Alpaca Mittens

Beautiful soft hand-knit mitten with a cap that hooks back converting the mitten into fingerless gloves perfect for using your hands in the cold! Our mittens are made by the Warmis Ajayu cooperative of El Alto. Warmis Ajayu means "Women's Spirit" in the indigenous Aymará language and the cooperative consists of 12 women who work at home and meet as their small workshop to use manual looms. The women in Warmis Ajayu have been knitting their entire lives and come from an ancestral alpaca and llama-wool knitting tradition that influences their modern designs. Alpaca wool is lighter and softer than sheep's wool, often compared with cashmere. Wool continues to insulate when wet and alpaca wool is much warmer by volume than sheep's wool. The cap hooks back onto a clasp on the back of the wrist so that it doesn't flop around when you have the mitten in convertable mode. Hand wash gently with soap and temperate water. Size M.

Warmis Ajayu Coordinator Yolanda Pabo and her daughter in the El Alto workshop.