Northern New Mexico is a magnet for creative individuals of all stripes, and the fiber arts thrive here. As a visitor, you will surely be inspired to re-create or commemorate some of your experience—be it the intense colors of the landscape in the brilliant, high-desert light, the bold geometric motifs of Native American art, or the dedication and skill of the craftspeople you meet. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to connect your passion for knitting with the richness of your visit.

The history of fiber arts in this region reaches back more than a millennium, when Native American tribes wove various fibers from plants and animals, including humans. Sheep and wool have been an important part of the economy and culture in New Mexico for 400 years, since their introduction by Spanish colonists. The sheep introduced by the Spanish, a breed called churros, produce rather rough wool that’s better suited to weaving than to knitting. Although weaving is the predominant fiber art form and is celebrated in galleries and museums, handknitting is also very popular. You’ll often find knitting and crocheting supplies sold alongside looms, shuttles, and weaving yarn.

This opinionated report is culled primarily from firsthand experience on a recent visit to Santa Fe and Taos, supplemented by interviews and Web research. It focuses on places and events of interest to handknitters, rather than more general “where to stay and what to do” information. You’ll want a general-purpose guidebook for practical considerations such as lodging, weather, and details on the region’s museums, restaurants, and outdoor recreation. Please note that the listings given are selective, not comprehensive.

An invaluable resource for planning the fibery highlights of your trip is the New Mexico Fiber Arts Trails brochures, downloadable as PDFs. These maps are your guide to fiber artists who live and work away from the well-beaten tourist paths. The North Central map lists the open studios, shops, and galleries in or near Santa Fe and Taos.

Santa Fe

Although Santa Fe comprises 37 square miles and has a population of over 70,000, tourist activity mostly clusters in a fairly small downtown area, around the historic plaza. All the locations described here are pinpointed on this Google map.

Local Yarn Stores Not to Miss

Tutto

Tutto is just a stone’s throw from the plaza downtown, so it’s a godsend for tourists who’ve forgotten to pack a project. On the second floor of the Mercado complex right across from the popular Blue Corn Café, Tutto has mostly glass walls that let in lots of Santa Fe’s wonderful light. It stocks lots of higher-end commercial yarn, including Jaeger and Kauni. There’s a nice selection of baby yarns, and it’s a sock-knitter’s paradise, with a huge stock of Opal, as well as other brands such as Cascade Heritage sock yarn. The shop also sells finished garments (not necessarily handknit), including its own brand of socks that are knit on an antique sock machine and finished by hand. The socks aren’t produced in the shop, though, so you can’t watch them being made. The store hosts a knitting group on Sundays, from noon to 2 p.m.

Tutto
137 W. Water Street, Santa Fe; Tuesday–Saturday 10:30–5:30, Sunday 11–2, closed Monday.

Miriam’s Well/The Santa Fe School of Weaving

About a half-mile from the plaza is Miriam’s Well/The Santa Fe School of Weaving. Knitters will feel right at home in this studio and shop, which is reached by going through a gate and down a flight of steps, into Miriam Leth-Espensen’s art- and flower-filled garden. Classes in knitting and weaving are kept small, and new sessions start about every three weeks. Miriam stocks locally produced yarns alongside artisan brands such as Great Adirondack Yarn Company, and she has good color selections of widely distributed lines such as Cascade, Brown Sheep, and Berroco. At the time I visited, Miriam was preparing to offer her original knitting patterns, including one for a lovely, simple lacy shawl.

Miriam’s Well/Santa Fe School of Weaving
614 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe; Monday–Saturday noon–6, or by appointment.

The Needle’s Eye
839 Paseo De Peralta, Suite O, Santa Fe; Monday–Saturday 10–5.

Inspiration is a very personal thing, and you could spend a week in Santa Fe just visiting its diverse museums. The one that most delighted me and set me itching to make something (in fiber, of course), was the Museum of International Folk Art. The permanent exhibit of toys, masks, and religious objects from the Girard collection is a required stop. The collection of textiles and costumes is also rich and varied; currently some of its pieces are featured in an interactive exhibit called “Needles+Pins: Textiles & Tools,” with demonstrations of needlework production methods including spinning, knitting, and embroidery, many of which visitors can try. Many of the demonstrations are by artists from the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center, described in the “On the Road Between Santa Fe and Taos” section, below. The “Needles+Pins” exhibition runs through January 4, 2009.

Museum of International Folk Art
706 Camino Lejo, Santa Fe; open daily 10–5 from Memorial Day to Labor Day; Tuesday–Sunday 10–5 from Labor Day to Memorial Day.

Best Place to Knit in Public

Santa Fe is not a late-night town, and there are no cafés in the downtown area where you’d be comfortable settling in to knit a while. Instead, pull up a park bench in the plaza and watch the sunset or the street life around you. You’ll be in good company: Native American artisans sell their own handmade wares just off the plaza at the Palace of the Governors.

Learning Opportunities

If you want to experience northern New Mexico as part of a group and like to take classes, check out Jane Thornley’s offerings. She has led knitter’s retreats in Santa Fe in recent years and is planning to do so again in 2009.

Jane will also teach at a retreat in Taos in fall 2009, at the historic Mabel Dodge Luhan house. (Mabel Dodge Luhan was a socialite and hosted writers such as D. H. Lawrence and painters including Georgia O’Keeffe. Her rambling adobe home was owned by Dennis Hopper in the ‘60s and is now open as a conference center. It’s worth a visit or, if you want to immerse yourself in a fantasy of being a bohemian artist, book a night’s stay here. Check your guidebook or see the Mabel Dodge Luhan Web site for details.)

Taos

Taos, about 90 minutes north of Santa Fe, is smaller and less bustling, with a funkier feel to it. It has plenty of expensive galleries, but also lots of little shops where you feel you could find something unexpected and inexpensive. All the locations described in this section are pinpointed on this Google map.

Local Yarn Stores Not to Miss

La Lana Wools

For thirty years Luisa Gelenter of La Lana Wools has been infusing yarns and fibers with intense, vibrant colors using only natural plant dyes. Although La Lana yarns and original patterns are available via mail order and at some local yarn stores, visiting the La Lana shop is like stepping into a bazaar, with yarn hanks hanging from every inch of wall space, dyed and raw fleeces tumbling out of baskets, and handmade shawls, hats, and sweaters beckoning for closer inspection. The Karakul Tailspun and Lincoln Thickspun yarns are wildly curly; they have to be seen and touched to be believed.

La Lana Wools
136-C Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos; open daily 10–5:30, occasionally closed on Wednesday or Sunday.

Weaving Southwest

Don’t be scared off by “weaving” in the name of Weaving Southwest. This gallery of contemporary tapestry on Taos’s main drag has quite a bit to interest handknitters. After you admire the masterworks in the front room and mull over whether it’s time to learn more about weaving, head back and peruse the large table full of books, some of which are specialized and hard to find. Gallery owner Rachel Brown literally wrote the book on weaving 30 years ago (The Weaving, Spinning and Dyeing Book), and you can get it here. You’ll also find the gallery’s Rio Grande line of hand-dyed knitting yarns (as well as rug and tapestry yarns), and handwoven shawls and scarves for sale.

Weaving Southwest
216B Paseo del Pueblo Norte, Taos; Monday–Saturday 9–5.

The Yarn Shop

Right off the Taos plaza, the John Dunn House Shops is a pleasant, block-long outdoor mall, where you’ll find the pocket-size Yarn Shop. It stocks a nice selection of midpriced yarns; there are lots of choices here for socks and children’s garments. The Yarn Shop is the exclusive dealer for local dyer Mary Gavin’s yarns; also check out the locally produced alpaca and bouclé wool. Manager Lori Adams has organized Taos’s Worldwide Knit in Public event. The Coffee Cats coffee stand is directly across from The Yarn Shop, and there are plenty of benches in the shade—perfect for knitting and watching the world go by.

The Yarn Shop
120B Bent St., Taos; Monday–Saturday 10–6, Sunday 11–5.

Taos Sunflower Yarns

If you make it as far north as Taos, you’ll definitely want to drive the extra 6 miles to the village of Arroyo Seco, where you’ll find Taos Sunflower Yarns. This spacious, light-filled shop showcases locally produced yarns and fibers—including yarns spun and rovings dyed by the shop owners. The shop also stocks a good selection of yarns from small producers elsewhere, including Farmhouse Yarns’ Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene and Ferndale Fiber’s Potluck Roving. Check out the Taos Angel Hair fancy fibers, which would really add some sparkle to handspun yarn or needle-felting. One-of-a-kind shawls handknit by the owners are also for sale. Currently the shop is only open half the week; check the website or call before you visit to make sure they are open.

Taos Sunflower Yarns
State Route 150 in Arroyo Seco, behind Doug West gallery
Thursday–Saturday 9:30–4, Sundays 10:30–4.

On the road to Taos Ski Valley, tiny, laid-back Arroyo Seco has a handful of interesting galleries and shops. Taos Cow makes its own yummy ice cream—you could also have a snack and knit a spell at either Seco Pearl or the Maverick County Café—both close by Taos Sunflower Yarns.

Events

Taos Wool Festival

The first weekend of October (October 4 and 5 in 2008) brings the Taos Wool Festival, with fleece and spinning contests, shearing demonstrations, and a week’s worth of classes, on fibery topics ranging from nalbinding to using Japanese knitting books to “I Can’t Believe I Bought the Whole Fleece.” Although some workshops are led by nationally known instructors like Donna Druchunas, this is a great opportunity to connect with and learn from local experts. Visiting the festival is free, and the workshops are a great value, with discounts for multiple classes.

Taos Wool Festival
Kit Carson Park, Taos; October 4 and 5, 2008.

Best Spot to Knit in Public

John Dunn House Shops

The open-air mall at the John Dunn House Shops has the right mix of picturesque landscaped surroundings, crowd energy, a coffee stand and deli for refreshments, and The Yarn Shop right in the middle.
Between Bent Street and Taos Plaza, Taos.

John Dunn House Shops

Best Place to Meet Local Knitters

Taos knits out every Wednesday night from 6 to 8, and visitors are welcome. The location alternates between the north and south sides of town every other week. On the first, third, and fifth Wednesdays it’s at Mondo Kultur on the north side: 36 State Road 522. On the second and fourth Wednesdays it’s at Mondo Kultur on the south side: 622 Paseo del Pueblo Sur. If you’re on Ravelry, you can check the details in the Taos Yarn Lovers group.

On the Road Between Santa Fe and Taos

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center

As you’re driving north from Santa Fe, you might want to hop off the highway to visit the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center. Here you can peruse and purchase what local fiber artists create, as well as stock up on local roving and yarn. The Center’s main purpose is to foster traditional fiber arts through training and community support; when you visit you may well see a class or spinning group in progress.

The Española Valley Fiber Arts Center
325 Paseo de Oñate, Española; Monday 9–8, Tuesday–Saturday 9–5, Sunday noon–5.

About the Author: Rebecca Freed

Rebecca Freed is a writer and editor who works on technical publications to support her yarn habit. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area