Camino Inca & Pattern #1

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The Camino  Inca,  also known as the “Inca Trail” or “trail to Machu Picchu”, is a road built by the Incan Empire long long ago, and much of it is still of original Incan construction and still traveled today!  Many of you already know that is what Jeff is gearing up to do as I post this….

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Jeff, his son, and his daughter are about to  embark together on an epic trek along miles of these very poetic ancient stone roads….

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They are in and around Cusco these last couple of days while acclimating before their big trek to Machu Picchu, and here is a photo just sent from Jeff’s phone, from a dyer’s booth of natural dyes!  These are the signature color palette  of the Peruvian traditional textiles; crimsons, pinks, purple, gold & orange….

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And earlier, he sends a photo of a bright ensemble of some hats & bags from the market. Peruvians have made a solid industry around making & selling authentic handmade items for the tourists & trekkers who come from all corners of the world …

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I have been making a series of posts up to this one, starting from a few weeks ago leading up to this week, where I have timed it to submit my Camino Inca Designs ~ one by one~  while they are walking  the actual Camino Inca.   And  I have the first in the short series ready !

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It all began from my wanting to replicate an authentic Peruvian chullo my brother has had for decades (I talk about that in this post a few weeks ago) , but it grew and became an opportunity to design my own colorwork …

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as well as a  Mix-Your-Own with many Andean style motifs I have charted and included in the pattern ….

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And with many options, including Peruvian chullo embroidery & bling…  jenjoycedesign© Camino-Inca-Chulo4

and with a size to fit every head possible head …

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I also included a gauge substitution chart to adapt to fingering weight to bulky weight yarns. I felt the hat needed an option without earflaps and came up with a nice bobbled band (which incidentally Jeff called ‘the crown’) . Here is the Camino Inca ‘corona’ in a tiny size barely big enough for a couple of bands of colorwork , with a bobble top …

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I think I finally managed to round it all up and get ‘er running. Please come see the pattern HERE, and join in on the excitement & promotional pattern release give-away ~~ in the spirit of Autumn in the Andes, which it is, and heading toward winter! Details on my Ravelry group HERE.

All posts related to ” Camino Inca ” designs HERE

embellishments

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I have made many hats & many embellishments.  I’ve experimented for a while and learned some new techniques… and now just putting it all together. One of the signature ornaments for upcoming design is a well-groomed pompom attached to a nice plump i-cord.
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With all of these pompoms on i-cord,

I am reminding myself a little of Horton Hears A Who…

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Anyway, I have decided the best way to make pompoms involves some felting, and a lot of trimming, and last a good brushing with a rigid brow or mustache comb, as I am doing for these braid tassels…


Jeff is now in Cusco, and I have the whole thing planned to run with legs when he, his son & daughter begin their trek to Machu Picchu, and all the while I am working at this frantically most all of everyday.

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Hermit-ing out in the mountains with Emma, the cool has receded and the sun has finally arrived.  Everything in its place, and life is good.

Inca Thing

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This is a quick knit I’m letting fly on the needles before Jeff leaves to Cusco to romp the Inca Trail with his son & daughter in only a matter of days.  It is something he actually asked me to make, which is in itself a first! It is a cover for his Kindle.  Awww. So, in the middle of frantic manic knitting of chullos, and trying to reach a personal deadline,  I am just thinking of it as a one-eared version of just another chullo hat.
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The days continue to be gloriously cool, and today fog is rolling over the ridge and cascading down the mountain misting over everything & evoking creativity with sometimes an internal unsettled agitation.   I think I will take this Inca thing, my knitting bag,  and go for a good knit-walk up the ridge with Emma.  We’ll  be back in no time and maybe I’ll have a finished  Kindle cover to post!
Edit in:  I walked & finished knitting,
then felted the kindle cover and here it is…
Cusco bound!
 Pattern: (adapted from forthcoming chulo pattern)
Yarn: Lambs Pride worsted weight in dark & light grey (excellent for felting!

Manic!

jenjoycedesign© chullo madness

Since writing about ‘ an old beloved brown thing ‘  I’ve been pulled into a vortex of unlikely colors;  of cochineal pinks & crimsons, madder reds, purples, citron yellow, and oranges too… all sorts of high altitude Andean colors I am not accustomed to.

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I find myself falling back into the safety of greys, of earthy tones and of muted undyed comfort.  I gotta bust out!  I didn’t realize how sensitive to color I really am, so I am struggling with my habitual knitting au natural , while trying to be influenced by the brazen & magnificent  color palettes of Peruvian textiles.   I am knitting through piles of these South American motifs while experiencing a sensory challenge with color.

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… soon to explode through the surface with a splash!

 (and of course, a pattern)

My favorite manic music of South America (although down in the temperate eastern coast from the Andes)… have a listen & maybe you can pick up some of my manic vibe…

An old beloved brown thing…

jenjoycedesign© 'the original' from PeruMy brother has for decades worn this authentic Peruvian hat,  the Incan motifs have become signature shapes on his head, almost like fiberous tattoos…

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I am not sure where he got this beloved brown thing, but it is a cherished possession of his, and he lent it to me over a year ago asking if I might repair the moth holes (again) and… “maybe ‘add some color’ to it?” he asked , “or maybe just knit it over?”.

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Made of alpaca, and badly moth-eaten since being repaired long ago, it has become a part of his life, and all of our lives, for as we know him, we know this hat.

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This favor asked of me to ‘fix it’ has apparently grown feet and evolved into a project of my trying not to entirely replicate the original, nay, but to design the Quintessential Brother Article, as he does actually wear these Peruvian style hats ( known in trend as a ‘chullo’) pretty much every day, tucking the ear flaps behind his ears. They are as he puts it, his ‘hair’.

Well folks, if you wonder where I am going with all of this back story, the thing is, I have been working on trying to emulate the original, and made a chullo for his birthday, with indeed more color, and a little bit accessorized with little tassels too.

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Actually, I have made him so many of these, but still he is over the moon whenever I make him a new one.

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So, my scheming to create an authentic replica had changed to become something I should really call a design inspiration, more of an impression of the original.

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The design is in process, and a forthcoming pattern soon available!

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The pattern release will be aimed symbolically around a big trip Jeff is taking in May with his son & daughter to Machu Picchu in Peru, and so I have a lot of work to do until then!

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So here is the first in the series of prototypes ~~~ my brothers Birthday Chulo!

Pattern: forthcoming.

Yarn: Malabrigo Rios

Details: on Ravelry HERE.