Knit it like a man

In 2008 I spent the best part of the year travelling around the world with my boyfriend. One of the countries I loved most (and intend to return to) was Peru.

It was breathtakingly beautiful (sometimes breathtaking in the literal sense, due to some pretty high altitudes) and diverse. Textiles are one of the countries main exports and wool & alpaca play a huge part in that. We visited some islands on Lake Titicaca while we were there and I was thrilled to be told that on Taquile Island, knitting is big business. But, surprisingly, it isn't the women who produce all the pieces that then get sold to visiting tourists. On Taquile Island knitting is the responsibility of the men! So all of the perfectly finished hats, sweaters, gloves and other pieces had been painstakingly knitted by all the husbands and sons in residence.

I thought that was a pretty cool role reversal and try to remember to tell this to the very few male knitting students I come across when I'm teaching.