About the Store
Formerly known as Rio Grande Weavers Supply, this company was conceived by Rachel Brown in 1985 as a retail outlet for the Rio Grande® Wheel which had been in production since 1979. In addition to the wheel, a few hand-dyed rug yarns, warp yarns and the newly developed Rio Grande
® Loom were offered on a single page price list. Since then our expanded 2250 sq. foot retail space has become a treat for the eyes of any fiber artist. Here you can see Rio Grande® Looms in operation, try out our Rio Grande® Spinning Wheel, choose from wall bins of hundreds of different colors/types of hand-dyed rug, apparel and tapestry yarns, and "talk weaving with our knowledgeable staff.
"I've always been involved in dyeing fibers. My involvement in dyeing lead me to choose Color Theory as my Honors Thesis at Radcliffe College. Those studies, in addition to my mothers training at Pratt Institute gave me a good foundation for mixing dyes to come up with colors I wanted. My walks in the country inspired me to create new colors, such as Dusty Lilac, which is the color of willow stock in the fall. I started out with common Rit dye and graduated to acid dyes from reading Elsie G. Davenport's book on dyeing. With all this training, I can think of a color and come up with the exact dyes to make that color. Natures vast pallet requires a large selection of various colors to be available to weavers." -Rachel Brown
Below are images, by Kathleen Brennan, from a day of dyeing at our beautiful outdoor studio in Arroyo Seco, NM. Rachel Brown overlooks the dye proscess, while her daughter, Lorelei Loveless, granddaughter, Teresa Loveless, Carmella Ruiz and Hannah Nichols dye several lots of yarns.