Early October is a great time to head to Northern NM for many reasons. My primary reasons for a trip this month were to soak in some wool time and to teach a 3-day class for Taos Wools Festival. The trip southeast to Taos included a few adventures including a stop at Tierra Wools in Chama. The banner image for this post is a detail of a tapestry by Molly Manzanares, owner of Tierra Wools. It is 56 x 85 inches.
The drive from Durango to Taos is a beautiful one especially when Highway 64 is open over the mountain (which also cuts off a lot of time!). Between Pagosa Springs and Chama we ran into a cattle drive. Three cowboys on horses were herding these cows likely down from summer pastures. The working dogs were amazing to watch.
Between Pagosa Springs, CO and Chama, NM we ran into a cattle drive
Those dogs were amazing! Each cowboy had three of them and they could move those cattle so quickly.
We stopped at Tierra Wools because it is a magical place you can’t drive by without visiting. It is in Chama and they carry not only this gorgeous churro yarn but a variety of textiles from rugs to pillows to gorgeous tapestries. They have all sorts of fiber projects, roving, tools, and gifts. Oh, and they also carry my book for which I am eternally grateful.
Shepherd’s Lamb churro yarns, Tierra Wools, Chama, NM (They make them right there except for the milling!)
When you’ve lived in an area for awhile and you visit yarn-y places a lot, it is pretty hard to go into a yarn shop without meeting someone you know. The surprise at Tierra Wools was that my long-time retreat participant and friend Jon from Missouri was there picking out yarns for a rug. Isn’t this showroom beautiful? There are walls of gorgeous churro yarn and so many amazing textiles.
Showroom at Tierra Wools with yarns picked out by Jon.
Workshop dogs! I don’t know if these dogs are also sheep-working dogs, but the Manzanares family who run Tierra Wools have a flock of churro and rambouillet sheep. They’re coming down from the mountains this week, so perhaps the younger of these dogs at least will get to go along. They are certainly great at greeting customers in the shop and perhaps that is enough of a job!
The workshop room at Tierra Wools. It is a great place to take a class!
I made a short video of the drive. You’ll get a peek at the scenery, the cowboys, and the beautiful yarns at Tierra Wools in Chama. If you get the blog via email you can see the video on YouTube HERE.
From Chama we headed over Hwy 64 which goes from Tierra Amarilla to Tres Piedras before going on to Taos. The aspens are all changing and are so full of color and life. As you drop into Taos, you pass the scrappy dwellings which remind me of my own off-grid living near Blanca, CO and then past the Earthships before crossing the Rio Grande Gorge bridge and dropping into Taos itself. We found our lodging for the week and tried to settle the very unsettled pups into a place they didn’t quite understand. They’re now used to a lot of quiet, so neighborhood dogs, kids, and machines are going to take a few days to get used to again.
Changing aspens along Hwy 64 between Tierra Amarilla and Tres Piedras, NM. Cerro Pedernal near Abiquiu is almost in the center of the photo way in the background.
I’ll leave you with a brief puppy story.
We stopped for lunch at a place we like in Pagosa Springs (2 Chicks and a Hippie) and left the dogs snoozing in the car in the shade. When we came out 40 minutes later, they had eaten halfway through a bag of corn chips which they’d uncovered in the very back of the car under a pile of jackets. I’m entirely certain Beau was the instigator of these shenanigans and likely ate most of the spoils, but this was Sal’s face after we were loaded up ready to roll.
Sal feeling a little guilty?
And a few minutes later I looked back to see that she had burrowed under the blanket in their dog seat. I think Beau was saying, “don’t worry Sal, we’re not really in trouble! Chips are an opportunity!”
Sal burrowed under a towel in her car seat after helping with the great corn chip ingestion.
I hope you’re having some fall weaving adventures yourself.