Vendor Applications Are Coming Soon!

Hello Friends! We are getting a lot of questions about YarnCon 2024, mostly from folks looking to apply to be vendors, so I wanted to give everyone a quick update.

First, the dates will be a little different for 2024; YarnCon will still take place in April, but on April 20-21, 2024 instead of the first full weekend. A total solar eclipse is coming our way, and we aren’t far off the path of totality! As much as we love yarn, and we obviously do, we also don’t get to see a total eclipse* with any regularity, so Team YarnCon is going to be traveling to nearby locals to enjoy this event. Curious about the eclipse? Here is a link with information about it: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/eclipse-2024/where-when/

And of course the main question we have been getting is when are applications opening up? We are finalizing details with the Plumbers Union Hall, and hope to have the application ready to go next week. The best way to make sure you see the notice to start applying is by signing up for the mailing list. You can sign up at the bottom left on the homepage of yarncon.com. We will also make announcements on Facebook and Instagram.

Thanks for all of the enthusiasm for YarnCon! Stay tuned for more updates soon.

2nd Floor Ballroom during YarnCon 2019

*Do you suddenly have “Total Eclipse of the Heart” stuck in your head like I do? Did you grow up watching music videos? I have a treat for you: https://youtu.be/fsgWUq0fdKk?feature=shared

On your marks…

Just kidding! No need to race to get your vendor applications in. Sara and Natalia took a weekend off to re-work the application process, and we hope it will be a better fit for all of us as we grow.

Natalia and Sara in front of the Sandpiper, home of the Hoof to Hanger Fiber Mill.
Natalia and Sara in front of the Sandpiper this summer,
home of the Hoof to Hanger Fiber Mill, a 2019 sponsor.

As many of you who applied to vend at YarnCon in the last few years know, we filled up in record time, and many of you who planned to apply never got a chance. That was never our intent, so this year we are changing how the process works.

Applications will go live on October 1, 2019 at 10am Central Time, and will close on October 8, 2019 at 10pm Central Time. There are no bonus points for being the first, but we will not take applications after they close.

Edited to Add the application link: https://forms.gle/2G6tADKn1eCPe1S58

YarnCon has always been a juried show. We will judge all the applications according to our posted guidelines, and send our acceptance and rejection emails on October 15, 2019. You will be able to find the application on the homepage of our website. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at info@yarncon.com. If you want to be on the vendor mailing list, please sign up on the homepage.

We will also make an announcement about workshop proposals in the near future, so stay tuned! There’s also a sign up for the teaching mailing on the homepage.

YarnCon may be months away, but the 2019 application is live today!

Fall is just settling in, and spring seems an eternity away, but as far as Team YarnCon is concerned, April is right around the corner!

The 2019 application is live now! We are taking applications until November 2, 2018, OR SOONER IF THE SHOW FILLS UP, so head on over to the Vendor Application and tell us about yourself. And please spread the word to any friends who want to join in the fun.

Due to an increase in the volume of applications we receive, the jurying process will be more competitive in 2019 than in the past. It is hard for us to choose among so many creative vendors! We will do our best to accept vendors in a way that balances out the offerings and reflects a broad diversity of yarny goods. We thank you all for understanding.

In the meantime, happy making and happy Fall!

YarnCon 2018 is full!

Well, that was fast. YarnCon 2018 is full to bursting!

We had an incredible response this year, and all full-size booth spaces filled up in a record NINE DAYS. Many amazing vendors, new and returning, will be on hand to woo and wow you in April. Soon we’ll start previewing them and their luscious goodies on our Facebook page, so tune in starting in January to see those.

Technically, there are still a few mini booths available (4’x4′), so if you are interested in one, email us asap at info(at)yarncon(dot)com.

Buy yarn, and learn to make your own! (and an announcement)

Spring is here, and YarnCon is right around the corner! April 1 and 2 to be exact, and we are busy getting everything ready! Anyone who has attended YarnCon in the past knows there is a wealth of stunning hand-dyed and hand-spun yarn with which to enhance your stash, but what about all that lovely unspun fiber? You can learn to needle felt it, or you can learn to spin it, and we have four different teachers ready to share their knowledge with you!

Vera Videnovich has not only been teaching an introduction to spinning since YarnCon was in its infancy, she also taught Sara, Lindy and Natalia how to spin. If you want to get a feel for spinning, DIY handspinning is the class for you. 

If you want to expand your skills, you will not want to miss Emily Wohlscheid’s classes! Emily will teach you to make your own batts in order to create a custom tweed effect in her Tweed: Custom Blend! workshop.

Another clever trick to learn is how to blend your fibers to create fractal color repeats in your finished yarn, and you can learn how in Emily’s Fractal: Blend and Spin workshop.

Have you ever wondered how hand cards work, or want an opportunity to take a class with your kids and make colorful batts? Maegan Burkart has you covered in her Kids Color Blending on Hand Cards workshop. Maegan has more color skills to add to your arsenal, she can teach you to prepare and manipulate your singles yarn and make your colors match up in striping plied yarn in her Controlling Color Changes While Spinning and Plying workshop.

And finally, newcomers to YarnCon, Tom and Joanne Blodgett will be demonstrating the process of turning flax into linen in Straw into Gold!, and will even have a young flax plant to show you. This should be a fascinating presentation, with some hands-on components.

 

That only covers the spinning classes! We encourage you to to head over to the Classes page to see all of our amazing workshop offerings, with small class sizes and experienced teachers, you really can’t go wrong.

And, you made it to the end to see what the announcement is! We are really excited at YarnCon HQ about our 10th birthday, and birthdays mean birthday presents, right? So, for our birthday, we are giving you presents!! Instead of 50 goodie bags each morning to the first 50 people in line, this year we are giving out 75 goodie bags to the first 75 people in line! The bags alone are worth it, they are our organic cotton, fair trade Work + Shelter bags that we are so fond of. But, because it’s our 10th YarnCon, we asked some of our incredibly talented vendors to dye up some YarnCon birthday limited edition colorways just for the occasion, and you will find some in those bags. Say what? (Please don’t start camping out yet.)

 

YarnCon 2017 is full!

Well, that was fast. YarnCon 2017 is full!

We had an incredible response this year, and so many amazing vendors, new and returning, will be on hand to dazzle you in April. Soon we’ll start previewing them and their luscious wares on our Facebook page, so tune in starting January 23 to see the goodies.

Technically, there are still a few mini booths available (4’x4′), so if you are interested in one, email us asap. No more spaces left for 2017! Join our mailing list to be the first to know about applications for 2018 (scroll down, form to the right).

YarnCon may be months away, but the 2017 application is live today!

With the winter holidays upon us, even imagining spring seems like an exercise in futility, but as far as Team YarnCon is concerned, April is right around the corner!

The 2017 application is live now! We are taking applications until January 21, 2017, which is sooner than you think, so head on over to the Vendor Application and show us what you make! And please spread the word to anyone you might think has some yarny talents to share.

The deadline for Workshop proposals is January 6, 2017, so if you would like to teach at YarnCon, please head over to the Workshop RFP page and get us your proposal post-haste.

 

In the meantime, happy crafting, and happy holidays!

10-Year Celebrations and Other Thoughts

A lot can change in ten years.

Ten years ago, I was single. Childless. Spent my disposable income on, well, yarn.

Flash forward to now:  I’m happily married. We have three children. I still love yarn, but disposable income and free time to knit are largely things of the past (and, I hope, the future; this too shall pass).

Ten years ago, there was no YarnCon. Can you even imagine?

And yet in 2017, we’ll celebrate our tenth show. So much can change.

This month, in preparing for a knitting/dry-felting class I’m teaching at my children’s school, I visited one of our longtime YarnCon vendors, Esther’s Place. I needed some wool for the kids to use in needle felting, but really I wanted an excuse for a quick trip out of the city on a gorgeous spring day.

Mother and daughter team Donna and Natasha have transformed a lovely Victorian house in Big Rock, IL, into a colorful playhouse for fiber fanatics. Lush roving dyed in every shade and whimsical felted creatures are all around. I was drawn to the curly fleece locks dyed like little rainbows. My three-year-old instantly spotted the needle-felted Star Wars figures. It’s a fun place.

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And guess what? Esther’s Place has been around for a decade. Another ten-year celebration! In fact, this weekend they’re hosting a Farm Days Open House to commemorate. If you’re in the western Chicagoland suburbs (and even if you’re not), head out to Big Rock this weekend for some fibery farm fun.

donna_natasha

Donna Lehrer and Natasha Lehrer Lewis


Newsflash: Kids Love Wool

Armed with a pound of roving dyed in 16 distinct colors, a bulk order of felting needles and foam pads, and a basket of cookie cutters, I made my way to the Chicago Free School, where two of my kids attend.

We talked briefly about how felting works: how the wool fibers are built to cling to each other, and that with a little help from an absurdly sharp and skinny needle, we can mold and sculpt the wool into shapes.

They loved it. They dove right in.

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There’s something about working with your hands, feeling the fuzzy wool and blending different colors together, and yes, stabbing something with a sharp object, that kids just GET. (Incredibly, in a room of kids ranging in age from 7 to 13, we only had one pricked finger.) As someone who works in the fiber world, I’m so gratified and rewarded at how excited these kids are about working with wool.

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We started out with simple cookie cutter shapes this week, and next week we’ll explore creating landscapes on flat felt “canvases,” as well as sculpting 3D objects and figures.

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Such a fun time.

Have you taught kids to knit, crochet, spin, or felt? How did it go? Let us know in the comments.

 

 

 

 

Food Truck Spotlight

Welcome to YarnCon week! Are you as excited as we are?

We are excited to announce the food truck lineup for YarnCon 2016! On Saturday, we’ll welcome Bruges Brothers and the Corner Farmacy. Sunday brings La Cocinita and the Fat Shallot. It’s going to be a tasty year!


Bruges Brothers

Back at YarnCon for a second year, Bruges Brothers brings crispy Belgian-style frites with a selection of tasty, hand-crafted sauces.

 


 

 

 

cornerfarmacy

The Corner Farmacy

The Corner Farmacy offers a seasonally rotating menu that features fresh, locally sourced ingredients — hence the “Farm” in “Farmacy.” Also, they offer breakfast items all day!

 

 


 

 

La Cocinita

Literally “the little kitchen,” La Cocinita serves fresh, authentic, gourmet street food from Latin America. Their build-your-own style means you can customize your order to your own taste, to boot.

 


 

 

The Fat Shallot Food Truck

 

 

The Fat Shallot

How do delicious, made-to-order sandwiches sound? Just about perfect, that’s how. This husband-and-wife team grills up comfort food, elevated.

Vendor Spotlight: A Riot of Color, Brew City Yarns

Welcome to YarnCon week! Are you as excited as we are?

While the blog will be packed full of info this week, we wanted to introduce you to two more vendors you’ll see this weekend. Last year’s attendees will almost certainly remember Susan of A Riot of Color, with her space-age purple spinning wheel! A Riot of Color returns this year (we can’t vouch for the wheel), with her palette of wild and fun hues. Susan will be teaching classes in Playing With Color and Spinning for Kids as well, so you can get a close-up view.

Brew City Yarns makes their YarnCon debut with another wild range of saturated color with a pop-culture twist. Their rotating monthly themes keep things lively!


riotofcolor2A Riot of Color
http://ariotofcolor.etsy.com/

What would you MOST like YarnCon shoppers to know about you?
We dye vivid colors that make your heart sing!

Any special or featured products you want to share?
We will have Four Elements kits — four mini skeins inspired by earth, air, fire, and water — perfect for color work, and kits to make “My Head’s in a Whirl” hats, a two-color worsted hat with a horizontal cable brim.


Brew City YarnsBrew City Yarns
http://www.brewcityyarns.com/

What would you MOST like YarnCon shoppers to know about you?
Brew City Yarns is a family business that specializes in hand-painted artisan yarns. Each month we release a new theme of yarns that includes full skeins and mini-skein sets. Past months have included: My Little Pony, Star Wars, and Disney Villains. Our April theme is inspired by the Welcome to Night Vale podcast.

Any special or featured products you want to share?
Because we carry so many yarn bases, from laceweight to bulky, if you see a color you would like made on a certain base, we will ship it to you for free if ordered at YarnCon. There are also many fiber and kits that we keep exclusively for fiber shows.