Archives for February 2020

Register for Classes Today!

Class registration is LIVE!
The classes are posted, and registration is open! Most of YarnCon 2020’s classes and workshops will take place April 2-3 at the YarnCon Symposium right before our weekend fiber fair opens. But don’t worry, we still have some 1-hour classes over the weekend, too.

New in 2020: a Hotel Room Block!
Stay close to the action at the Crowne Plaza West Loop! We’ve reserved a block of rooms, and you can book online or by calling 312-829-5000 and mentioning Group Code MYF. The deadline to book a room is March 5, so call now! Operators are standing by.

Advanced Spinning Classes
Lots of classes on spinning at YarnCon this year: Wheel Navigation with Emily Wohlscheid and Spinning Wheel Primer with Heavenly Bresser both aim to teach students the ins and outs of their wheels. If you’re further along in your spinning journey, try your hand at Spinning for a Project or Spinning Wirecore and LED Lights! These classes are designed for students who have already some  spinning experience. Bring your own wheel and learn something new!

Brioche Knitting Forever
We’re welcoming back Javier Jara for another year at YarnCon. Learn a new skill in his Brioche Knitting class, or if you’re familiar with single-color brioche, why not up your game with his Mastering Two-Color Brioche class? Sign up soon — his classes always sell out!

New Friends and Old FavoritesNew to our workshop schedule this year: Jenn Watkins, Rita Petteys, and Jules Huntsberger.Hailing from North Carolina, Jules is ready to help you with Short Rows
 and Picots and Bobbles! Usually behind a booth at YarnCon, Jenn is sharing her knowledge of Lace Knitting and Cables, and Rita will teach you how to put those leftover Bits and Bobs to good use!Perennial

YarnCon favorites Vera Videnovich (DIY Handspinning) and Samantha Lynn (Intro to Dyeing I & II) are back, along with Kathy Kelly’s classes on Tunisian crochet.Check out the whole schedule here! Register to pick up a new skill or brush up on something you thought you’d forgotten. 

Volunteer at YarnCon!
We can always use extra hands in many areas: helping vendors unload their wares and schlep them to their booths, working various information tables, booth-sitting for vendors who need a break, and then on Sunday, helping the vendors move their remaining goodies back to their vehicles.In return for your help, you’ll get a special volunteer YarnCon goodie bag! Also, our undying gratitude. Seriously, it’s one of the best gigs going.

Fill out the Volunteer Form to sign up for weekend spots, or click here to help out Thursday and Friday at the YarnCon Symposium!

We are really excited to once again be offering Dark Matter coffee, thanks to their amazing support! Visit us at the beautiful bar downstairs for all of your hot coffee (and tea) needs.

Community

Hello yarny friends! As you can imagine, we are working hard on getting YarnCon ready, and we hope to have classes up in the next few days. We will be sure to let you know when they go live.

Today, we want to tell you about two different members of our Yarny community: Stitch and Hustle, and Dye Hard Yarns in Oak Park.

Stitch and Hustle is the host of Stitch Up Chicago, now in its 4th year. Michele Costa started this event as a way to build community, and give us a weekend to immerse ourselves in knitting and crochet, and spend time together. From the web site: “Stitch Up Chicago was born from the idea of taking an online group offline to share fiber love. In the past year we have seen our community face the divisiveness of our times and focus on coming together to create a more diverse fabric. That is what every single Stitch Up is about: creating safe spaces and celebrating our common fiber.”

The event is on February 28-29, and Michele has just a few tickets left, and she wants the YarnCon community to have a chance at them, with a discount just for us! Just use the code: YARNCON2020 when you register, and get 10% off. It sounds like a fantastic weekend, and we hope some of you will have the chance to attend. Thanks, Michele!

The next person we want you to know about is Chastity of Dye Hard Yarns. Dye Hard is more than your neighborhood yarn store, it is also a community dye studio! As Chastity explains on her web page, “The studio will be fully outfitted with professional equipment. Classes will be held on dyeing, knitting, crochet, macrame, spinning, weaving, and more! Community members like you can create, connect, learn, and teach!” it is literally a dye studio for anyone who want to either give it a try, teach, or even work on their own line. This not only gives back to the yarn community, it creates a place to gather, it becomes a hub of our community, and we want to support her efforts. Chastity is raising money to make this studio a reality, and we want to spread the word, and help her raise funds. Please consider donating to Dye Hard’s Community Dye Studio. Every little bit helps.

Thanks!