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

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.

Nilda Callanaupa Alvarez is the founder and director of the Center for Traditional Textiles of Cusco, a consortium of 10 village weaving centers located throughout the Andean Highlands, with a gallery and museum in Cusco, Peru. She is the recipient of the Mountain Society Award for Preservation and the author of Textile Traditions of Chinchero and Weaving in the Peruvian Highlands. She lives in Cusco and Chinchero.