Earlier in the week, we had found a kikoy, woven blanket, that we really liked. We took it to Douglas, who makes kikoys on a loom. We showed him the blanket to see if he could make anything similar, and he said, "I made this!" Talk about tracking products to the source! We knew immediately that we wanted to work with him.
Douglas working the loom
Not only does Douglas practice the extremely old craft of weaving on a loom, he builds looms himself! Just look at the machine- it looks extremely complicated.
The complicated loom
Each thread has to be put on by hand to set up for every kikoy. Douglas said it takes 2-3 days to prepare the loom for a new pattern.
Douglas demonstrating to the RETCo. team
While we were at the workshop, Douglas walked us through the entire process of weaving on a loom. It really gave us a whole new respect for woven products. There is a lot of hard work that goes into it.
Travis attempting to weave
Douglas explained the loom so well that Travis wanted to try it! He actually did a pretty good job.
Of course we ordered kikoys from Douglas and I am really excited to put them online! I think they will be an awesome addition- a great way to start expanding our Home Goods offerings.
Have a great week! We are back in the office and hitting the ground running on some big changes!
-Kerbi
Team RETCo.
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