The poncho of happiness The poncho of happiness
Her name is Peyeche. She is from Patagonia. Her smile speaks for herself and more. She knits without stopping but that don't prevent her from looking at me by smiling:
" We knit with our subconscious. Our thoughts can be elsewhere or be occupied with something else. My language can be involved in a deep dialogue but my hands are working without stopping or distraction. They fulfill what my heart imposes. That's how pichulafs are born. A poncho which gives you the warmth of a smile when you need it. "
This feminine group, someplace in Patagonia, knit nicely together. It is cold in the Patagonian winter, but for them working it resembles summer.
"Those ponchos were knit by my grandmother for the girls of the village ; for the sad girls, for the women who had lost there smile. She was the Machi of the village. Before they shave the sheeps, the Machi (feminin shaman of the Mapuches) visits the animals, her warm smile and her joyful heart bewitch, make them joyful, happy, without worries, so they get shaved without stress. With this wool the women of the village create their special ponchos and other knitting clothes. They weave their joy between the knitting. The pullover, the shawl or the poncho becomes soaked with their good mood, and the one who carries it, perceives an internal warmth immediately.
The glow of a burbling laugh improve every frozen heart. Pichulafs can enter as an arrow of joy the heart of the one who carries it. That's why the Machi calls them: pichulaf: the arrow of happiness, the arrow of the joy.
Peyeche knits the shawls and ponchos with the secret of the Machi. Those ponchos are not only a pleasure to be seen, they are also a pleasure to be carried. By their motives and their natural material they offer you the warmth of a smile all from the end of the world, all from the depth of the mysterious nature of Patagonia.
If you are interested for this marvel, Peyeche and her team would be enjoyed to make you a pichulaf for you personally.
WOOL
Yes, with a capital, because it's not only a wool soaked in the mystery of the feminine shaman of the Mapuches, it's also of a very good quality. The wool which use Peyeche and her friends, is a wool 100 % natural. The secret of the Pichulafs is to shave the animals without stress, a technique that till today is used in two farms in the province Santa Cruz.
Carding, the spinning and the felt are done in the village of Peyeche with a lot of concentration and according to the rules and secret of the Machi. After the wool is ready to be used, the Machi put a ritual to it to finish it with the touch of joy. Sometimes the Machi feels that in the chain of the process some sad heart was working on it, and she restore the contamination. When Peyeche and the other women receive the lots, they feel directly the happiness and work becomes a pleasure. Those Pichulafs are little miracles, they do not give annoyance but transmit the tickle of joy of those women who work on it.
The Pichulafs are born between the agile fingers of these cheerful women. On this page you can see and examine the models that they created for you. They are basic models and can change according to seasons. The Machi normally approves new creations in the feast of the moon and in every changing season. There are knitted models and weaved ponchos. Because those clothes are handmade, there is not a wide range of color. Peyeche wants to preserve the natural cosmic energy of the material without using a lot of additional elements.
The Machi asks you to try this Pichulafs for its mystical energy, they reflex beauty in your soul. They give you the energy to laugh and to enjoy your daily life. The Pichulafs are magic, they create the beauty of inside you and bring your natural prettiness to live.
