Thread Caravan

07/01/2025

Reflecting on 10 years of fostering friendships and brining people together through the lens of craft. Thank you everyone who makes this community-building work possible. We are grateful for each and every one of you, and look forward to continuing to learn and grow together!

06/01/2025

LAST CALL: PANAMA. 
We’ve decided to add one more boat to our Panama trip taking place this January 21-25. During this trip, guests spend a day in Casco Viejo, Panama City, before island-hopping in the Caribbean waters of the Guna Yala archipelago. Here guests will participate in a multi-day appliqué embroidery workshop, led by Guna artisan instructors.
More information and reservations on our website.

Photos by and .garcia.ahern for Thread Caravan

04/01/2025

19/12/2024

“Let us not confine folk art and crafts to the pages of books and stillness of museums. Instead, let us breathe life into their essence, weaving them into the fabric of our daily lives, where their spirit can flourish and endure.”

A quote I love by Thai artist Suwan Kongthunthian founder of that I saw on display in the recently inaugurated Mountains to Mountains exhibit at . 

It was so refreshing to see this quote and reflect on its sentiment just after our trip in Kutch, India, a place where craft practices remain an integral and authentic part of daily life. Shown here, photos by our talented friend at the home studio of friend and collaborator ShamjiBhai Vankar Vishram and his family. Shamji’s lifestyle is exemplary of embodied craftsmanship, as he weaves craft into the fabric of his daily life.

We plan to return to Kutch in winter of 2025/2026. Trip waitlist sign up is on our website now.

25/11/2024

It’s live!! And limited spaces remain. Join us on the pristine island of Mallorca for an unforgettable craft experience.
During this retreat, we will have the opportunity to learn wool felting from the Mallorcan sustainable wool initiative Llanatura, as well as visit the studios of designers Accidente con Flores and GAADART.
Spend a day with the craftsman behind Viti Vinci, exploring the evocative power of Mallorcan aromas. In this workshop, we will have the opportunity to forage wild herbs, navigating the subtle world of natural essences as they teach us how to identify and communicate with aromas. At the end of the workshop, enjoy a refreshing dip at a secluded beach.
To close the retreat, we will weave palm with a local artist on the terraces of our beautiful home overlooking the Mediterranean sea.
During the trip, enjoy meals at Cana Toneta, Hotel Corazon, and Nama Restaurant, as well as outdoor garden dining with a local chef at our home Son Rullan. As an island known for its agriculture, fresh Mediterranean ingredients abound. Our meals will emphasize seasonal, local ingredients from small-scale farmers.

4 spaces remain to join us, June 3-7, 2025.

17/11/2024

For our 10 year anniversary, we are making 2025 one of our best years yet, and we have a very exciting announcement: A new trip launch in 2025!

August 21-30, we are offering 10 guests the chance to join us in the Himalayan mountains and valleys of Ladakh, India. Here we will work with native Ladakhi wool as we dye, spin and weave textiles on backstrap looms, guided by master craftspeople. It would be impossible to understand Ladakhi textiles without context of the surrounding landscape and culture. We’ll venture out into remote shepherding communities to learn about endemic agricultural practices and spend the night immersed in the region’s iconic natural settings. We are so grateful to our partners for making this textile dream a reality.

Registration for this trip will open next month. In the meantime, make sure you are signed up for the trip waitlist on our website.

14/11/2024

A visual recap of our recent Oaxaca Weaving workshop, documented by photographer 
This very special experience includes week-long accommodation in a rural home in Mitla, a guided visit to Zapotec caves and archaeological site, a candle-lit mezcal tasting, a temazcal ceremony, and of course multi-day assisted workshops in natural dyes and weaving led by our artisan partners Arturo and Susana.

Reservations are open to join us in February and October 2025.

13/11/2024

Huipiles from Nebaj, in the Quiche region of Guatemala, hanging on display at the market. 
These intricate textiles are woven on pre-hispanic backstrap looms, using an advanced weaving technique called brocade. During brocade weaving, an extra (and not structurally necessary) decorative thread is woven in, horizontally across vertical threads. This thread can span the entire width of a fabric or be in an isolated area. In brocaded pieces the base fabric is being woven in simultaneously, and the extra decorative threads typically begin to create a motif.

As we know by now, every traditional textile tells a story; sometimes with the material origin, sometimes with the colors used, sometimes with the motifs. In Nebaj, the motifs are of particular significance.
According to a report by the Museo Nacional de Arqueologia y Etnologia : In several mythological love stories in Mesoamerica, a hero appears who transforms into a hummingbird or takes the form of another animal. This story can be seen portrayed in Mayan art objects and also in the textiles of the Ixil people, including the Nebaj huiipil.

One final space remains to join us on our Guatemala 2025 textile tour.

29/10/2024

This upcoming July, we will be offering a textile trek in the Andes mountains of Bolivia, guided by Las Cholitas Escaladoras, the group of Aymara indigenous women defying gender norms and paving their own way as mountain climbers in a predominantly male-dominated sport.
We will have an introduction to the traditional textile processes of the region, working with native alpaca fiber. We will then embark on a challenging expedition, deeply immersed in nature surrounded by strong women. We will trek and camp at altitude through the well-preserved meadows, alongside alpine lakes, descending into the humid valley of the Cañaviri - Zongo community, and then to the base of the Huayana Potosí mountain where we will take an introductory ice climbing course on the ancient glacier.

Registration is now open on our website.
Photos of Las Cholitas Escaladoras licensed from talented visual storyteller

20/10/2024

Highlights from our Icelandic Wool Adventure earlier this month. What a beautiful week with creative women! It was so good we might just have to offer it again. ;) (trip waitlist is on our website).

Photos by our multi-talented team member .palmieri

13/10/2024

Visual diary of Guatemala, documented by .gaia. The full photo series has been shared in the digital Journal in our website.

02/10/2024

En route to Iceland for our inaugural Icelandic Wool Adventure exploring wool and knitting traditions, geothermal hotsprings, Iceland’s only mushroom farm, and more! For those that couldn’t join this time, you can follow along the experience and listen to our Iceland playlist, linked in stories.

29/09/2024

Friends, we have just relaunched the digital Journal on our website. 
There is no subscription needed; we’re simply sharing written and photo journal entries that take our community on a more profound journey behind the scenes. Journal entries will detail craft processes and material origin, and introduce our partners, collaborators and people and projects we admire in greater detail.

Here, snippets from our Guatemala photo essay by friend and photographer

“Guatemala, what a special place to witness.
Boat rides across the stunning Lago Atitlan: gathered in a boat with a group of people who carry their colorful belongings across the lake, onto the next adventure.
Joyful Tuk Tuk rides from town to town, delicious meals in between trees and mountains in some hidden garden, the hustle and bustle of the markets, walking through the picturesque streets of Antigua, the textures and colors of all the beautiful textiles… These are just a few of my highlights from this special trip to Guatemala and I’m so grateful to have been able to experience this journey through the brilliant guidance and curation of Thread Caravan and its wonderful team. I will forever remember this trip!”

Thank you Luna for sharing your perspective with us. 🌞

Head to our website to explore more Journal entries, and learn more about or sign up for our Guatemala Textile Traditions retreat.

27/09/2024

The absolutely iconic embroidery of Kutch, India is renowned for its vibrant, intricate designs and rich cultural significance. While different designs distinguish respective communities, they are also are emblematic of stages of a woman’s life, and yet also incorporate the individual design taste of each embroidery artist.

Kutch embroidery features diverse techniques such as mirror work, thread work, and appliqué. It is celebrated for its colorful patterns and storytelling ability.

Join us this December on our craft retreat in Kutch, India, for workshops and studio visits featuring embroidery and other textile traditions from the region. Three final spaces remain to join us!

Videos by .poon for

20/09/2024

You’ve been asking, and we have answers… So excited to announce that we will be headed to MALLORCA this upcoming June 3-7 to host a creative island retreat. We will host guests at the stunning , taking guests to wool workshop with , studio visit with , dinner at and more. Hosted in collaboration with . 
Reservations will be open soon, but in the meantime, you can sign up for the trip waitlist on our website.

18/09/2024

And just like that! One of our January Panama trips is sold out. In case you missed it, we still have two sailboat cabins available on our January 16-20th dates, where guests will be joined by fabulous friend and photographer .

During our Panama trip, guests spend a day in Casco Viejo, Panama City, before island-hopping in the Caribbean waters of the Guna Yala archipelago. Here guests will participate in a multi-day appliqué embroidery workshop, led by Guna artisan instructors.

More information and reservations on our website.

11/09/2024

Alpaca fiber, a luxurious natural textile, has been integral to Peruvian culture for thousands of years. Sourced from alpacas native to the Andean highlands, this fiber is renowned for its exceptional softness, warmth, and hypoallergenic properties. Its hollow core provides superior insulation while remaining lightweight, and its natural range of colors reduces the need for dyeing. Additionally, alpaca fiber is durable and less likely to shed, making it ideal for weaving high-quality textiles.

This upcoming July we will have another opportunity to connect with this fiber, the animals from which it comes and the human stewards who care for them in accordance with their ancestors’ traditions. Registration for our Sacred Valley Textiles retreat in Peru is open on our website.

PS - We have an earlybird discount offering until September 15. Use the code “2025special” for a $300 discount.

Photos by .garcia.ahern for Thread Caravan.