Nash Yarn Fest recap

Well, that was a hoot! With a hootenanny! The second annual Nash Yarn Fest by Modern Daily Knitting was a great opportunity to see old friends and new, hear music and speakers, and shop for yarn and yarn-adjacent goodies. I had a great time. And participated in country line dancing for the first time. It’s not unlike tai chi; you learn some simple steps that get combined and repeated, and do them with a room full of like-minded people. Fun!

The event was well-run, as you’d expect from the team at Modern Daily Knitting. This year’s event was even better than last year’s. More speakers, more music. I don’t know if there were more vendors.

Kay is the other half of MDK. See her nametag? She’s the one who got us all hooked on Rudiger Schlomer’s Knit Hello. She and Karen Tumelty knit nametags for all the vendors. And there were tables set up so everybody could knit their own nametag, too. I already had mine, so I was good to go.

Denise really caught the Knit Hello bug! She knit hello, her name, and couldn’t stop. Good thing she found a thrifted vest to display her tags and pins!

It was great to see Franklin Habit, who came all the way from Paris to give a talk on his miniatures and creativity. And GG is always fun.

Jeni Hankins is a gem. She’s a talented singer/songwriter/writer/crafter, and she sang for us on Saturday. She has Appalachian roots, and many of her songs tell stories of her family. She writes for MDK, and she’s working on a piece about making doll clothes.

I told her about my knitted Barbie clothes made by my Aunt Vivian, so the next day she showed me Mary Jane, her Mary Hoyer doll that will be the subject of her MDK story.

Jeni sang a song using her manual sewing machine as accompaniment, and sewed a project as she sang.

Shelley Brander of Knit Stars was there, with her cute dog Charles Barkley (he’s on the floor, out of view). Do you subscribe to Knit Stars? I’ve participated in all the seasons (they’re video classes), and there’s always something interesting to learn.

Nancy Marchant and her sister Jane came in woven knit vests. Woven knitting is Nancy’s current fascination. Cool!

There are more pictures on my Instagram page, if you want to scroll through. Including my game of yarn chicken on a project that I finished in Nashville!

I picked up some more yarn inspiration from A Chick that Knitz. Three are pooling yarns. The teal green on the left is by itself for a single skein project, and the other two pooling yarns may or may not be combined with the variegated or semi-solid to their right. We shall see.

The hootenanny came with a commemorative project bag and a skein of Atlas, as well as an enamel pin (next picture). I love surprise swag. I also bought a shawl pin from Birdie Parker Designs, various repair hooks from Stunning String Studio (because my Susan Bates handi-tool is a little too long for my notions tins), an embroidery project, and a glasses case that may be my new notions tin…or my glasses case.

The pin, on my Julia Hilbrandt felt tote that I bought last year at Nash Yarn Fest. Julia wasn’t able to come this year, but the bag is going strong.

I came home to find this gift from Chilali Hugo, a Facebook follower. She sent me this frog themed project bag because she’s been knitting so many Portland Frog Hats. This bag is lovely; it has six pockets inside for organization, and is big enough for a small sweater project. I love it! Thank you, Chilali.

My shawl project has been living in the bag, but I just finished it. What goes in there next?