workshops — Page 2

YarnCon is a month away, and we have updates!

March 7, 2019 by admin 10 Comments

Hard to believe it is already well into March with such cold weather, but hey, we’re stitchers, we know how to do cold. (Spring, we want you anyway, please hurry!)

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 already are, so get on it!) We still have spaces left in our fantastic spinning and dyeing classes, look for our next post with more information on those classes, or head over to https://www.eventbrite.com/e/yarncon-2019-tickets-55954541540 to read the descriptions and sign up.

This is just one thing you can learn how to do if you sign up for Art Yarn:Bubbly Beehives by Heavenly Bresser.

We also want to share our superb list of vendors for 2019, now with more vendors than ever before! https://www.yarncon.com/vendors-2/

We have one more fun thing to share with you! We teamed up with Threadless to offer something many of you have requested in the past: hoodies! We also added some coffee mugs (traditional and travel), and stickers! You can buy your YarnCon gear, and come to the show in style right here: https://yarncon.threadless.com/

We are really excited to once again 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.

Keep an eye on the blog, we’ll keep updating you on what to look forward to at YarnCon as the date approaches.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: fiber festival, threadless, workshops, yarncon

Teacher Spotlight: Kathy Kelly and Tunisian Crochet

March 22, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

It’s time for another guest blog post, this time by long-time YarnCon teacher, Kathy Kelly. Kathy has been teaching Tunisian Crochet at YarnCon for 5 years now, and her classes are always a hit. Her workshops range from beginner level classes, to more advanced techniques. But, Kelly can tell you herself, so I will turn it over to her.

Kathy Kelly

Hi, Kathy Kelly here. This my 5th year teaching at YarnCon and I’m excited to be conducting a brand-new workshop on Corner-to-Corner Crochet, or C2C. It’s a great technique for making square and rectangular projects that have a unique look and feel. Think scarves, wraps, capes, baby blankets, and afghans, as well as motifs.

Corner to Corner Crochet

We’ll be working diagonally using the box stitch, which takes projects in the beautiful new cake and gradient yarns to a new level! We’ll also make a 2-color design sample that can be used as a coaster, or as a first motif in a larger project. For this class you’ll need to know how to double crochet and chain.

Corner to Corner Heart

I’m also teaching a Beginning Tunisian Crochet class that requires no prior crochet experience, but if you know how to crochet a chain and work into it, all the better. Once you’ve taken the beginning class, you’ll be ready for the Tunisian Lace Class where we’ll explore a new way to create unique projects you’ll love.

Tunisian Lace scarf

You can sign up here:

C2C Crochet

https://www.yarncon.com/c2c-crochet/

Beginning Tunisian Crochet

https://www.yarncon.com/beginning-tunisian-crochet/

Introduction to Tunisian Crochet Lace

https://www.yarncon.com/intro-tunisian-lace/

You can find me on Ravelry as Vibeskat, and check my blog at crochetbird.wordpress.com.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: classes, colorwork, crochet, teacher, tunisian crochet, workshops

Teacher Spotlight: Andi Smith gives us a sneak peek at bag making

March 13, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Full disclosure here: I love project bags, and have gotten picky about them over the years. I might have crossed the line into a collector (I know I am not alone here.) There are some great bag makers, and Andi Smith is definitely amongst the greatest. And, she is offering to teach you how she does it at YarnCon this year in her Sew Your Own Project Bag Class! You can bring your own sewing machine (we will even safely stash it for you so you can shop before and after class unencumbered), or borrow one of ours. There are still seats available for this class, and we can’t recommend it enough. Not to mention, if we know Andi, and we do since she is a YarnCon veteran, you will have so much fun! Enough from me, I will turn it over to Andi!

I love matching a project bag to yarn, to my mood, and to particularly to a friend. What began as gift giving, soon grew into a small business, and then selling at Fiber Festivals throughout the country.

I’ve sewn thousands, and like to hope that each one is an improvement on the last. Each season, I modify things, improve the designs, spend months finding attractive fabrics, always with a polka dot lining. I don’t quite remember how that started, but it’s tradition now, it adds a little whimsy, and never fails to make me smile when I open up a bag and see dots peering out at me.

Last year, a friend asked if I’d consider teaching her how to make bags, and of course I said yes. I love to teach, and enjoy the challenge of thinking through all the steps, determining how to share knowledge to all types of learners.

At this point, I’ve streamlined the process for my bags, and taught my friend how I did so; the shortcuts, the tips and tricks, how to avoid pitfalls, and how to fix mistakes.

I’ll teach you how to get the most out of your cut of fabric, to perfect zippers each and every time. How to choose the right materials, and methods that will ensure your bags last for years, I hope this class will be a springboard for all of you to create your own bags, and give you the confidence to sew like the wind.

Seriously, go sign up! Here’s the link: https://www.yarncon.com/sew-your-own-bag/

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bags, cute, education, workshops

Teacher Spotlight: Emily Wohlscheid’s spinning workshops

March 7, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

Today we are pleased as can be to have Emily Wohlscheid take over the blogging duties! She will be talking about her spinning workshops, Try Spinning Bouclé, and Drop Spindle World Tour. You can see more of Emily’s work on Instagram, where she is @bricolagestudios and her online store, Bricolage Studios. And now, here is Emily!

Hi YarnCon fans, Emily Wohlscheid here! When Natalia asked me to write this I sat down and the first thing I thought was, “Holy cow! This is my 5th year teaching at YarnCon!” I started my involvement with YarnCon when it was still held at the fieldhouse* and I have been so thrilled to watch it grow and change over the years. I love YarnCon so much! The excitement and energy that surround it and how absolutely fabulous the organizers and volunteers are at the show makes it easy to come back year after year. I’ve always used this show as my kickoff to teaching new workshops because the vibe is so great that my nerves melt away (mostly.) This year I am offering two spinning workshops. I am incredibly excited to finally be sharing my favorite materials and techniques for making complicated loopy textural yarns as a short form workshop in my Try Spinning Bouclé.

try spinning boucle

My other offering this year is the result of my explorations with various drop spindles in the past year. I was determined to learn how to wrap my Turkish spindle in that beautiful God’s eye patterns I was seeing spindlers post on Instagram and wondered why I hadn’t been spinning on spindles more in general as I worked through it. I also began to play with more simplistic drop spindles like the Scottish dealgan that had been intriguing me and the primitive Peruvian spindle a dear friend brought back for me. Drop Spindle World Tour is the results of these explorations. I know it was intimidating for me to invest in and try some new spindles, but with guidance and the permission to explore, I hope to share that wonder with several more spinners in this laid back exploratory workshop!

I can’t wait to see you all at YarnCon!

*Natalia’s note: The Pulaski Park Fieldhouse, back when YarnCon was a one day affair from 2007-2011.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: boucle, classes, spindle, spindles, spinning, workshops

Teacher Spotlight: Javier Jara talks about Brioche

February 27, 2018 by admin 2 Comments

We are excited to bring you a guest blog post today by one of our teachers, Javier Jara. Javier is teaching Introduction to Brioche Knitting, and will tell you more about why you should take his class. Without further ado, I bring you Javier!

It’s all about brioche!

Hi everyone, Javier here, your favorite Chicagoan brioche teacher also known as “thejavioriginal” on Instagram and Ravelry. I’m super excited about teaching at YarnCon for the first time! Brioche is probably one of my favorite knitting techniques and I can’t wait to share it with you! Let me tell some of the reasons why I love brioche so much. First of all, brioche can make a very versatile fabric that is REVERSIBLE. This is a huge advantage, so no right or wrong sides! Secondly, taking advantage of interesting yarns and needle combinations, you can either achieve a more classic and squishy ribbing look or a more modern lacy look. Imagine using different yarn textures and colors to make fabulous accessories that will be the envy of everyone such as the “Javi’s first brioche scarf”. Finally, during the last two years we have seen brioche go mainstream and the brioche designs keep getting better! There are so many choices to not only make shawls and scarfs but also beautiful garments with fascinating shapes by using different combinations of decreases and increases. Who wouldn’t want to be part of the brioche family? So, come and join me at YarnCon and learn the basic concepts of one and two-color brioche. After this class, you will have the necessary tools to continue your amazing brioche journey!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: brioche, classes, knitting, learning, teaching, workshops

Workshop Spotlight: Sew Your Own Project Bag!

February 23, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

So, this is a yarn show, and this is a sewing class? Yes! And this is important. Sometimes you need to sew in a lining, or a zipper, or maybe you have a bit of beautiful fabric in your stash (come on now fiber people, fiber stashes can cover A LOT of bases) and you want to make your own project bag with it. This is the class for you. In this class you learn to make your own project bag with one of the best, our own Andi Smith, and the skills you will learn will help you in all kinds of sewing applications.

We have a classroom reserved for this class, so please bring your sewing machine with you, and we can stash it safely for you. If you don’t have a machine, we will have a few you can borrow. All you need are basic sewing machine skills, black and white thread, and scissors.

I don’t know about you, but I have almost as much of a bag stash as a yarn stash, so being able to make my own sounds like a pretty good idea. Sign up for Andi’s Sew Your Own Project Bag, and visit her at the Cooperative Press booth.

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: bags, classes, education, workshops

Time to Sign up for Classes!

February 7, 2018 by admin Leave a Comment

I can tell you are excited about signing up for classes at YarnCon this year. How can I tell? You folks have started registering before I could even make the announcement! I love it! And there is so much to love this year! I’ve linked to all of the classes below, so you can get right to it. Given how many requests I have gotten about the classes this year, you don’t want to wait until the last minute, trust me. For the full line up, head on over to: https://www.yarncon.com/classes/

Andi Smith is back, and this time she is bringing her sewing machine to teach you how to make your own boxy project bags in her Sew Your Own Project Bag class! Javier Jara is going to introduce you to Brioche, and when you’re done you will know how to block it to perfection if you take Adrienne Ku’s Blocking class. We are super excited to welcome Annie Modesitt to YarnCon, and she will be teaching Directional increase and decrease basics, cabling without a needle (something Natalia, who always loses her cable needle needs to learn!), and combination knitting basics. We have a great lineup of spinning teachers to take you from introducing you to the basics all the way to spinning Bouclé. Vera Videnovich will teach you how to spin and even make your own drop spindle, Heavenly Bresser will get you Thinking Outside the Braid and Prepping like a pro, and Emily Wohlscheid will take you on a Drop Spindle World Tour, and teach you spin Bouclé. Samantha Lynn is back with her acid dyeing workshops (Dyeing I and Dyeing II) throughout the weekend; in one hour you can learn the basics of acid dyeing and go home with your own hand-dyed yarn, with yarn provided to YarnCon by Wool2Dye4. We’re very happy to have veteran YarnCon teacher, Kathy Kelly with us again this year to teach Tunisian Crochet, Tunisian Crochet Lace, and corner to corner crochet to help you expand your crochet skills. And for the sock lovers we have long time YarnCon vendor, Jenn Watkins helping you choose the right sock heel for your project, and learn more about the variety of sock heels in her Sock Heels Sampling class. And because this is YarnCon, and we can make yarn out of all kinds of things, we are really excited to welcome back Musa Macenyane who will be teaching how to plarn (yes, plarn!) a change purse. Her purses are super cute, you will be amazed at what you can do with old shopping bags.

I will be back to talk about each of our teachers and their classes in more detail over the coming weeks, so stay tuned!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: classes, education, workshops, yarncon

‘Tis the season, to plan for YarnCon 2014!

December 18, 2013 by Natalia Leave a Comment

December brings so many projects: gifts to spin, dye, crochet, weave and knit, and fiber festivals to plan! OK, maybe that last one is not on your to-do list, but happily it is on ours. Since the vendor application went up a couple of weeks ago, we have had a wonderful response! Each new application is like a little gift in our stockings, so thank you, and please keep them coming, as spaces are filling up quickly. And, we have a treat for those of you who want to be vendors at YarnCon, but feel like you can’t afford it, or fill up a whole table. We are introducing an up and coming section this year, with mini-spaces, and a mini-fee. So, go ahead and check out that application at https://www.yarncon.com/?page_id=125

We are also now officially putting out the call for workshops! If you have a yarny skill you would like to share, please head on over to https://www.yarncon.com/?page_id=313 and fill out our new handy-dandy form.

OK, back to our holiday crafting. We’ll keep looking over those applications, and we’ll send out the first round of acceptance letters in the new year.

Happy Holidays!

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: applications, holidays, vendors, workshops, yarncon