L.A. Is My Beat: Chris and Elise

Left Coast Dyeworks, founded by Christopher Bahls

I first met Christopher Bahls on the West Adams Heritage Association Holiday Home Tour and Progressive Dinner in 2013. Larry and I were walking along with the other tour participants on a particularly freezing night in December while our tour guide was describing the historic homes along the way. The walking portion of the tour was broken up with stops at various homes for each course of our holiday dinner. We were all bundled up and I noticed this young man wearing a particularly beautiful knit scarf. I asked him about the scarf and we proceeded to have a very long conversation about hand-knits.

The West Adams Heritage Association Holiday Home Tour, 2013

It turned out that Chris worked at a local knit shop, A Major Knitwork in Van Nuys. In between historic home stops, we discussed knitting and more. At the end of the tour we waved a fond farewell and knew we'd meet up again at one of the various yarny events in Los Angeles.

A few months later I was on the 2014 Los Angeles Yarn Crawl and my friend Nancy and I visited A Major Knitwork. Of course, we ran into Chris wearing another wonderful scarf!

Chris, Ellen at A Major Knitwork, Van Nuys, 2014 L.A. Yarn Crawl

Months later, while I was shopping at my local yarn store, The Knitting Tree, I saw Chris working there! Wow! Chris is an excellent addition to the staff at this great shop!

Chris, 2017. Photo by The Knitting Tree

Recently Chris opened up his own online yarn-dyeing business. The Knitting Tree also carries his creations. The company is called Left Coast Dyeworks. Chris creates some of the most beautiful color combinations I've ever seen. During the 2017 Yarn Crawl I could not resist purchasing one skein, Urban Tweed, in stunning shades of orange.

Chris, at the debut of Left Coast Dyeworks. Photo by The Knitting Tree

What to do with just one skein. I didn't want to dilute the beauty of Chris' yarn by pairing with other yarn in a large project, so I crocheted my go-to shawl pattern, "Elise." I LOVE it! It's a perfect size and the yarn blocked out soft and pliable.