Yarn Crawl Moves Across Valley Floor

The 10th Annual Los Angeles County Yarn Crawl will return after a two-year hiatus, reuniting 15 local yarn shops from Encino to Pasadena to Long Beach for a weekend treasure hunt for fiber shoppers next month.

L’Atelier, a yarn market in Encino, The Altered Stitch in Valley Village and the Valley-based mobile Yarnover Truck are among the local businesses featured in the event. 

Maridee Dangcil, owner of the Yarnover Truck and the crawl’s president, said the whole reason for the crawl is to bring in knitters, crocheters and crafters to see all the different yarn shops in Los Angeles County.

“Every shop has a different personality and this is a great weekend of events and special things that are happening to encourage people to come out and go to as many shops as they can and see what each shop has to offer,” Dangcil said. 

The four-day event from March 24 to 27 allows the shops to put on their best face and to show off what they have to offer customers, she added. 

“During the event the shops are giving away free patterns, they have yarns they are featuring,” Dangcil said. “Like I am bringing in some yarns that I don’t typically carry on the truck. It’s a special trunk show that I am doing.” 

The pandemic caused the Yarnover Truck, as well as several other businesses participating in the crawl, to pivot to an online sales model. As yarn sales are largely reliant on customers loving the exact color and feeling of specialty fibers for projects such as blankets and sweaters, Dangcil and other yarn retailers relied on virtual consultations and loyal customers to ride out COVID-19.

“It has been frustrating for some of our customers to adapt to the new world, but many have and we along with them. … We also got many calls from people who are just beginning to crochet or knit and needed to learn as well,” the owners of The Altered Stitch, Dawn Stancarone and Sherri Andrews, said in a statement. “Some people just needed a project to focus on to get them through the lockdowns. We started offering on-line classes, meetups and video shopping. It has been a difficult time, but we’re happy to report that somehow, we are still managing to get by.”

Each participating store will give away free crochet or knitting patterns and offer discounted yarn to visitors. Customers who complete and submit a stamped “passport” after visiting all 15 stores during the weekend will be entered in a raffle to win a prize package of goods donated by the businesses. 

“Covid-19 was, and continues to be, a tough thing to navigate, no doubt, and it’s been the one big thing that everyone has shared at the same time. … Somehow, a little stitching helps us see the beauty in life,” Karen Damskey, owner of L’Atelier Encino and Redondo Beach, said in a statement. “It’s that thing we can count on, watch grow, and develop. It also brings us together, because it’s something we can share no matter where we come from.”