Let’s hear it for YarnCon 2019!

Oh my goodness, what a show! I know it has been over a month (sorry, I really intended to get this out sooner!) but I am no less excited now about the great show we had this year than I was a month ago. We couldn’t have done it without each and every one of you who vended, taught, volunteered, and especially all you who attended! Yes, you. It is all of you together that make this fibery community so special. You line up in the mornings, you come and meet up with each other in this space we have made, you make new friends, meet old ones, learn new skills, and seriously enhance your stashes. But more than anything, you make it the most special weekend of the year for us.

And I am not joking about the morning lines! I took a video less than an hour before the doors opened on Saturday. Stitchers are well prepared folks, look at all of you with chairs, blankets, and working on projects.

Can I show you how Sara and I feel about this community, and this event?

Natalia and Sara a moment before we opened the doors on Saturday, April 6, 2019.

Now, let me show you just a moment in time on Saturday morning, after we saw a record number of people come through our doors. Over 700 of you arrived within the first half hour of the show! I am still in awe.

A view of the ballroom from the balcony.

And it just kept getting better all day long. We not only saw old friends of ours, we saw you connect with your friends, and enjoy a yarny day together. We met lots of new friends, and hope you did as well. We watched people learn how to prepare fiber and spin it into yarn right on our stage, and so much more! How about we show you in pictures?

Selfie Station at YarnCon
Visitors enjoying the Selfie Station
Heavenly Bresser teaching fiber preparation at YarnCon
Heavenly Bresser teaching fiber preparation at YarnCon
Mochi Mochi Land!!
Mochi Mochi Land! Did you do the scavenger hunt?
Sara calling out the raffle winners!
Sara calling out the raffle winners!
Vera back on stage, teaching DIY Handspinning. Vera's been teaching folks to spin at YarnCon since our second show, back in 2008.
Vera back on stage, teaching DIY Handspinning. Vera’s been teaching folks to spin at YarnCon since our second show, back in 2008.
This is what YarnCon is about, great friends and great yarn! Lauren and Karen are two amazing volunteers and supporters of YarnCon, and wonderful people.
This is what YarnCon is about, great friends and great yarn! Lauren and Karen are two amazing volunteers and supporters of YarnCon, and wonderful people.

And it just kept being amazing all day long! Check out some faces you might know from the larger yarn-crafting community:

Kristy Glass and Natalia at the YarnCon Selfie Station
Kristy (Kristy Glass Knits) and Natalia at the YarnCon Selfie Station
Sara, Louis (Brooklyn Boy Knits), and Natalia at YarnCon
Sara, Louis (Brooklyn Boy Knits), and Natalia
Natalia and Cecilia (Creative Ceci) at YarnCon
Natalia and Cecilia (Creative Ceci)

I’m not going to lie, seeing Kristy, Louis, and Cecilia at YarnCon was so exciting! I’ve had the pleasure of meeting them before at other shows, and have wanted to share YarnCon with them, and we got to this year! Kristy did more than just visit, she filmed a video tour of YarnCon, embedded below (her tour of YarnCon begins at about 30:43).

Kristy Glass celebrating her 40th birthday, and her tour of YarnCon at 30:43

Friends, this was all just on Saturday! Sunday was another day of fun, and fun on two floors, I might add. What? Yes! For the first time we had vendors on the first and second floors, plus of course the balcony. It was our biggest YarnCon yet, and we have been so happy by the response. Check out the first floor (I didn’t get all of it, but hopefully you will get the idea):

Check the new vending area near the coffee bar!
Check the new vending area near the coffee bar!
Check the new vending area near the coffee bar!
Check the new vending area near the coffee bar!
Toad Hollow and Yarnify in the new vendor area.
Toad Hollow and Yarnify in the new vendor area.
Midmitten Designs and Heavenly Knitchet in our new vendor area
MidMitten Designs and Heavenly Knitchet in our new vendor area
And yet more vendors on the first floor!
And yet more vendors on the first floor!

Needless to say, I can go on and on. YarnCon is definitely a labor of love for Sara and me. We have a terrific team of friends who help us put this together every year with their ideas, connections, knowledge, and hard work. We can’t thank them enough. We didn’t get everyone we wanted to in the picture below, but we love you, and thank you for making this community event happen. And thank you, fiber community, for making it so special. We couldn’t do it without you.

Team YarnCon posing in front of the YarnCon Selfie Station
Team YarnCon (from left to right), Layne, Lauren, Natalia (being her foolish self in front), Sara, Shannon, Andi, and Lindy.

A sense of community

I’ve been thinking about communities and what they mean to us a lot this Summer. In June I was all excited about World Wide Knit in Public Day; I had been picking out my projects to take to the park for days, coordinating with people, heck, even choosing what to wear. When that Saturday morning rolled around, I woke up with a migraine of epic proportions. There was no leaving the house that day. What to do? I was the coordinator! I grabbed my phone and contacted a couple of people in our community of stitchers, and in a few minutes, I had the whole afternoon covered. (Thanks Lindy and Karen!!)

Later this Summer, I was hanging out at Sifu Design Studio (as many of you know, I spend some time there helping my buddy, Lisa, out around the store, and you know, fondling the yarn) figuring I would give her a hand preparing for the Yarn Crawl. But, when I came in, I was in for bad news: Lisa was in danger of losing the shop over some shifty accounting by her previous accountant. When Kim from Chicago Knits Magazine heard the news, she jumped into action and started a Go Fund Me drive to save the store and pay off those back taxes. The outpouring of love (and money, in donations and purchases) was overwhelming. Sifu, like every yarn store in the area, is much more than a yarn store. It is where we go for knit nights, classes, help with our projects, and to meet up with our friends. These are more than stores, they are our club-houses where we gather with like-minded people and make new friends. It is where we share news, plan new projects of a variety of scales, and take a break from our everyday routines to create something new.

I feel honored to be a part of this community of makers. YarnCon is one way in which Sara, Lindy and I get to contribute to the larger community in the Chicago area, and throughout the Midwest. My life is richer because of the connections I have made with so many of you. Thanks for saving the day, in so many ways.