Well, I started off well keeping up on this blog, but I sort of got a little lax these past couple of weeks. For that I apologize, but I do have my reasons. First, since I passed the one month mark April 11, I've been feeling a little frantic thinking of all that still needs to be done before the end of July and have been running around a bit like a headless chicken.
These past few weeks I've also been busy in a new role--that of fashion designer. Please don't laugh. The ladies are so talented, but some of the designs and colors are better suited for the Peruvian market (which doesn't really exist for them at this point) than the American/European market to which we are hoping to connect. So what started out as me giving suggestions here and there turned into me sitting down with pencil and paper first drawing sketches then working through samples of stitches to identify the points to be used. My vocabulary has now expanded to include the words for hem, sleeve, collar, and various knitting points, which I can now identify by sight while window-shopping.

Looking for design ideas for the women has turned into something of an obsession for me, and it reached new lows on Saturday when María (the social worker in Alto Cayma) and I were out running errands in El Centro and began tracking women whose sweaters we liked to get a better look at the points used and the form. María actually stopped one woman so we could get a closer look. She only seemed mildly frightened and was very obliging. Hopefully I will be over this behavior by the time I arrive home in August.

I finished doing measurements and colors with Betsy and Andrea on Thursday, and the ladies will begin working on the first round of models Monday. I'm excited if a little nervous to see how they turn out. After the primary models of the sweaters are finished, we will make corrections and look at colors, and then create countermodels (I think this would be the English terminology - contramuestras?) to reflect these changes. These will hopefully be up on a webpage for your perusal within the next few weeks...

Now that we're getting production nailed down, I'm ready to refocus my efforts on the Fair Trade application process. I will be meeting with the priest Monday to go over some of the questions which still remain about finances, management, and the history of the group, and hopefully that will give me a better idea of the direction we will be taking in the next few months.

There is always so much more to tell, but I will try to keep things a little shorter this time. My Spanish continues to roll along, and I love my tri-weekly lessons with my tutor, Nancy. My family here continues to take good care of me, and the knitters are amazing. I'm still trying to accustom myself to living in the desert, and I'm making a genuine effort to see the beauty of sand, but I still have an overwhelming desire to kick off my shoes and walk around barefoot in any grassy area I happen across. I've still got time.
Take care and do try to stay sane as the end of April approaches.