Yarns for Knitters and a Lifeline for Women: Manos del Uruguay

In a small village in northeastern Uruguay, three women arrive at a thatched-roof structure in the early morning. They start the wood-fired boiler and prepare to dye small batches of yarn, which will take on gentle variations in color as they simmer in large kettles filled with rainwater. A breeze blows through the open doors and windows, and one woman dons an N95 respirator to protect her lungs while she measures out powdered dyes on a digital scale. Around midday the women will finish up their shifts and walk home to meet their children after school. Later, the yarn they have dyed will be labeled with their names and shipped off to the capital, Montevideo, to be exported worldwide under the Manos del Uruguay brand.

A member of the Dragón Cooperative hand-dyes skeins of Uruguayan wool in rainwater in a large kettle. Photo courtesy of Fairmount Fibers

Making Yarn and Making a Difference

In the early 2000s, Lisa Myers was the owner of Rosie’s Yarn Cellar, a small yarn shop in Philadelphia. Manos del Uruguay stood out to her–not only for the colors, with subtle shifts in hue and saturation that were unlike anything else on the market, but for the company’s structure as a collective of artisan cooperatives.

Entirely women-owned, Manos has been providing opportunities for economic independence for rural Uruguayan women since the late 1960s. About half of Uruguay’s population lives in Montevideo, but it can be hard to earn a living in the rest of the country. Some women leave their villages for low-paying work in Montevideo, sending money back home to their families. Many girls in rural areas drop out of school after the eighth grade to work.

Women who work for Manos, however, earn enough to support their families without having to leave home. Some women start as artisans–as handspinners or dyers, for example–and work their way up to leadership roles at Manos’ main office in the capital. Others prefer the artisan way of life, working close to home and enjoying the camaraderie of other women in the cooperative. These women earn enough that their daughters don’t have to leave school, giving them a chance to attend one of Uruguay’s tuition-free universities.

The Birth of Fairmount Fibers

When Manos was looking for a new United States distributor, Lisa jumped at the chance. “I had thought to myself, if there were ever an opportunity to work with Manos, I would go over to the wholesale side of things,” she says. Named for nearby Fairmount Park in Philadelphia, Fairmount Fibers saw Lisa trade in her customer-facing role to meet the needs of Manos’ 300 United States retailers. One of Lisa’s first projects was to work with Manos to expand its yarn offerings, then limited to the original Wool Clásica and a midweight cotton. “No matter how good one yarn is, no yarn company can continue on one yarn,” she says. Lisa added a fingering weight, Alegria, in response to the sock-knitting trend; the yarn remains a strong seller. Gradually she worked with Manos to add more yarns, with more than a dozen available today. In the last decade Manos has achieved certification by the World Fair Trade Organization, a rigorous 10-step process that ensures everything from fair pay and safe working conditions to environmental stewardship and business sustainability.

Wool Clásica, the original yarn produced by Manos del Uruguay, is still spun by hand by members of cooperatives. Photo courtesy of Fairmount Fibers

Where Farm Animals Mingle with Daily Life

Wool Clásica is handspun from Corriedale, the most common breed of sheep in Uruguay, and Alegria is millspun from Merino. Wool is not hard to source–the country has twice as many sheep as humans. Ranching is a big part of the country’s economy, and sheep thrive in the temperate climate of the pampas, the rolling grasslands that cover most of the country.

Uruguay ranks high when it comes to livestock welfare, with sheep grazed open-range and tended by shepherds on horseback. The country has been free of foot-and-mouth disease, which can wipe out entire flocks, since the early 2000s. In the small rural communities where Manos cooperatives operate, it’s common to see local livestock freely wandering and relaxing in the villages. “I would not mind being reincarnated as a sheep in Uruguay,” Lisa says with a laugh.

Lisa mostly works from her office in Philadelphia and admits she has no need to travel to Uruguay regularly. But her love of the country is strong. She leads a small group of knitters on an annual trip to see where Manos yarns come to life and meet the women behind them. Dyeing workshops at the cooperatives, partaking of local wines, and plenty of locally grown food round out the itinerary. There is a waitlist for the 2024 trip, but keep an eye on fairmountfibers.com for information about the 2025 expedition.

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Leslie Ordal is a genetic counselor and academic based in Toronto, Ontario. She can often be seen knitting with her own handspun yarn during department meetings and has recently begun to spin her own embroidery thread, preferably dyed with locally foraged plants.