STITCHES IN TIME YARN & ALAMITOS BAY YARN COMPANY SHARE COMMON COMMUNITY THREADS WITH THE RETURN OF THE 10TH L.A. COUNTY YARN CRAWL MARCH 24-27, 2022

Long Beach/Bellflower, USA, 2022-Feb-09 — /EPR Network/ — With a little over twelve miles between them, Candace Broeker, owner of Stitches in Time Yarn (16525 Bellflower Blvd., Bellflower) and Sandra Carter, Michelle Nash and Carla Hubbart, the brand new owners of Alamitos Bay Yarn Company (174 N. Marina Dr., Long Beach) share a common thread of love for their long-standing yarn communities.  These two shops are excited about once again making in-person connections while taking part as the 15 women-owned fiber arts retail businesses across the 143 mile sprawl in the “live event comeback” of the four-day 10th L.A. County Yarn Crawl slated for  March 24-27, 2022 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

Celebrating 28 years in business as of 2022, participating in every L.A. County Yarn Crawl since its inception making this her 10^th crawl, Bellflower’s Candace Broeker of Stitches in Time Yarn www.stitchesintimeyarn.com lives up to her name literally stitching “all this time” even amid the pandemic.  When COVID hit, Broeker never lost her love for stitching, something she has done every single day while doing all she could to pivot amid the pandemic. Hearing “I wouldn’t have made it through the pandemic without you, the shop and my projects!” from her customers is precisely why Broker keeps on stitching.

“I did curbside service for sales and minimal help on projects, mail order and shortened shop hours with masks and lots of hand washing and sanitizer. I never completely lost touch with my customers. I went “to work” every regular day but certainly in the beginning it was very quiet!  I didn’t have my regular classes but did help people who were stuck and couldn’t fix their mistakes. Also, we had regular knit-alongs (and crochet) on our patio; this was very popular as folks really needed to get out of their homes and see other humans! I had everyone bring their own chair and we kept 6 feet apart. I keep in touch with customers by email, which I continue,” declares Broeker.

Passionate about working with yarn herself never missing a day of stitching since she learned to crochet in 1967, Broeker understands the value of her five-decade daily personal yarn commitment.  The well-being and meditative benefits of stitching also translates to her purposeful need to stay committed to help her customers of all ages and stages continue their very own ‘stitches in time’ through her own store’s growth and evolution.  This effort supports why she does what she does, as she looks forward to the upcoming yarn crawl.

“I have had more than one person tell me they would not have made it through a terrible life event if it were not for my shop and the other regulars who have become friends. Knitting is how I de-stress and comfort myself as well as how I make a living, so I didn’t need to KEEP my passion alive (amid pandemic), it’s ALWAYS alive. I think what people will enjoy most is to be out of confinement and able to see and touch pretty things in real life instead of just on a screen. Also, this is one more step toward “normal life” that we are all yearning for!  Most commonly folks were and are really appreciative that I am still here for the help and community. I am motivated by the need to stay in business to support myself and equally to connect with the wonderful friends I’ve made throughout the years of having my shop. For years my students have told me how important it is to them to have my shop to visit, to receive help AND for the companionship and friends they make,” shares Broeker.

 

Broeker’s early work for a family-owned yarn store as instructor, designer and buyer eventually enabled her to start her own yarn business.  With her longevity now as a business owner, Broeker’s other commitment is sticking to the classic choices which launched her humble beginnings, while also being agile and open to new things as they change.  Through her teaching and working with the younger generation, she keeps an eagle eye on the framework of basic concepts through education amid her younger customer’s creative desires.

“As the years go by, the things kids want to make changes a bit, but the classic choices continue. These days, fingerless gloves are popular while 10 years ago no one was doing that project. Also these days doll clothes aren’t quite as popular. So I rely on each child to guide me as to what they want to make; I’ve gotten great project ideas from them!  Probably the most important idea I communicate is “look what you can do” and we took a ball of “string” and made this great (fill in the blank)”.   The projects may change with fashion, but concepts, I believe, will remain the same.”

 

Becoming the pandemic’s powerful new yarn trio, Sandra Carter, Michelle Nash and Carla Hubbart found themselves making a very unexpected commitment to becoming business partners and yarn shop owners during COVID.  Alamitos Bay Yarn Company’s www.yarncompany.com name and long-running reputation for twenty-two years has been a staple in the Long Beach community for many fiber arts enthusiasts.  When the former owners decided to take a long-overdue and well-deserved road to retirement, Carter, Nash and Hubbart understood the company’s long important legacy for the Long Beach area.  Together, they joined forces to take the business reins and yarn skeins forward.

“We did not want to see Alamitos Bay Yarn Company close. It’s special – it’s a community. The greatest part of owning this shop is listening to customers share with us what the shop means to them. Having our shop here has shown us how much the yarn community appreciates good quality yarn,” shares Hubbart.

Carter, Nash and Hubbart took on business ownership of the two decade-old yarn shop that has been a local community favorite.  Alamitos Bay Yarn Company was initially built by its previous owners from a very early relationship with yarn when they were young, much like new owners Carter and Hubbart.  However, for Nash… it is a different story proving anyone can connect with yarn for the first time at any age.  Nash was fifty-one years old, expecting her first grandchild when she gravitated toward yarn.  It was her thought of knitting a baby hat as being a ‘grandma thing to do’ which sparked her first yarn connection.  During the quarantine, she kept creating.  Nash completed a cardigan combining yarns and colors to get a 70’s look which was out of her comfort zone but the end result was perfect. She was justifiably proud of herself to the point of giggles.

Nash isn’t the only one giddy with giggles as the new shop owners find themselves in an interesting place with new adventures amid this old pastime which now comes with a sense of renewal even amid a pandemic. The brick and mortar, like most L.A. yarn shops has added an online digital component, featuring a BayPoints Rewards program on their website, online classes for all levels to learn how to make simple things like a granny square to more intricate advanced lace scarves.  The owners do love their store and the aromatherapeutic yarn effects…. “Walking into the shop and being welcomed by rows of color, texture and smell is an immediate lift to our senses, and our spirits. Every day we find ourselves saying, “Ooooo, what can we make with this yarn?”  they echo in unison.

 

The fiber arts industry spans all age ranges, and generations and there is no specific time when one will get bitten by the yarn bug.

This common yarn thread often unites all crafters at some point in their life to become part of the yarn community as life brings about new beginnings and endings, much like Alamitos Bay Yarn Company and its new ownership chapter.   For Carter, Nash and Hubbart, running a retail business as their ‘new chapter’ during the shut-down was not the easiest of tasks. The trio did what they could to stay connected to the common-thread love of yarn within their fiber arts community as Hubbart explains.

“The shop was closed for a time as mandated. When it was reopened, it was with very limited hours, limited number of people, no classes or events. Our yarn community greatly missed classes, events, and social opportunities.  (But) we stepped up our social media game. We continue to have new knitters, crocheters and weavers come into the shop every day. We also have new, experienced fiber artists visit the shop for the time just as often. Our community’s support continues to be invaluable to us!  Regardless whether you knit, crochet or weave, the love of fiber is the common bond. For each individual personally, these skills will serve all of us for the rest of our lives on many levels: satisfaction of accomplishment, self-reliance, self-awareness, artistic expression.”

The history of their shop’s clientele loops back around from first-time shoppers to veteran stitchers, as they’ve witnessed throughout their turn at the yarn business’ spinning wheel, further proving how a community common thread can serve itself again and again.  For Carter, Nash and Hubbart, they discovered this yarn thread in one of their pandemic sales through an unexpected shopper.

“It’s just one of our cutest stories – A young man came in to get Christmas gifts for his mom and aunt. He wanted to get them each yarn to knit a sweater. He did have a budget and wanted to give each of them actual gifts not just gift cards. After a bit of sales history research, we discovered they were both weavers. He left the shop with two cones of weaving yarn, two handmade shuttles, and a big smile on his face.”

 

When a common yarn thread between a fiber arts community gets interwoven into something bigger than just the retail shop itself, it is here that Alamitos Bay Yarn Company’s Carter, Nash and Hubbart and Stitches in Time Yarn’s Broeker find something special about why they do the work they do.  These four Long Beach/Bellflower area business owners will be part of the fifteen Greater Los Angeles area specialty yarn shops https://layarncrawl.org/pages/shops in the 143 mile sprawl of the Westside, South Bay, Downtown L.A., San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys.

Joining Alamitos Bay Yarn Company onsite in Long Beach Friday, March 25^th 2022 will be the 107-square foot mobile Yarnover Truck www.yarnovertruck.com. Owned by Minneapolis, Minnesota-born Maridee Dangcil, the mobile yarn truck celebrates its 9^th anniversary selling hand-dyed yarns in L.A. County the day before the start of the crawl.

The 10^th L.A. Yarn Crawl will be bringing a mix of old and new to the event.  Returning will be the classic crawl popular passport prize promotion, where each of the fifteen shops will feature a $300 gift basket prize. To enter crawl participants will drop their completed passports with stamps from the Yarn Crawl sprawl of shops visited: https://layarncrawl.org/pages/about-the-la-yarn-crawl  Other prize level components will feature general crawl prizes with a certain number of shops visited. In addition to the free patterns given away as a regular feature of the crawl each year, to celebrate the 10^th crawl will be a first-time additional Treasure Hunt pattern giveaway in both knit and crochet.

The L.A. County Yarn Crawl’s group of unique shops are committed toward educating and teaching yarn crafts. The purpose of the event is to create awareness by bringing together the Los Angeles community in the fiber arts all while creating friendships, inspiring creativity, projects, and memories to last a lifetime. For event details, COVID safety protocol and more information on the L.A. County Yarn Crawl 2022 please go to https://layarncrawl.org/ or email layarncrawl@gmail.com  For all media interview and photo requests contact event publicist Stacey Kumagai of Media Monster Communications, Inc. at 818.506.8675 mediamonster@yahoo.com

-30-