit our products ourselves; there is no industrial mass production in low-wage countries. For us, fair means that the knitters can determine the price of the hand-made item.
The knitwear is traditionally knitted with a needle. A wonderful handicraft. A lot of time and valuable alpaca wool go into these products. The silky, elegant knitting ideas for summer are machine-made. With us you will find knitwear for cold and warm days, as well as the transitional periods.
We work hard and with commitment on our Alpakita brand. We stand for handcraft, the best Peruvian alpaca wool and the social idea of paying the knitters fairly for their handwork.
We know our knitters, who craft with a lot of love and enthusiasm.
Adela knits Alpakita
Who is Adela? We would like to tell you about our knitting women in the next newsletter.
To survive, Adela sold sweets on the streets of Huaraz and at the bus stop. A hard life that we cannot imagine. Going out on the street every day without knowing what there would be for dinner. With the street sales, she also had to somehow cover her daughter's monthly school fees. On top of that, she had to feed her parents. A huge responsibility.
Today, Adela's life is different. She knits our socks from the finest alpaca wool at home. Adela no longer goes out on the streets. She likes to buy sweets at the market for her daughter, her parents and for herself. And Adela has more time for herself and her family.
We commission Adela regularly, even in summer when no wool socks are sold. At Alpakita, we are happy to take on this responsibility. We currently have a lot of socks and are looking forward to a cold winter. Our customers are also happy, as they like to use our socks to enjoy a warm evening.
Adela is our sock knitting artist. She knits for big feet and for babies.
We visited her a few weeks ago and spoke with her. There are some sentences we will never forget:
“It is not easy for Germans to knit, they have very big feet”
"I have been knitting since I was a child"
"I never thought my work would be so appreciated"
Adela spoke with shining eyes and a smile.
Knitting with needles is climate-friendly
How big is the CO2 footprint of a hand-knitted women's jacket made of alpaca wool? We cannot yet answer this question with a fixed number. When our knitter puts the wool thread on the knitting needle with her skillful fingers, this is done using purely manual energy. Perhaps she is sitting under an energy-saving lamp and chatting with friends. Electricity is expensive for a Peruvian and the old lamps with incandescent filaments are no longer available. Alpakita is handmade and we are happy that we only add a small amount of CO2 to the overall carbon footprint during the processing.
How it all began
Our first sweaters were knitted for children in a large care home in Berlin. The result was woolly, soft children's sweaters made from the finest alpaca wool. Due to the high demand, we decided to expand our collection. We created knitted models for women, men, babies, blankets and many accessories. Today we knit for both adults and children.
Here are a few photos from the knitting women's workshop in the Rio Santa Valley in the highlands of the Andes (2016).
Our knitting woman at work
To be there live is what anyone waiting for their extraordinary knitted work of art wants. To experience a moment and watch where and how the valuable, unique piece grows stitch by stitch.
A special blanket, made to measure and in a color, slides through the knitting woman's hands. Each stitch must be the same as the next in the row so that the large family blanket takes on its perfect shape. Our knitting woman works with great joy and skill. In front of the house or in the living room, whatever suits her and time allows.