Fund-Raiser Offers Handmade Items

Jennyfer Davis works eight hours a day, seven days a week and makes so little money she is reluctant to figure out what her hourly wage is.

But she does not want to quit her job.

Davis knits for a living, creating wearable works of art for women who love the look of handmade clothes but have no time to make them.

“You don’t do it for the money,” Davis said. “You do it because you love it.”

On Saturday, Davis and about 90 other arts and crafts masters will convene in the gardens of the century-old Rancho Los Alamitos to sell and display their work at a fund-raiser called the Red Barn Bazaar.

Among the treasures shoppers will find: jewelry made from antique buttons, witch dolls, stuffed animals made from antique quilts, Victorian wreaths of dried flowers, Christmas decorations and homemade candies and breads.

Davis will bring handcrafted vests, sweaters and coats, as well as knitted bears, bunnies and scarves, all made from natural fibers. She designs the patterns herself, using clean geometric shapes and bold colors.

She makes only about two sweaters a month, she said, and charges $400 each. Full-length coats cost $800 to $1,000. The bears, bunnies and scarves are $25 to $40.

Davis, 40, began knitting at age 8 in a family tradition that dates back to her great-grandmother, a Long Beach milliner. Knitting is a dying art, Davis said, primarily because no one has the time or money to practice it anymore. The wool for one sweater costs well over $100, she said, and Davis uses nothing but wool, needles and lots of time to craft her pieces.

“I sell to a lot of professional women who know how to knit but don’t have the time to do it,” she said. “But they love the look of a hand-knit sweater.”

Davis, a single mother living in Long Beach, has tried over the years to teach her two sons to knit. “They never really caught on,” she said. “You really have to want to learn it or you won’t.”

The Red Barn Bazaar begins at 9:30 a.m. at Rancho Los Alamitos, also known as the Old Bixby Ranch because it was the home of early Long Beach developer John Bixby.

The home, now a historic landmark, will remain closed, but visitors may explore the gardens. Money raised will fund free educational programs held throughout the year at the ranch and help maintain the grounds.

Admission is $1.50 for adults and 50 cents for children 12 and younger. Visitors may park at Cal State Long Beach Lot C on Palo Verde Avenue and take a free shuttle to the ranch. For more information, call (310) 431-3541.