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!

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.