Knitch Magazine

Natalie Redding gives the author a tour of Namaste FarmsTucked away on a dusty street in the high desert between Los Angeles and San Diego is a little piece of heaven that few people ever see. From the road the view is partially obscured by a wrought iron fence and foliage that surrounds a well-kept home with pretty gardens leading to the door.

It wouldn’t be difficult to miss this house, set between other similar homes in what appears to be a community of horse farms and vineyards. You have to look very hard to see a small wooden sign that announces you’ve arrived at your destination: Namaste Farms -- one of the most unusual and inspirational places a knitter could hope to visit.

Namaste Farms is the brainchild of Natalie Redding, a brilliantly creative woman who single-handedly cares for a thriving farm, five beautiful children, a supportive husband and an up-and-coming yarn business that has rapidly gained the attention of the knitting media, designers and knitters alike.

“I can’t believe how quickly everyone accepted my yarns,” Natalie says, sincerely surprised by her own instant success. “I love my animals and my fibers but I wasn’t sure anyone else would love them as much as I do!”

Some yarn enthusiasts don't even bother to knit Natalie's yarns. These scarves are made simply by wrapping the yarn around the neck.Sitting on five acres behind the Redding family’s home, Namaste Farms is an eclectic collection of unusual mammals and birds. Muscovy ducks waddle past a cluster of turkeys that follow Natalie as she walks through her barn. She digs her hands into a container of feed and tosses handfuls of the seed to geese and fluffy, magnificent chickens that cluck contentedly as they peck at the ground. There are several exotic varieties showing off their vibrant plumage. Natalie mentions that the chickens are being raised by her daughters.

A cage of peacocks at the end of the barn features a beautiful white bird that looks like it belongs on Italy’s Isola Bella where magnificent white peacocks roam the island. Everywhere you look are healthy, well-fed animals that respond to their keeper as she approaches. Even the pigs that Natalie never expected to own rush to her for something delicious to nibble.

“I don’t really like pigs,” she says as she tosses them some feed, “but they were rescued and needed help.”

Happy, healthy Namaste Farms sheepThe pigs that had suffered maltreatment in the past appear to be happily at home at Namaste Farms...along with several barnyard cats who were also welcomed to the property after being abused or abandoned.

Continuing through the farm, Natalie calls out to her award-winning goats and sheep, beckoning them to come closer. Llamas and alpacas who are perpetually curious are first to respond to her calls. Then, after they're satisfied that they approve of the visitors who admire them, they return to standing idly in their pasture, enjoying the cooler autumn weather. Summers are hot in the desert, and the animals must endure the heat in their thick, wooly coats. When the temperatures become unbearably high, the animals are made more comfortable with fans that create a cooling breeze.

These sweet little creatures are extremely tame and quite curiousNatalie comments that the pens are a little wet as a result of torrential rains that have recently hit the area. In the distance, her one farm-hand, Ivan, and her eldest son, Connery, are clearing debris from the storms.

The handsome 19 year old boy doesn't seem to mind helping out on the farm.

"We sent him to military school," Natalie comments wryly, leaving little doubt that she's as disciplined and demanding a mother as she is a shepherdess.

She continues our tour of the farm.

“Zero,” she says as she admires one particular goat, “was mascot at the recent Poinsetta Bowl for the Anapolis Naval Academy. “She speaks of him with pride and affection as she explains to the embarrassed and uninitiated how you can instantly tell a goat from a sheep.

These beautiful locks will soon be Namaste Farms yarn sold exclusively at Yarnmarket"Look at the tail," she says as the gestures toward Zero's backside, "on goats, the tail goes upward."

Like many of the Namaste Farms inhabitants, Zero is a prize-winning specimen that produces the finest fiber imaginable -- because Natalie's goat herd consists of only the finest quality specimens. They're designer animals, so to speak, that befit the shepherdess' penchant for designer fashions. With their thick, gorgeous angora and pygora fleeces, these goats look impressive even to an untrained eye, and absolutely astounding to those who recognize and appreciate the breeding and care that goes into producing such beautiful coats.

In 2009 at Oregon Flock and Fiber, Namaste Farms goat fleeces won "Best Goat of Show", "Best Fleece of Show Honorable Mention," three Championships, two Grand Championships, and two Reserve Grand Championships. At the Black Sheep Gathering in 2009, Namaste Farms showed a single goat fleece which was awarded the prize, Reserve Grand Champion Goat Fleece.

Natalie's award-winning animals have coats that glistenWhen you look at the animals, you aren't surprised. Their luxuriant fleeces sparkle in the sunlight.

Proceeding toward another pen, Natalie begins to call out, "Todd! Todd Potter!"

At first a little shy, Todd ignores the calls. But when he sees her hand extended and a few crunchy pellets being offered, he approaches his owner and nibbles the food from her hand. Todd, it turns out, was named by Natalie's friend, Lovalee, who also helps out on the farm occasionally, and works with Natalie to spin and knit her yarns. Todd is Lovalee's brother, a motorcross rider...and a beautiful Wensleydale sheep. We wonder, "Should Todd the sheep feel proud that he's named after Lovalee's brother, or should Lovalee's brother be proud that his name has been awarded to a sheep?"

Wensleydale sheep are amongst Natalie's most highly awarded animals. Their thick, luxurious coats are iridescent, shimmering and glimmering in the light. When you touch them, you can't believe that the tightly coiled curls that cascade down the sides and back of the animal are so incredibly soft.

The author feeds "I'm growing these for our Wensleydale Long Locks yarn," Natalie says as she holds up some of the curls. "I won't shear them until they're about eight inches long, and then I'll hand spin them. You can't spin locks like these on machines."

This is why Namaste Farms yarns can be expensive: each hank is sheared, dyed and hand-spun by Natalie herself -- to her very exacting standards.

As she continues to show us her farm, the modern day shepherdess points out Bluefaced Leicesters, Gotlands and Old English Babydoll Southdowns, proudly informing us of her breeding efforts and her participation in a program to upgrade the Racka Hungarian sheep breed.

Turkeys follow us thrpugh the barn on our tour of Namaste FarmsWhile you can't help but feel the affection Natalie has for her animals, she insists that she's Darwinian in her approach. She doesn't want to perpetuate unhealthy strains. She wants her animals to be strong on their own.

But her story falls apart entirely when you see a pen with a little sheep whose fleece completely covers its eyes.

"This little sheep is blind," she tells us. "I kept it in the house until it got too big, but now it's outside and is doing well."

When it was being cared for in the family's home, it was the playmate of Natalie's baby, Roanie who'd giggle with glee as he ran with the little lamb following at his heels. (See the video, Roanie Had A Little Lamb.)

This beautiful peacock put on a full-feather display for usWhen we were finished walking through the impeccably maintained farm, we entered a home that you wouldn't believe housed two adults, five children and eight dogs...plus a friend who was convalescing after surgery.

The place was spotless. And quiet. Roanie was on the couch, held in the arms of his older brother, Connery, while they happily watched television together. Another son, Dane, was busy playing by himself. Two beautiful little girls, Jade and Jory, sat eating an after-school snack. Somehow you knew that this house could at any time break out into a happy riot of children's laughter, dogs barking and parents yelling for everyone to shut up. But today the kids were perfect and polite...and you wondered if you could take one or two home to be your own.

"The kitchen is where I dye my yarns," Natalie explained as she gave the tour. "I dry them outside in the yard, and then I spin them in my dining room."

You can visualize her sitting at her wheel, surrounded by kids and pets, hand-spinning every skein of yarn that bears the Namaste label. She is absolutely unforgiving when it comes to the quality of her yarns. Only the best are good enough.

Namaste Farms yarn worn loosely as a scarfThe house, the farm, the animals, the husband, the friends, and the kids all reflected Natalie's passion for style, beauty, honesty and perfection. They are the natural result of the fusion of Natalie's first career as an international model and her lifelong love of animals. After leaving the jet-setting world of runways and fashion shows, Natalie obtained her M.S. in Agriculture from California Polytechnic, San Louis Obispo. She graduated Cum Laude, of course.

Namaste Farms is off the beaten track, along a dusty road that even your GPS has difficulty locating. But if you're persistent, you might find yourself there...in a little piece of heaven that was created by Natalie's love.