About Manos del Uruguay
Not for profit
Manos del Uruguay is a non-profit organisation that supports local women to make a living while remaining in their local village and raising their families. They are renowned for their fantastic colours, which have become their trademark and have been producing beautiful, natural fibre, hand-dyed yarns since 1968. Their unique, luxurious yarns have been achieved through research and experimenting with traditional techniques for more than 50 years. Discover their story.
Fair trade
From the very beginning, Manos del Uruguay has been deeply committed to the social and economic development of women in rural communities. This was acknowledged by the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO), by appointing Manos as a member in 2009.
The WFTO trademark is a quality trademark that guarantees a relationship of commercial exchange based on dialogue, transparency and respect, looking for a higher fairness in international trade, and which contributes to sustainable development, offering better commercial conditions, and guaranteeing the rights of small producers and vulnerable workers.
Highly skilled artisans
Manos’ artisans are organised in cooperatives located in small towns in Uruguay’s countryside. They spin and dye the yarns in
co-ops located in Fraile Muerto, Rio Branco and Dragón. These talented artisans create the most beautifully dyed yarns, with great dedication, skill and care. Their jobs at Manos del Uruguay, enable them to provide for their families and raise their children without having to emigrate to Montevideo’s poorer areas.
Every day while they work they can talk about their families, concerns and joys, while creating beautiful yarns for the world to enjoy. Each Manos skein comes with a tag with the name of the skilled artisan who made it and the co-op’s location. These finishing touches create a beautiful connection between the crafter using the yarn and the woman who created it.
A passion for colour
Manos del Uruguay’s fantastic colours are their trademark.
Manos combine research and experimentation with traditional techniques and more than 50 years’ experience. Their dyeing process uses small dye lots made in pots heated by wood fire or gas.
Manos colours are never completely solid and have beautiful nuances and tone variations.
To achieve their spectacular space dyed colours, they dye the same skein up to six times, to achieve a truly unqiue and beautiful piece of art. After being dyed, the yarns are sun-dried in the co-operative’s back yard. Every skein is unique and no two are exactly the same.
Proud to be part of the Manos story
Rooster is proud to be the exclusive wholesale distributor of the absolutely stunning Fair Trade Manos del Uruguay yarns in the UK and Ireland. Discover the beauty of Manos Yarns.
