What a week! I just arrived home to Boston after 10 days in India with the team there. It has been three long years since my last trip in Feb of 2020. Somehow in those years away, I forgot just how amazing what we do is. I became disconnected from the team, their stories. Over the course of the last 13 years, we've created our own little cottage industry within the Indian economy where 16 Indian women create our yarns! There’s just so much that goes into each and every skein and none of it would be possible without this team, right here, making it all happen. One of my favorite things about being there is that anything feels possible. On the final day, we had a samosa and sweets party and celebrated the team. I'd love to introduce you to them below!

Knit Collage India Team!

Meet Bindu, the master carder! She has been with us since the beginning.

Meera, with us since 2010 and the first woman I taught to spin in my technique. She now oversees the spinning and crochets and hand knits.

Beena oversees production. She makes sure we have the right fiber colors and trims when we need them. She helps make sure shipments aren't late. She has been with us since the beginning.

Ranjeet, weighs fiber before carding and does carding! She has been with us since the beginning.

Arakhi, she is new! Arakhi makes mini skeins and preps the trims for the spinners.

Henna, she is new! She preps fiber for carding and also helps pack finished yarn. 

Madhu, she is new! She makes mini skeins for our mini skein sampler kits and makes the Wildflower yarn.

Asha, makes mini skeins and trim packs for spinners. She is new!

Bhagmani is a knitter along with helping with spinning. She knits all the Free People sweaters we do (quantities are very small, so it's not a big challenge!). She is a master at knitting. In the spinning studio, she preps trims for spinning, fiber for carding and helps with packing. She has been with us almost since the beginning!

Meera is new! She cards fiber.

Meet Sita, she is new. Sita helps with fiber prep, trim packs and packing. Meera, Rekha and Sita are all family.

Here are the 5 spinners from left to right: Sungita, Balgeet, Reeta, Rekha and (another!) Rekha. 

Rekha, here since almost the beginning! She is a master at plying strands of yarn together.

Another Rekha! This Rekha is Meera's daughter. She's been working with us for about 5-6 years. Talented spinner!

Reeta, with us since almost the beginning! Reeta is a spinner of Daisy Chain and Dreamland.

Balgeet has also been with the team since almost the very beginning. She has the warmest smile. She's fantastic at spinning yarns like Cast Away.

Sungita, also here since almost the very beginning! She was fantastic this week at spinning a new yarn we have in development for fall. Excited. 

Lastly, this is Monika and I. Monika can often be found on the phone making things happen! She oversees it all and like all the women is immensely proud of what we've created. Monika is a ray of sunshine!

If you're interested in seeing some behind the scenes of the process, check out my instagram reel here. If you’ve ever bought a skein of yarn or joined in a knitalong, or if you’re just a follower here who enjoys what we do, THANK YOU! When you support this business, you don’t just support our US based team, you also support every one of these women too.

Thank you,

Amy