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Rug-maker marks its 30th anniversary
PAINT ROCK, Texas — Rugs of many colors and
sizes are displayed on racks and in stacks on the
floors of several rustic old buildings which once
housed the general store and hardware in this
130-year-old Concho County seat.
Ingrid’s Custom Hand Woven Inc. in Paint Rock,
30 miles east of San Angelo, celebrates its 30th
anniversary this year.
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“From just a few colors and designs to the
dedication, skills and talents of our eight
employees, we offer numerous designs and 76
solid colors,” said Reinhard Schoffthaler, owner
and president. “Aside from our many standard
color blends, we also offer numerous custom
color blends.”
The Concho Valley Plaid is one of Ingrid’s
favorite designs. It comes in five color
combinations. The latest fiber design is a wool
and mohair blend. The area rugs and saddle
blankets come in an array of colors.
Named for Indian pictographs painted on
limestone cliffs across the Concho River, Paint
Rock for many years was a major center for
sheep and wool production. Likewise, the
Edwards Plateau in Southwest Texas is home to
a majority of the nation’s Angora goats which
grow the mohair fiber.
“They (wool and mohair fibers) are all dyed at
the International Textile Center on the Texas
Tech University campus in Lubbock. The sizes
range from 10 inches wide to a maximum of 12
feet wide, in 1- inch increments on custom
orders and any length. Each rug is reversible
and has a thickness of approximately 3/8 to ½
inch,” Schoffthaler said. “The largest we ever
made was 12 foot wide by 28 foot long.”
Schoffthaler said the company has done custom
work for San Angelo-based Mohair Council of
America with a nationwide clientele and a
number of well-known stores such as Ethan
Allen, Decorators at Martha’s Vineyard in
Massachusetts and accounts in Europe.
Known for producing 100 percent hand woven
wool rugs and saddle blankets, plus a blend of
wool and mohair rugs, the company was
experiencing hard times at the turn of the
century when sheep and Angora goat numbers
started a decline.
“For the past four years, we have seen a
continual increase in the business, but our
primary focus now is a custom inventory from
folks who raise llamas and alpacas,”
Schoffthaler said. “Recently, a Fort Worth
attorney who runs buffalo on his ranch started
shipping bison fiber for rugs.”
The llama is related to the camel but smaller,
and the alpaca resembles a small llama.
Business is picking up to the point that
customers are having to wait a bit for their order.
“At the present time, we are 14 weeks behind,”
Schoffthaler said.
Dan and Dale Goodyear of Berry Acres Llamas,
Robesonia, Pa., and Wally Henderson of Tup
Tim Place Llamas in New Braunfels were
among the first customers outside the wool
industry.
These days, Ingrid’s weaves custom rugs for
about 500 alpaca and llama owners —
nationwide and in Canada — annually. The
owners pay the Paint Rock manufacturer for
making the rugs and sell the finished product
themselves.
On a tour of the looms, Schoffthaler pointed to a
half dozen large boxes unloaded from a freight
truck the day before. “Those contain alpaca
from Thousand Oaks Alpacas in Idaho,” he said.
Both alpaca and llama fleeces arrive in boxes
from customers all across the nation. They have
their own palette of natural colors. The alpaca
fleece is a mix of brown, white, fawn, silver gray
and black. The llamas yield colors ranging from
coffee brown and dark mahogany to white, red
and appaloosa.
“We use the second and third grade fiber,”
Schoffthaler said. “The first grade fiber is used
to make knitting yarn. The second and third
grade fiber is from the animal’s neck and belly,
which is short and course fiber. It is shipped to
us and we can make beautiful rugs.”
The fleeces are blended according to the
customer’s wishes. After that, the fiber goes
through a blower to remove dirt and other
vegetation. The spinning machine is the next
stop, where the fleece is converted into yarn.
The yarn is spun before going onto the loom
where it is woven.
More than 45,000 square feet of rugs are
produced annually.
Ingrid’s opened in the old general store on Paint
Rock’s main street — U.S. Highway 83 — in
1979. It was started by Leo and Ingrid Haas, a
second cousin of Schoffthaler.
Austrian-born Schoffthaler, a trained chef, came
to America and operated a restaurant on Long
Island, N.Y. Not seeing a future in the big city,
he visited his Paint Rock relatives and bought
an interest in Ingrid’s in 1981. The Haases
decided to open a second rug spinning business
at Fredericksburg in 1983.
“First I was a partner but finally acquired total
ownership of the Paint Rock plant and have
operated the business through good and rough
times myself since 1983,” Schoffthaler said.
San Angelo Standard Times © - 2009 Scripps
Newspaper Group - Online
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