Pardon Our “Dust”

Hey folks, we’re working on the website, and fixing a few issues. Nothing to worry about.

Since you’re here, please check out the 2024 Vendors list!

We’ll have lots of updates soon, thanks so much for your interest in YarnCon!

Questions about YarnCon 2024

We are delighted to see folks getting excited for YarnCon this year! Recently we’ve been getting a number of questions that many others of you have as well, so let’s answer them!

Q: I don’t see class or workshop information; how do I apply to teach, or register for classes?
A: Up until now, we’ve had classes of some kind at YarnCon. Sometimes it was a spinning class up on the stage, dyeing workshops in the hallway, rented offices as classrooms, or actual conference rooms at a hotel. Other than the spinning and dyeing workshops, we’ve never managed to get a critical mass of people to sign up for classes, enough to make it worthwhile for instructors. So this year we are not offering classes in classrooms. We do plan to offer workshops and demonstrations in open areas where some can participate and others can watch. Once we have a plan in place, we will announce more details.

Q: I want to volunteer! Add me to your list!
A: Thank you! We appreciate you! We’re getting ready for you! Seriously, YarnCon wouldn’t be the great experience it is without our generous volunteers. We will absolutely make an announcement in all the usual places once we are ready for people to sign up to volunteer.

Q: Can our Guild or Club have a table at YarnCon?
A: Glad you asked! Please email us at info@yarncon.com. We love having the guilds at YarnCon!

Q: Do I need to apply to bring my Food Truck?
A: No, but we are so glad you asked! Please send your Food Truck information to info@yarncon.com. Most of our food trucks friends do really well, usually selling out of food within hours of opening. We need to stay fueled! Email us, please!

Ready, Set, Apply!

YarnCon 2024 Vendor Applications are open!

We are excited to announce that vendor applications are open, and will be accepted until November 30, 2023! You can find the application here: https://forms.gle/LSudtAManuMTp6BQ7 and you can find the vendor guideline here: https://tinyurl.com/29yt234u (please read these first!)

The ballroom at the Plumbers Union Hall full of YarnCon vendor booths and shoppers. The room is full of happy people and so much yarn.
YarnCon 2023 Ballroom

There has been a bit of confusion concerning adding pictures to the application under the “Internet Presence” question, which you can’t do in the form. What we’re looking for is links to your online presence (your website, Facebook, or Instagram pages) that have pictures of your wares, and of your booth. If you need to email images after submitting your application, please send them to info@yarncon.com and let us know your business name.

Finally, some good news that I am sure vendors at YarnCon 2023 will be delighted to hear: The City of Chicago heard everyone’s complaints about the permit process this year (and by process, we mean some stronger words) and has simplified the system. YarnCon will apply for the permit once we have our vendor list, and all vendors will be covered by our permit. None of you will need to apply for a permit; you will just have to submit the tax forms we will provide you with as the show approaches. Normally I wouldn’t bore you with permitting information at this point, but given how, um, difficult the situation was this year, I thought everyone should know in case they were hesitating to apply on that account.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info@yarncon.com. Both Sara and I will see your emails, and it helps us stay organized. As much as we love you, please send YarnCon related questions there instead of to our personal DMs, emails, etc. Thanks!

Food Truck Spotlight

YarnCon happens this weekend! Are you ready for this much fun?

Because fiber fanatics cannot live on yarn alone (although we try our best), we are thrilled to announce the food truck lineup for YarnCon 2023. This year, sandwich and American comfort food experts The Fat Shallot will be on hand alongside dumpling and baowich truck, Yum Dum, and elite authentic Mexican food truck Aztec Dave’s.  It’s going to be another tasty year!

Trucks will be parked outside the main entrance from 11am-1pm to serve any and all who need sustenance to shop. Get yours early – they’ve been known to sell out!

One month to go!

YarnCon is just a month away, and we thought it would be a good time to remind you to sign up for workshops before the class you want is sold out (some almost are, so get on it!) We still have spaces left in our fantastic spinning and knitting technique classes, so head over to Eventbrite to read the descriptions and sign up. All classes will take place Thursday and Friday, March 30-31 at the Crowne Plaza West Loop, 25 S. Halsted. The vendor marketplace will happen in our usual location over the weekend, April 1-2: the Plumbers Union Hall at 1340 W. Washington Blvd. Check out the official Schedule for details.

Friday night, please join us for a very special event: Friday Night Knitterati with the one and only Safiyyah Talley, aka The Drunk Knitter! She’ll speak on a topic near and dear to all our hearts, the State of the Skein. Come for Safiyyah, stay for the hors d’oeuvres and cash bar.

Have you seen the list of vendors for 2023? We’re so excited we can hardly wait to squish all the fiber.

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

YarnCon 2023: Live and in person!!

We are so excited to return to an in-person show for the first time since the before times. We’re ready to welcome more than 50 independent artisans back to our much-loved Plumbers Union Hall and revel in the joy that is YarnCon.

Speaking of revelry, allow us to introduce the YarnCon Symposium! We’re so happy to bring this longtime plan to real life in 2023. All of our classes and workshops will take place March 30-31 at the Symposium (which will be held at the Crowne Plaza hotel), followed by an opening party on Friday night. The classes are posted, and registration is now open.

Special keynote speaker at Friday night’s shindig: Safiyyah Talley, aka The Drunk Knitter! We are thrilled to welcome Safiyyah to YarnCon and can’t wait to hear her thoughts on the State of the Skein. Tickets to the Friday night event are $25.

Our amazing YarnCon marketplace will open to the public on Saturday, April 1, at 10am. Admission is free! The first 50 shoppers through the door both Saturday and Sunday will snag a coveted

Who wants a goody bag?

Longtime YarnCon fans know that we give out goodie bags to the first 50 shoppers through the door each day of our show. These treasure troves typically offer yarn, stitch markers, patterns, pins, and other delights from our fabulous vendors.

Raffle drawing at YarnCon 2018
Raffle drawing at YarnCon 2018

Since we’re not in person this year, we’re giving away 10 goodie bags to some lucky YarnCon followers! Everyone signed up to attend our Diversity and Inclusion in the Fiber World Panel Discussion is automatically entered, so if you haven’t signed up for our first panel discussion, here is an extra incentive to register! Get your tickets here: https://www.yarncon.com/diversity-and-inclusion-in-the-yarn-world/

This year we have surprises from these YarnCon vendors: WhyKnot Fibers, Cooperative Press, Bur Oak Studio, Daisy Bags, and Wild Stitchers. PLUS a super special raffle for a Beautiful Syster project bag! The drawing will be held on Saturday, April 2 at 2pm Central on our FaceBook page: https://www.facebook.com/YarnCon

“If it wasn’t for disappointment…

…I wouldn’t have any appointments.”*

Okay, maybe a touch dramatic, but it’s a great line. And we are disappointed, but you know what, these are weird times, and we are all doing the best we can, and we don’t always know how it will work out. In this case, we thought that offering online classes would be something people might enjoy, and a very small number of you thought so too, but sadly not in the numbers necessary to run 2 days worth of classes.

For those who had registered, we have already sent refunds. It seems some of you got the refunds before the emails letting you know you would get getting refunds, and I am so sorry about the confusion that has caused. To our teachers, thank you for all of your efforts, we can’t wait to work with you in the future.

BUT! The good news is we are still going forward with the Panel Discussion on Diversity and Inclusion in the Fiber World on Friday, April 1 at 6:30pm CDT. Tickets are still available, and if you have questions or thoughts you would like us to cover during the discussion, please leave them in the comments, or email them to info@yarncon.com.

And please keep following us here and on social media, we will be planning at least a little fun on our YarnCon weekend, even if it can’t be in person this year.
https://www.facebook.com/YarnCon/
https://www.instagram.com/yarncon/

*From “Snowball in Hell,” by They Might Be Giants.

Virtual YarnCon Classes Coming Soon!

Hello! I wanted to pop in and give a quick update. Although we will not be meeting in person, our amazing teachers have all agreed to offer their classes virtually, and we hope to have those open for registration in the next couple of days.

We are also getting ready to announce the details of a Diversity Panel Discussion that we will be offering virtually, and free of charge. We want to be sure that we keep talking about diversity and inclusion in the yarn world, and not just when something fits the fan. We hope you will join us.

We are still working on the vendor side of things, and hope to have updates for you soon.

We’re sorry we have been so quiet, we have each had a lot of unexpected things take up a lot of our attention as of late (when it rains, it pours, right?) but we are doing our best to get everything moving again. Thank you for your patience.

Natalia
Team YarnCon

Not what we had in mind

The last two years have been…something, haven’t they? We can’t wait to see you all in actual, physical person again, but the current Covid variant situation makes it plain that it’s not quite time to gather in large numbers indoors. We hate postponing the reunion, and we hope you agree that the health and well-being of our yarny community is worth waiting a little longer for.

That said, we’re not done with 2022 just yet! We’re hosting our first-ever YarnCon Symposium the weekend of April 2-3 in a virtual format. Outstanding fiber experts from all over the country will teach live via Zoom, and we’re proud to announce the inaugural YarnCon Diversity & Inclusion panel discussion.

So, please keep an eye on this website, and our Facebook and Instagram pages for more updates. In the meantime, please stay safe. Get vaccinated and wear your masks, the sooner we can get the spread under control, the sooner we can get together and squish the yarn in person.