Handmade Wool Knit Hood with Ears, Fleece Lined

Ganesh Himal Trading has worked for years developing a colorful and diverse selection of hand knit sweaters, hats, gloves, mittens, glittens and socks. Our wool is a soft, high quality blend with long fibers for strength, warmth and durability. Additionally, we carry a line of hemp knitwear using a 50/50 hemp/wool blend. This blend creates soft heathery tones that compliment the brighter tones of our wool knitwear.

On their first trip to Nepal, in 1984 Denise and Ric bought wool sweaters from a Tibetan refugee family. They took the sweaters trekking, and for over a month, wore them almost daily. After returning to Kathmandu, they went back to see Lobsong and Dolkar, to tell them how much they appreciated the sweaters. Ric and Denise were invited in and climbed an old set of carved wooden stairs to join them for Tibetan tea and bread. As they worked out some form of communication, neither of them knowing the others language, it became apparent that they were able to make more sweaters than they could sell. They had the skill and the desire to provide for themselves despite being refugees, what they lacked was a market. This conversation was the genesis of what would become Ganesh Himal Trading.

What intrigued us initially about selling knits, besides the quality, is what still inspires us today. It is the perfect cottage industry providing thousands of people in Nepal with a source of income. Most of the knitters are woman who can work in their homes as time allows or in neighborhood community groups. As these women generate their own income, their status and decision making in their families grows. Over 40 years and thousands of sweaters later, we now work with five different knitting groups, creating a terrific variety of knits.