handmade by stefanie

Mochimochiland art installation from VK Live 2013 (image by me) Vogue Knitting Live is returning to Chicago October 2-4, 2015! It will be in the centrally-located Palmer House Hilton in downtown Chicago, which is a gorgeous historic building. Locals will be able to get to the venue quite easily, and if you're traveling from out of town, you can just hop on the train to get downtown from the airport. I'm most looking forward to the marketplace full of yarny vendors ( click here to see who will be there this year! ), which has a lot to offer in addition to shopping: Free fashion shows from Vogue Knitting , Koigu, Rowan, and Universal. Knit art gallery featuring artists such as Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochiland and Nic White. A yarn tasting lounge where you can try the latest yarns and test out Knitter's Pride needles. A complimentary ball-winding station for those of you who can't wait to cast on a project with your new yarn!  The relax and unwind lounge ...

Welcome back! There were so many local yarn stores with booth space at the show who allowed me to take photos, so I wanted to be sure to share them here on my blog. Wool and Company : In addition to having lots of lovely yarns, they had a Knitter's Pride needle tasting in their booth! Windy Knitty : This is a great shop in Andersonville with an amazing selection of yarns. They stock local yarns from Lorna's Laces and Fleur de Fiber, plus plenty of other hand-dyed yarns, luxury fibers, as well as the bigger brands such as Berocco, Cascade, Noro and Rowan. The staff is very friendly and knowledgeable, too! Nina : Another great Chicago LYS; this one is located in Wicker Park, and they feature a well-curated selection of luxury fibers. Their booth looked great; a large portion of which was devoted to the amazing yarns of possum-y goodness from Zealana! Knitche (Downer's Grove, IL): I thought their booth was absolutely lovely, and I'm looking forward...

Marketplace Entrance I had a blast last weekend at VK Live! Chicago . I spent most of my time as a helper bee in the Bijou Basin Ranch Booth , though I also had plenty of time to chat with many of my other yarny friends. I loved the venue - the Palmer House Hilton is a really stunning location. The marketplace vendors were divided between two ballrooms on two different levels; I really liked the intimacy the smaller spaces provided. It was so much more manageable than walking into a giant convention center and being overwhelmed by row after row of vendors! For a first-time event, I think it went pretty well. I heard rumblings of various issues that displeased both vendors and attendees, but I also heard just as many (if not more) positive remarks. Throughout the weekend, I saw Vogue staffers running around like crazy - they were getting things done! Palmer House Hilton There were some really gorgeous booths - for the most part, the marketplace floor had the feel of a bouti...

Palmer House Hilton ...and I am not excited in the slightest.  Actually, I have very high hopes for this event; my prediction is that it's going to knock their competition out of the water, notably in terms of attendance and accessibility for Chicago knitters. I love going to Stitches Midwest, but I don't love going  to Stitches, if you know what I mean. 40 minutes in the car to get to the 'burbs? And I actually live pretty close to Schaumburg, relatively speaking: for folks who live in other Chicago neighborhoods (I am in the Northwest, about 20 minutes from O'Hare), they probably spend at least an hour making the trek, possibly longer!  For the car-free city mouse, a trip to Schaumburg can pretty much eat up your whole day...and budget...and patience. Driving in Chicago, especially on the highway, isn't exactly the most fun way to spend your time, so it is with much giddy anticipation that I have been counting down the days to the first-ever Vogue Kn...