Chicago YARNCON 2026!
PRE YARNCON
It all began a little while back actually. When I signed up for a volunteer shift at this year’s YARNCON hosted at Plumber’s Union Hall in the West Loop Side. A three hour shift where I fully emersed myself to help with every and anything unloading wise for the vendors this year. Precious yarn and booth construction cargo can be scary to handle when put in your hands, but with the support of my fellow volunteers we were able to tackle each incoming truck with care, precision, and efficiency in mind. I’m talking about some of us being traffic control over the one freight elevator available to enter the floor of the auditorium with a cargo cart. Some of us going in a circle moving the heavy pieces of wired Wall so we wouldn’t hit each other or get in the way of the others. I’m talking about becoming human sign posts for vendors who needed a little guidance entering the parking lot for access to the unloading alley. (To be fair, it does not look like an unloading alleyway can fit in between the building and the parking lot structure behind.)
Since a shift had already occurred before mine there were plenty of vendors and volunteers moving about when I arrived. Swirling my Dunkin Iced Coffee in hand I began to look around at the other volunteers and organizers overseeing our operations. There was time in between the help for introductions and expressions of gratitude for volunteering. Overall I could not ask for a better bunch of fiber lovers to work with.
One of the great things about helping to unload for the vendors is seeing a little preview of the show for the next day. This way I am able to make mental notes of yarns I noticed during my time volunteering. There were a couple that I did enjoy; an americana ‘Cubs’ colorway from Gnome Depot and an exclusive colorway of bright banana orange and tomato red from my friends at Oink Pigments. (They opened their cooler of yarn to search for the last Worsted weight of their ‘Communist Party Animal’ colorway teehee.)
I should have given you the context that this was on a Friday afternoon. YARNCON officially starts on Saturday at 10am and runs through Sunday until 3pm. Before leaving for the day I had to connect with Yax over at RMR Yarn Co to solidify our plan for LIVE crochet demonstrations exhibiting my crochet sock pattern on one of her new colorways. Anyone who came to listen received a special code for their next online purchase with RMR Yarn. Additionally, I gave them instructions to search my online store for a Free Crochet Sock pattern that I was demonstrating. It was all coming together I could not wait for Saturday to come. Finally, I said goodbye to the YARNCON organizers/managers and in return for volunteering we all received a swag bag filled with fiber goodies. I am sure it was not planned but in the spur of the moment after a small huddle the organizers told us that we could pick a full skein of yarn laid out in a small pyramid on the table along with a handful of t-shirts if we so choose. When I tell you that the way they were laid out, there was no way for one to know if the middle and bottom skeins were full solids of half colored because you could only see one end of the skein. Honey yellows, sepia reds, midnight blues, terra greens, heather greys, plum purples….there were no wrong answers. Out of purity of thought I closed my eyes and launched my hand forward on what was originally an attempt at a honey golden yellow. (I’ve made it my 2026 mission to add more yellows to my wardrobe and after wearing my yellow cotton tank the next day, this direction of style is so far so good.) Pulling out the skein the color suddenly changed to an ombre of slate grey! I literally pulled the only variegated colorway in the bunch! Those were watching others choose first so they could slim their paradox of choices gleamed as I unsheathed the skein from the pyramid and turned it around to see exactly how this looked. Think honey yellow fading into a wet grey fading into a slate grey fading into a corn stalk brown fading back into honey. I definitely won yarn lottery here and I could not be more grateful. With that completed I thanked everybody I met on the organizing side again and wished my fiber friends a safe travel home. Most if not all were coming back for the first Day shenanigans.
photo credit:
https://chicago.suntimes.com/arts-and-culture/2026/04/11/knitting-and-crocheting-devotees-swarm-yarncon-for-threads-and-thrills-its-all-about-community
DAY 1 of YARNCON
The outfit of the day was original creations of course. A cotton/acrylic Caron Cotton Cake men’s tank top, some khakis, and a textured Color Theory Hat. I brought my Lion Brand ‘Xavier Shawl’ (Kit available here) just in case I needed something light to throw over. (It was kind of soft chill windy outside so it served me well walking from my parked car to the venue) The event starts at 10am and I was poised to arrive by 10:30am. With ring light tripod in hand, tablet for streaming, and wireless mics at hand I set out to tackle Day 1 of YARNCON with RMR Yarn Co. Once again I so grateful for RMR Yarn Co for allowing me the space in their booth to stream on my social media channels as well as provide some LIVE crochet entertainment with those waiting in line or curious. I got to interview a handful of event goers the question, “Do you prefer crazy bright colors or neutral palette?” Surprisingly most expressed wacky bright colors as a preference. Personally when I wear my bright garments out the comments are that they “wish they could” enjoy bright colors. Goes to show you there are no Right answers here, just different streams of fiber thought. Throughout the day at YARNCON I activated the RMR Yarn space as differently as I could. Interviews, livestreams, crochet demos, TikTok choreo dance to ‘Pinky Up’, and friend gathering brought the booth to life! A couple hours before the day was up I gave myself the opportunity to scope out the event and its yarn goodies. I collected the yarns I scoped out the day before from Gnome Depot and Oink Pigments. I also picked up a beautiful Sheep/Farm kind of yarn that was a skein of slate heather Grey DK weight made from two different types of sheep. It literally was the closest I could find of a skein of pure Wool feeling yarn this event could offer besides what The Spinning Guy was spinning on his wheel. (Amazing fellow BTW, he will make another appearance in this blog for Day 2.)
How could I forget to mention that I happened upon a Pokemon TCG Pokeball with 3 booster packs inside. I decided to open a pack with RMR YARN CO, the organizer of YARNCON, and the guys over at LEADING MEN FIBER ARTS. All three pulled Hits and one of them was my N’'s Zoarark which is one of my top valued cards in my portfolio now. What a way to celebrate friendship and business appreciation with YARNCON vendors/organizers.
After picking up my yarn goodies I said my goodbyes and made my way out. Final thoughts of the day was the excruciating control to wind up some of my new yarn acquisitions. However I needed to focus and try to complete the crochet sock with RMR’s colorway so I could write it up and give it to you guys for FREE here. (Special treat for those who are actually reading my blog lol.)
YARNCON DAY 2
And of course we do not start our day like normal folk. Meeting up with my fiancée in the morning a mile away from the YARNCON venue. (Free parking in the area is a B***.) We decided to try to run 6-7 miles to the lake and back to the actual venue. Let me tell you, the views running up to the Willis Tower, cascading over you and then like the Eye of Sauron it lurks onto you from the coolest angles as you run towards Lake Michigan. As we touched the edge of the lakefront we refilled our water bottles (The public water fountains are now actively On BTW) and started the trek back to Plumber’s Hall. The run back was a doozy because apparently the winds were blowing East and we both had to run through multiple wind tunnels. Felt like Michael Jackson with my bellowing shirt and shorts fluttering in the wind waiting on the corners for the traffic light to change. On the way to YARNCON we decided to get some R&R at Willis Tower which has a public lounge space and restaurants. We shared a Sweetgreen salad and as we sat down and I looked over my love’s shoulder I clocked Do-Rite Donuts…Say less. I asked the employee there what donuts were classically great and she recommended the ‘Buttermilk Old Fashioned’ and ‘Chocolate Covered Glazed.’ I decided these donuts would be my reward for completing my run. We made our way to Plumber’s Hall and took a minute outside to dry off and admired the food truck options. (Thank you to Amanda who on Day 1 gave me her Al Pastor taco as I was taking a break from the event to get some fresh air.) Once ready we made our way into the venue.
Finished Crochet Sock from YARNCON 2026 yarn
One of their newest fingering weight yarns in LIMONCHICAGO’s crochet sock pattern. Find the free pattern link within this article or the written pattern at the end.
Attending the event as a patron is a whole different experience of sensory triggers. The visuals of people wearing their handmade garments, the sounds of fiber nerds talking shop, the feels of yarns being studied, and the overall sensation that everyone there was intentionally there to relish the experience. It truly is a cluster of emotions and dopamine hits. Pulling out my crochet sock to work on we made a couple loops around the main gymnasium floor of booths. There was also a downstairs section to the event with even more vendors. Did I mention there was a balcony on the second floor overlooking the gymnasium with vendors on top of that. Yarn themed jewelry, notions to add pizazz to your handmade garments, kits to create showcased sample projects, and more peaked out interest. At some point I remember helping to move a large touchscreen attached to a rolling stand on volunteer day and I had to see how this vendor used this technology. She literally had her online store on the tablet! I was in shock and obviously engaged with it. After navigating her pattern store I clocked a Free pattern for a crochet hat and checked it out to be sent to my email. Another win for me! Finally we both checked out the MochiMochiland table where they had a display of mini knit creatures/amigurimu. Uber cute! I made significant progress crocheting my sock and throughout our walk it kept stopping people asking me where I got it for me to point them in the right direction. (This yarn is an eye catcher don’t sleep on it.) It was finally at this time, at the we completed our second loop around at the upper balcony, I pulled out the Do-Rite Donut from Willis Tower and chomped right into it. The soft doughy texture was enough to give it 5 stars. The chocolate icing on top though was thick and delectable. Worth the 6 mile run and promenade through YARNCON. *****5/5
FINAL THOUGHTS + FREE Pattern
To have a community of fiber folk gather and participate in commodity together is in its pretty girl era. With other yarn retreats, conventions, and meet ups coming up in the Spring/Summer season, this was a nice kickoff. The open space of booth life enables for conversation that can touch upon different aspects of your life. Personal stories are shared throughout the event, with curious eyes darting around. Aura farming for artistic inspiration reached an all time high. Everybody was looking for something. And in that quest the village came out and showed up.
Meeting with customers in person gave me a challenge to be the Personality the crochet community can enjoy in a modern city such as Chicago. There is a thirst for evolution, pop culture participation, and personability. How can the product be more than the tool for us creatives. The journey of searching for the right color(s) blends into the commitment to the tool and/or project. Then it becomes the time to prepare your tools (caking the skein or finding the right size hook) which then becomes a whole new adventure as you start the foundation chain or magic circle. There is a special mind-body connection that is practiced when working on a crochet project. The ability to remove the crochet hook at any point from the project at hand is understated. You see, in knitting, the “needles” are attached to a wire that is worked through your knitting active row. Removing the wire or needles disassembles the project. However in crochet, you can use an obstacle to prevent the active loop to unwound. This gives us the Creator the superpower of starting a new project with the same hook.
