Nash Yarn Fest

April 28, 2026

I decided to go up to Nash Yarn Fest less than two weeks before the event, and I'm glad I did. It was a fantastic event with awesome vendors and fabulous speakers.

The drive to Nashville is about three and a half hours from our house, but that's not a problem. My husband loves driving, and I get to knit the whole time.

I made sure I was properly outfitted for the event: My Telesto tee, and my Mistelit-socks.

It turned out, though, that my husband got more compliments on his shirt than I did on mine.

When we got to our destination, I was immediately distracted by the alpacas. For obvious reasons they were outside the building. We got there about 10 minutes before the doors opened for the general public, and I didn't even realize how long the line was because of these cuties. Thankfully, the organizers were on the ball, and were scanning tickets and handing out attendee stickers down the line, so when the doors did open, we all got to walk in very quickly.

We had a chance to start our first lap around the vendor booths before the first speaker was on. I had seen some commentary about the price of the tickets. Some folks said it was too much "just to go shopping". But Nash Yarn Fest isn't just for shopping, there were several speakers throughout the day that were a part of the entrance fee. And these were big names.

We got to listen to Jeanette Sloan speak about the whole story of her beaded colorwork techniques. From where she got the inspiration to how he refined it, all the way through to writing her book.

I also got to chat with Cecilia Nelson-Hurt of @creativececi and @ceciknitstheworld who is an Inclusion Advocate as well as the creator of #Fiberuary challenge. I'd had the opportunity to attend a webinar she led just earlier that week, and I've signed up for part two of it in May.

At the end of the day we got to hear Franklin Habit speak about Foxe & Boxe, and Patty Lyons talk about how her Knitting Bag of Tricks book and workbook came to be. Which, by the way, Franklin illustrated. I did not get a picture with Patty, but hopefully I'll rectify that at h+h Americas.

I got some cool things while there. Jeanette Sloan's book, of course, which she signed. Some buttons and a sticker. And my husband bought me a Lemonwood Whirl as an early birthday present. The picture was taken before I picked up Patty's book, but you can see that above. And of course, I put my purchases to use right away.