About the Company

Tierra Wools is a spinning, hand dyeing, and hand weaving workshop and a retail store. We buy local wool, wash it, spin it, and weave the yarn into beautiful weavings which are sold from our workshop in Los Ojos, a small village in rural Rio Arriba County in northern New Mexico. The enterprise is operated by Los Ojos Handweavers, LLC, a limited liability company owned by the growers, washers, spinners and hand weavers that produce its goods, as well as supporting investors.

Many of the weavers of Tierra Wools descend from Spanish immigrants who settled in the Rio Grande Valley as early as the 16th century, with latter waves of immigrants from Spain and Mexico. Sheep raising was the economic mainstay of these settlers and the textiles produced by them were called "Rio Grande blankets." This weaving style was influenced by a mix of Spanish, Mexican and Indian designs, and characterized by the use of stripes and bands, saltillo diamonds (diamond pattern usually in center of weaving), and Vallero stars (six pointed star).

Some of the original member-owners of Tierra Wools.
Left to right: Karen Casias, Molly Manzanares, Nena Garcia Russom, Norma Martinez, Angie Serrano, Johanna Terrazas, Carla Terrazas. Not pictured: Sophia DeYapp.

Tierra Wools was started 25 years ago as part of Ganados del Valle, a community-based nonprofit organization with the mission of empowering rural people to create sustainable economies by building on cultural and agricultural resources. Maria Varela, Antonio Manzanares, Gumi Salazar and other founding members of Ganados provided crucial support, particularly in the early years, to help build Tierra Wools into the organization it is today. By buying local wool, training and hiring local people, and carrying on the Rio Grande weaving tradition of our ancestors, we are carrying on this important mission.

Tierra Wools fills a gap in this remote mountainous area by providing training and experience in business management and the art of weaving. By developing new skills and participating in a successful business, members and employees have developed self-esteem and been empowered to take leadership in the home and in the community.

In October, 1996 the employees of Tierra Wools formed a for-profit Limited Liability Company (LLC); Los Ojos Handweavers, LLC. On December 31, 1996 we purchased certain assets and liabilities of the Tierra Wools enterprise from Ganados. In March 1998, we purchased the more than 120 year old adobe building that houses our showroom and weaving studio. Los Ojos Handweavers, LLC is owned by its employees, as well as by investors interested in the success of this unique enterprise. We employ 12 to 20 people, depending on the season. 18 of the employees have invested as owners of the business. Our earned income from weavings, yarn, wool washing and our weaving school since 1986 is in excess of 6.0 Million dollars. Most of this money recirculates within the local economy.

Since buying the business, we have added a guest house, a weaving school, a fiber scouring plant, and revived natural dyeing of organically raised wool yarns. We have received support for our expansion and programs from Valley National Bank, the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, the New Mexico Sheep and Goat Council, the Regional Development Corporation (funded by the US Department of Energy), the New Mexico Community Foundation, SCI/ZERI Mew Mexico, Wool Traditions, and the Catholic Campaign for Human Development.