Q & A With L.A. Local Shop Owner | by Kellee Creative

Kellee from KelleeCreative, an Etsy seller of handwoven goods, interviewed the owner of one of her favorite L.A. yarn shops, Gather DTLA. Handmade Loves is all about support local and shopping small, so we are thrilled to have a guest blogger share that passion and interview her favorite local businesses. Thanks, Kellee!

Enjoy!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t really think of anything better than a yarn store that happens to be above a bookstore. Gather DTLA is a fiber store that’s located upstairs in Los Angeles’s iconic bookstore, The Last Bookstore. Amidst a busy, bustling Downtown Los Angeles, Gather is a quiet respite for fiber lovers of all types. As a weaver, I’m always looking for different textures and vibrant colors in the yarn I choose, and Gather does not disappoint.

I had the honor of sitting down with Tifanee, the owner of Gather, and I was delighted by her passion for what she does. The store is an obvious representation of Tifanee herself – welcoming and colorful! We cover everything from her struggles with knitting right-handed as a lefty to her journey in taking ownership of Gather.

Meet Tifanee

Tell me a little bit about yourself! Where you’re from, etc.

My name is Tifanee Taylor, and I grew up all over the place because my dad was in the Air Force when I was a kid, but I guess mostly I’m from Philadelphia – that’s where I lived the longest and most recently. I was there for maybe the past 20 years. I’ve been in LA for one year!

Well, welcome!

Thanks! I first got into fiber stuff when I was a kid – my mom used to crochet blankets and baby things, so I learned how to crochet from her. And then I got away from it and got more interested in other things like cross stitch and stuff like that. And then I became completely addicted to reading books, and that’s how I spent all my time. Probably until I was in my 20’s! So I picked up crochet again in my late 20’s.

What made you go back to it?

One of my work friends had started making some things, and I was like, ‘you know what I kind of remember how to do that!’ And I think when I originally learned I learned right-handed, and I’m left-handed, so when I re-learned in my 20s I found a book – a used book from the 70’s. It had these really amazing pictures – I’m sure I still have that book somewhere in my apartment, but it had these grandma hands in the pictures! So since I’m left-handed I turned the book upside down and mirror imaged what the picture was, and then I’d turn the book rightside up to keep reading.

That’s a lot of work!

This would have been maybe 15 years ago so there wasn’t nearly as much information online then. So now you can look up any video whether it’s knitting or crocheting or anything for left-handed people. There’s a lot of information. Back then there really wasn’t – you still had to use books.

Then, a few years later I learned how to knit from that same friend, and she taught me right handed, which seemed at the time like it would be okay because you’re using both of your hands when you’re knitting, but I’m a significantly left-handed person, so I realized that it just never felt comfortable. It was always kind of awkward. Then I saw continental knitting where you don’t have to pick up and put down the yarn. You just pick up with your needle. It was so much faster. So I put down knitting for awhile so my hands could kind of forget it and went back to only crochet. Then I went back to knitting and re-learned the continental way and also left-handed.

We took a brief break so Tifanee could help a kind man pick out yarn for his first ever knitting project!

I get a lot of men that come in here. A higher percentage that I ever would have imagined!

That’s awesome! What’s the age range, usually?

I’d say most of the men that come are…you know what? I can’t even give you a range because it’s between college-aged and older men.

That’s even cooler.

And women it’s the same way. It’s definitely not a grandma craft. I do get grandma-aged people, sometimes, but it’s mostly people that are more like between our ages.

I think the neighborhood definitely lends itself to that, and the colors you have in here are very modern and fun. And you’re in The Last Bookstore!

That definitely adds another layer of fabulousness! I moved here a year ago, but I started visiting LA two years ago. My husband, who’s now been living out here for 20 years – we knew each other in college. It was one of those reconnections in the digital age. I started visiting him out here, and the first time I came to visit it was the Downtown Art Walk. And we came here! And I walked in and was like, ‘what?! There’s an amazing bookstore!? And there’s a yarn store inside? And there’s art!? This is so cool!’

So then when I moved here, a little more than a year ago, I started coming to the Sunday Social we have every week to start meeting people because I didn’t know anybody in Los Angeles besides my husband. The day that the previous owner announced to her staff that she was closing the store I just happened to be there. I was like, ‘what am I going to do? I don’t know anybody else in the city. I barely even know these people; I can’t follow them around!’
When I was in Philadelphia I owned a house, so when I moved here I sold it and had a little bit of money. It was enough to rent the space, so basically it was just a transfer of all the stock. She’s stayed on in a financial and computer capacity, and she’s really good at that stuff. It’s become a really cool partnership.

Right time, right place, right circumstance. That’s amazing.

I really think big decisions work that way!

Did it take you any time to think about taking over the store or did you know right away?

It was like, within three minutes of the announcement. I was sitting there and everyone else was really sad because we all had really strong feelings about this place. So I talked to her that day; I pulled her aside, and was like ‘I think I’d like to make an offer on your shop!’ And she’s like, ‘can I have a couple days to think about it?’ And I was like, ‘of course!’ Two days later she sent me a text that was seriously like six paragraphs long. We had to take steps immediately because she had already given notice to the landlord. Over the course of like three days we flipped it around. The store was closed for the month of April, and then we reopened in the beginning of May.

By another amazing coincidence, months before all this my parents had already bought plane tickets to come visit me and it just happened to be that weekend that we opened the shop. My mom was my first customer!

What a good luck token! That’s really sweet. What’s the most challenging part of it?

For me, it’s anything that has to do with technology. We have a website – it’s not entirely functional. There were some tech issues with it, and it never quite 100% got fixed, so it needs to be rebuilt. I don’t know how to do it, and I don’t want to know how to do it, so I have to figure out who else can do it and not bankrupt me in the process.

What’s your favorite part?

Stocking the store. It’s really fun. It’s a little too fun. I have to be careful, budget-wise.

I can totally see that! Just walking in I have to be really judicious with what yarn I buy that day.

Yeah! It’s really easy to just want it all. The other part I like is I try to make myself do the tasks I don’t want to do first thing when I’m here. Like all the computer stuff and emailing and ordering. I do it all first to get it out of the way, and that way on most days for at least an hour or two I’m able to sit at the table and knit or crochet. Then people will come in and ask questions about what I’m making or what yarn I’m using. I always try to pick materials and patterns that will teach me something.

Another cool thing about being in The Last Bookstore is that it’s a tourist destination. They come to the bookstore and then realize that we’re here. They’ll walk in and they’re like ‘I totally have to get a souvenir for someone at home that loves to knit! What do you have that’s local?’

That’s brilliant!

Yeah it’s really cool and I get to spread these small, local brands to people from all over the world.

What inspires you, or where do you find your inspiration?

It’s definitely nature and outdoors. If I’m ever feeling blah it’s because I haven’t gone on any walks or taken any hikes. On my days off from here, even though part of me would love to spend the day in bed with a book, if I do that I just end up feeling gross. So it’s really good for me to get out. A really long walk is great for me.