One day 28 years ago, Marcela Carrasco decided to leave for Barichara. She carried with her the memory of her grandmothers’ needles, her experience as a teacher—she always wanted to incorporate weaving into her teaching methods—, and dozens of bags filled with all sorts of materials such as fique, horsehair, wool, vines, fabrics of all colors and textures, spun and unspun cotton, looms, and heaps of stuff. That was, and still is, her heritage.

She is unstoppably curious. In the first days after arriving in the “yellow-earth paradise,” she heard a rhythmic and swaying symphony. She let herself be carried away by it, soon after discovering that it was the sound of the looms working in each house. At that exact moment, she became aware that this was the place where she wanted to live in. She also met the “queen of the place”, as she likes to call it: the fique plant. Like a ball of yarn, she unraveled each of its twists and turns through the stories of the craftsmen and craftswomen who carried the trade and tradition in their blood. She wanted to learn from them, and she did so successfully. They exchanged knowledge and stories, and, although she feels nostalgic when recounting how these legacies have started to be forgotten, she knows that she has to keep these weaving traditions alive.

This is why she has strived to not only master all of the region’s traditional techniques—from weaving in horizontal and vertical looms to knitting and macramé embroidery or crocheting—, but also add the Egyptian and backstrap looms, the Puerto Rican traditional Ñanduti or naranjito sun needles, and the three, four, six, and eight-strip braids to her repertoire. She knows she is interested in many things, which is why her catalog is enormous. Today, she even manufactures fabrics with recycled plastic bags in an attempt to help reduce environmental pollution.

She delights in creating, exploring, making mistakes, and starting over until she no longer makes mistakes. She also enjoys experiencing the teachings of the Arhuaco people, who believe that the yarn is inside each one of us and the weaver enters into it to take its soul out. Her dream had always been to open a workshop and a store, and she finally made it a reality. She called it Sua-ty, which means Song of the Sun in the Guane dialect. This is her way of thanking the land that adopted her.