This super soft and fluffy poncho is handmade from a perfect blend of alpaca wool and high quality acrylic fibre, Dralon. Using Dralon instead of 100% alpaca was a conscious decision by many artisanos, as pure alpaca can be very expensive (it takes longer to weave as well) and also due to being natural wool fibre, can be quite scratchy. Adding Dralon to the thread helps the wool feel less scratchy and incredibly soft instead. It also makes washing them a little bit easier. It is still recommended to hand-wash these ponchos, however an occasional wash on a low temparature, like the hand-wash cycle, and low spin should not be the end of the world. Do not tumble dry though, they will shrink and lose form and shape.
Making the thread and the plaid for these ponchos takes about 3 weeks. We source all our Ecuadorian products from a personal family friend in Cayambe. She has connection to several artisanos who exhibit their products at the large Otavalo market in Ecuador.
