While not all relationships with it are created equal, when it comes to Claudia Seizer and Teri Artinyan owners of Wildfiber Studio (1453 14th St. Suite E, Santa Monica) and Jennifer Wenger-Turchen owner of Jennifer Knits (108 Barrington Walk, Brentwood), their love for yarn has thrown them into a happy loop creating a community filled with fiber substance as two of the eighteen women-owned businesses participating in Los Angeles at the four-day 9th annual L.A. County Yarn Crawl event March 26-29, 2020 9 a.m.–6 p.m.
Twenty years in business and thirty five years selling yarn and creating patterns, Torrance-born Wenger-Turchen’s ‘lovefest’ with yarn is more about the relationships knitters have with one another and fibers. Her clients are from around the globe. They have become a part of her family and know her on a first name basis which is why the shop is appropriately named Jennifer Knits.
“My store is my greatest creation (after my children),” she said. “We’ve changed and saved lives; we’ve created a community and friends; and we’ve shown people they can relax and have fun with fiber. Everything that knitting provides, is the reason I opened my shop. I love having a haven where all are welcome to celebrate their craft,” Wenger-Turchen explains.
Part of the haven Jennifer Knits has become, is a one helping all ages within a healing space through fiber arts. From the therapeutic kinship conversations to stress-relieving inclusion, the love of yarn has helped her shop’s PTSD Veterans, and even a brain tumor recovery patient to knit belonging, purpose and peaceful-being together.
For Pico Rivera-born Artinyan co-owner of the six year-old Wildfiber Studio, yarn had to woo her slowly in her own yarn dance romance from crochet to knitting.
“My first experience with yarn was in elementary school where I learned to crochet. I remember making a pink crochet cotton top. Fast forward fifteen years when I learned to knit. It was a way to pass time but, I wasn’t quite hooked,” she said. “Then another fifteen years later, I really fell in love with yarn and knitting. I’ve been obsessed with yarn and knitting ever since then. The greatest part of being a yarn shop owner is that I get to spread the love of yarn, knitting and crochet to all people. I take particular joy in seeing the excitement of someone who has just discovered knitting or crochet. I know the possibilities and can’t wait for them to discover the things they can accomplish.”
For more information on Claudia Seizer and Teri Artinyan’s Wildfiber Studio go to www.wildfiberstudio.com and for Jennifer Wenger-Turchen’s Jennifer Knits go to www.jenniferknits.com
The L.A. County Yarn Crawl’s group of unique shops are committed toward educating and teaching yarn crafts. The four-day event will feature special $300 prize giveaways via a passport and feature many other individual shop surprises. https://layarncrawl.org/pages/about-the-la-yarn-crawl 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 more information on the L.A. County Yarn Crawl 2020 please go to https://layarncrawl.org/ or email layarncrawl@gmail.com For all media requests contact event publicist Stacey Kumagai at 818.506.8675 mediamonster@yahoo.com
Submitted by Stacey Kumagai
