Fun things are happening over at emiLime and we wanted you to be the first to know! Emily arrived in Peru this week and got straight to work - meeting with the artisans to develop new designs for our fall/ winter 2012 line, while at the same time discovering new techniques. Our first meeting was with our cacho de toro (bull horn) expert, who is helping us develop our new line of emiLime jewelry line that will include horn, stone, wood, tagua, metallic thread, gold, bronze, silver and straw.  If you are interested in seeing a first look, leave us a comment here. 

We are also very excited to have partnered with designer, Johanna Hatzenbuehler who has come up with some amazing patterns that we can't wait to show you. We are able to bring these patterns to life with the help of one of our artisans who is known as the master knitter of the hand knitting machine. 

Using the hand knitting machines enables the artisans to repeat complicated designs thanks to a card that records the pattern saving valuable time and resources.  

Hand knitting machines were first introduced in the late 1800's so that women could knit while multi-tasking. Companies then began marketing them to households to allow for ideal efficiency so that a woman could enjoy the art while also getting things done around the house. The very first machine was the Lamb Knitting Machine, priced at a mere $54, with 84 kneedles and weight of 15 pounds. Most of today's knitting machines can include over 200 needles and even include a digital entry of the pattern to be used. 

Hand knitting machines help artisans alleviate existing problems with arthritis and carpel tunnel from so much use of the hands while at the same time allow lovers of knitting to keep enjoying the art. A machine can also produce lighter fabrics in a much better quality than physically by hand. An artisan can produce wonderful works by combining multiple methods to the textile a machine produces. For example, combining light and tightly woven fabrics from a machine with crochet and loosely woven hand knitting techniques can produce a wonderful effect. A hand kitting machine is just one of the many tools our artisans use to produce quality and beautifully unique work!