EllaNews

This is the first step in getting the new Ellaroo Wrap colorway, Elsa, into reality. Elsa is the winning design in our 2006 Ellaroo Wrap Colorway Contest.

Manufacturing and importing products internationally is never easy. But manufacturing in Latin America has a particular flavor of challenge. After years of experience, and guided by my Mexican husband, I have learned to take nothing for granted. So step number one in Elsa’s journey is to create a paper printout that matches our desired colorway as exactly as possible. Even though I had the urge to say, “You know, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, and white chocolate?”, I resisted. We spent the afternoon getting the printout just exactly right, then sent it off to our contact in Guatemala with this simple note: “Tres colores de cafe. Se puede?” (Please excuse my lack of proper punctuation - I must learn to type with Spanish symbols.)

Once the printout is received in Guatemala, our contact will share it with the weavers’ cooperative, and ask for a small run of rebozos (about 15). They will then purchase the yarn, look for just the right dyes (of the non-toxic variety, of course, as these are made for babies), and weave our samples.

It’s best not to dwell on it. They will arrive when they arrive! (OK, roughly 30 days after they receive the original printout. Still, patience is essential when dealing with Latin America.)

-Vesta