Meet Dana Fehrenbach | Knitwear Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dana Fehrenbach and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dana, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I have wanted to own a knit shop since I was a little girl. My Grandmothers taught me to sew, mend, crochet, embroider, needlepoint and draw. I used to ride my bike into town and walk through the local knit shop and just marvel and the skeins of yarn and colors.
When I decided to open a retail knit shop in Wisconsin in 2014, i had no idea what I was doing.. I just knew I wanted to create a warm and welcome space and share my love of knitting and creating.
I did know what fibers I wanted to carry as I had been purchasing and test knitting for years, working with the fibers to know how they felt after being knit up

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think what sets me apart from others is that i am not interested in being great, I just want my patterns to be fun and easy to knit.. I also have a special place in my heart for the young knitters.. When opening my knit shop, I had kids of all ages learning to knit. I started a summer knit program and had over 30 students in our knit groups, We started a knit club in the high school where kids could pop in after school and learn to knit or get help with their products, but the most important thing that happened was realizing that kids with learning disabilities and anxiety found comfort in knitting.. It helped them stay focused during class lectures if they could knit while listening.. the local middle school recognized this and allowed the students to knit in class. I found ways to teach kids of all disabilities to knit.. I would watch them knit and see how their brains worked and then I would teach them in the way I saw made sense to them.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would love to dedicate this to my paternal grandmother, Josephine Treinen.. She is my heart and soul and the reason I am doing what I love today. Spending time with Grandma Josie was traveling to homes fixing their sewing machines or selling them new ones, Watching her paint with pastel chalk. Learning to darn socks and mending my brother’s jeans. Sewing together my own clothes to wear to grade school. She was helping me sew together my beautiful eyelet and lace gunnysack style prom dress when she passed away.. She never saw the finished product.

Website: https://www.danafehrenbachdesigns.com/

Instagram: @therunawayknitter

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dana-fehrenbach-a174223b/

Facebook: The Runaway Knitter

Other: Ravelry https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/search#query=Dana%20Fehrenbach