The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt
What separates a garment that is cherished for decades from a garment that is tossed or donated after a year? It’s the classic nature of the design, the quality of the material, but most importantly, the story behind it. The story could come from the memories you’ve made while wearing the garment and the way it makes you feel about yourself. This is my greatest hope for Marty Lynn: that these pieces are with you through all the very best that life has to offer.
But I also have another story to tell about the making of this garment, one that I hope will make you feel like the dream of a slower and more meaningful life is possible. We are all searching for connection and community, and I want to share how this was found in the making of The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt.
How It All Began
I first stumbled across Tara’s farm when I was just starting Marty Lynn, scouring the internet for local fibre farms. I nervously sent her an email, and she replied with more generosity than I could have imagined, sharing resources, contacts, and encouragement that helped me take my first steps.
Not long after, I attended her shearing day in April. Watching the way she cared for her animals and tended to the land, I knew right away: this was someone I wanted to collaborate with. So when Tara emailed me in June with a few t-shirt design ideas and a batch of alpaca yarn she wanted to use, I didn’t hesitate.
We spent the summer designing the t-shirt around the alpaca yarn that came back from a new local mill with slubs — little irregularities that made it unsellable in skeins. But we wanted the design to showcase that texture, depth, and character rather than hide it. After a couple of months of emails, calls, and an in-person visit over homemade soup, The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt was born.
About Providence Lane Homestead
I just need to brag about Tara for a little bit because she is an exceptional human being and farmer. If more people tended their land the way Tara does, the world would be a better place.
Tara’s farm, located just outside Calgary, is Canada’s only Animal Welfare Approved fibre farm (A Greener World). It’s home to endangered Border Leicesters and a small herd of alpacas. She is passionate about rare breed conservation and helping to keep viable populations of healthy animals for the future. Tara practices regenerative agriculture, partnering with groups like Cows & Fish and MultiSAR to combine ecological science with Indigenous ways of knowing. Practicing Adaptive Multi-Paddock (AMP) grazing, Tara spends hours each day with her herd, observing in order to better understand how to care for her land and her animals.
Beyond her commitment to helping her land and animals thrive, Tara goes above and beyond to foster community, organizing multiple events throughout the year to help connect people from all walks of life to the land and to each other. We launched The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt at her Open Farm Days, where she welcomed over 500 people to her farm for tours, educational excursions with archaeologists and wetland conservationists, and a number of fibre demonstrations. I feel a strong connection to my local fibre community, in large part due to her efforts.
Meet The Fibre: Alpaca
This design was the first time I’ve worked with alpaca, and I’m obsessed. It’s softer than wool, hypoallergenic (no lanolin), and the hollow structure of the fibres makes it lighter and warmer by weight. It’s also naturally drapey and comes in a range of beautiful, earthy colours. And let’s not forget the alpacas themselves. With their padded feet and light grazing habits, they’re gentle on the land. They eat less forage and drink less water than many livestock, making them a great fit for regenerative farms like Providence Lane.
The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt comes in two natural colours - Fawn and White. The Fawn colour comes from Freya Warrior Princess, Queen of the Damned (yes, that’s her full name, and she has the personality to back it up). She is fierce and the protector at Providence Lane, and her fibre is the softest of any animal on the farm. The White colour comes from Jubilee Rose and Susannah, two alpacas with completely different personalities. Jubilee is the shy, curious one who sticks close to her best friend Dazzle, while Susannah is the independent lady who loves dandelions and bathes in the water trough, sheep’s dismay be damned.
So yes, when you wear this shirt, you can actually say “this colour comes from Freya, or Jubi, and Susie.
The Design Process
The Providence Lane Alpaca T-Shirt was designed to let the yarn shine. It features:
- a relaxed boatneck
- dropped shoulders
- side slits for movement
- and raw hems that curl naturally with wear
I knit each one on my manual flatbed knitting machine, piece by piece, then link it together on my Hague linker. Each shirt takes me about 4–5 hours to produce. It’s oversized, drapey, and just as easy to throw on with low-rise jeans as it is to layer over a long-sleeve in winter.
Like all Marty Lynn knitwear, it’s made-to-order, meaning I don’t make a piece until you’ve ordered it. No waste and no overproduction!
Why This Piece Matters
This t-shirt has quickly become one of my most popular designs, and I think it’s because it brings everything together:
- a farm-to-closet story you can trace from animal to garment
- a real-life example of what our work can look like if we get creative, dream big, and work together
- regenerative farming and animal welfare at its core
- local mills and makers doing the work right here in Canada
- a versatile, beautiful piece of knitwear you can wear year-round
