Indulge your senses as you explore the delightful pairings of fine wines and luxurious yarns with this special and unique event! Firefly is partnering up with our neighbor, Deep Red Wine Merchants, for an evening of delightful conversation, laughter, and camaraderie as you savor the interplay of aromas, tastes, and tactile sensations. Whether you're a yarn enthusiast, an avid knitter, or a wine connoisseur, this event promises to deliver a delightful fusion of artistry and opulence.

Firefly and Deep Red have paired up a diverse palette of six yarns with six wines. Sarah, owner for Firefly, will discuss the qualities of what makes each yarn special and unique. As you sample the yarns, take your taste buds on a journey as Dave, owner of Deep Red, guides you through a carefully curated selection of wines that have been expertly paired with the exquisite textures and colors of our yarns. From crisp whites to robust reds, each wine will be thoughtfully matched with a complementary yarn, enhancing the tasting experience and unveiling new dimensions of flavor and creativity.

Immerse yourself in the elegance of yarn and wine, and discover the intricate interplay between these two beloved crafts. Limited tickets available, so reserve your place now for an unforgettable yarn and wine pairing experience!

Join us for our annual Halloween celebration! This is essentially our usual Friday Maker Night, but with Halloween movies, light costuming, and probably too much candy and other sweet treats.

This year, we’ve got special guest Kat Eldred of Why Knot Fibers joining us for the festivities while we host her beautiful yarns in a weekend-only trunk show!

Come hang out, work on your projects, gorge on sweets and shop our special yarns to celebrate this Halloween!

Gong Fu Cha: The Chinese Art of Tea Service

Learn how to brew tea using the classic steeping vessel, the gaiwan, and learn the techniques that prepare you to intuitively steep any tea that comes your way.

Gong Fu Cha is the traditional method of serving tea in China. This introductory class teaches the foundational skills of gong fu cha, or the skill of brewing tea through mindful practice. Learn the traditional Chinese vocab for many tea terms, try different grips to help you pour your tea safely and confidently, and begin to build a foundational understanding to different modalities for pouring different types of teas.

Join us for an educational afternoon and learn how your favorite crafting supply is made!

In this in-depth exploration, fiber-expert Nicole will take a deep dive in to the different ways we spin yarn, why one method may be preferred over another, and best uses for all our favorite fibers.

Meet other fiber enthusiasts and nerd out together as you take a deeper plunge into one of your favorite hobbies!

This workshop includes a 2 hour presentation and Q&A about how different yarns are machine and hand-spun, including information on different types of fibers, spinning, plying, and finishing.

Each student will receive small yarn samples and reference handouts to compare against yarns at home.

Walk away with resources for learning more and lots of ideas of how to think about yarn structure into your future making!

Intro to Gong-Fu Cha — The Chinese Art of Tea Service

Experience tea brewed using the gaiwan, a classic Chinese steeping vessel.

Gong Fu Cha is the traditional method of serving tea in China. This introductory class gives students experience and exposure to the traditional Gong Fu tea service.

This class is geared toward new tea drinkers or anyone unfamiliar with the Chinese tea service called gong fu cha. Come learn the foundations and see if it is the right practice for you. We will go over what gong fu cha is in depth, give a little history, and most importantly drink some tea.

Bring your questions and a notebook if you’re a notetaker.

Indulge your senses as you explore the delightful pairings of fine wines and luxurious yarns with this special and unique event! Firefly is partnering up with our neighbor, Deep Red Wine Merchants, for an evening of delightful conversation, laughter, and camaraderie as you savor the interplay of aromas, tastes, and tactile sensations. Whether you're a yarn enthusiast, an avid knitter, or a wine connoisseur, this event promises to deliver a delightful fusion of artistry and opulence.

Firefly and Deep Red have paired up a diverse palette of six yarns with six wines. Sarah, owner for Firefly, will discuss the qualities of what makes each yarn special and unique. As you sample the yarns, take your taste buds on a journey as Dave, owner of Deep Red, guides you through a carefully curated selection of wines that have been expertly paired with the exquisite textures and colors of our yarns. From crisp whites to robust reds, each wine will be thoughtfully matched with a complementary yarn, enhancing the tasting experience and unveiling new dimensions of flavor and creativity.

Immerse yourself in the elegance of yarn and wine, and discover the intricate interplay between these two beloved crafts. Limited tickets available, so reserve your place now for an unforgettable yarn and wine pairing experience!

Gong Fu Cha: The Chinese Art of Tea Service

Learn how to brew tea using the classic steeping vessel, the gaiwan, and learn the techniques that prepare you to intuitively steep any tea that comes your way.

Gong Fu Cha is the traditional method of serving tea in China. This introductory class teaches the foundational skills of gong fu cha, or the skill of brewing tea through mindful practice. Learn the traditional Chinese vocab for many tea terms, try different grips to help you pour your tea safely and confidently, and begin to build a foundational understanding to different modalities for pouring different types of teas.

Celebrate that special mother in your life with a trolley tour around Windy City's yarn shops! Firefly Fiber Arts Studio, Knit 1, Sister-Arts Studio, and Nina Chicago are hosting a special 4 hour tour to each LYS! 

The tour starts at Knit 1 Chicago where you'll park your car and head into the shop. You'll be greeted by your guide and have 45 minutes to shop, all while enjoying treats and beverages. Then, you'll hop on our open air trolley to continue the tour to the next LYS! En route, knit, crochet, relax, and enjoy the tour as we guide you to each shop, sharing the unique characteristics they bring to the Chicago fiber community. After visiting each shop, the trolley will drop you back off at Knit 1 Chicago, where you parked.

Your ticket includes:

• Transportation to 4 local yarn shops

• 45 min of shopping time at each shop

• 10% off your yarn and accessory purchases at each shop

• A unique selection of food and beverages at each shop

The Trolley Tour will begin and return to Knit 1 Chicago at 3856 N Lincoln Ave. There is a metered parking lot available available around Knit 1. Please arrive at 12pm to enjoy the full 45 mins of shopping before you board the trolley for the next shop. Windy City LYS Tour will not be liable for any missed trolly departures. Tickets are non-refundable, but may be transferred to another guest upon formal request.

Learn about the Windy City LYS's
www.knit1chgo.com
www.sisterartsstudio.com
www.ninachicago.com
www.fireflyfiberarts.com

Click below to get the details and reserve your spot!

Join us on Local Yarn Store Day as we welcome indie yarn dyer Keenan Yarns to Firefly Fiber Arts Studio!

Discover exquisite hand-dyed yarns, chat with the talented dyer Deirdre Darr, and explore unique fibers to inspire your next project.

Don't miss out on our special offer - receive a free knitting or crochet pattern with any trunk show purchase! It's the perfect opportunity to add one-of-a-kind yarns to your collection, enhance your crafting repertoire and an opportunity to ask Deidre about her dying process! Deidre will have special mini-skein sets, some beautiful Michigan-milled BFL sock yarn, and much more!

We can't wait to celebrate the art of fiber with you!

Indulge your senses as you explore the delightful pairings of fine wines and luxurious yarns with this special and unique event! Firefly is partnering up with our neighbor, Deep Red Wine Merchants, for an evening of delightful conversation, laughter, and camaraderie as you savor the interplay of aromas, tastes, and tactile sensations. Whether you're a yarn enthusiast, an avid knitter, or a wine connoisseur, this event promises to deliver a delightful fusion of artistry and opulence.

Immerse yourself in the elegance of yarn and wine, and discover the intricate interplay between these two beloved crafts. Limited tickets available, so reserve your place now for an unforgettable yarn and wine pairing experience!

Firefly is teaming up with the crew from Chicago Tea Collective to host their monthly CommuniTea in our space!

Come by Sunday, January 21 from 4:30 to 6:30 to enjoy some free tea and meet any fellow tea enthusiasts. Chicago Tea Collective will be hosting the evening and pouring tea from their personal collections for any interested guests.

We hope to see you there!

Check out more from Chicago Tea Collective on Instagram at @chicago.tea.collective.

Join us Sunday, November 12 from 4-6pm for a special evening as we commemorate the end of the Autumn season with light snacks, traditional Chinese tea and a thoughtful yarn exchange.

Perhaps you have that impulse purchase you got on vacation, but know you’ll never actually use it? Have a skein of self-striping sock yarn but you don’t ever make socks? Give it to a maker who will find a use for it!

Please bring a skein (or more!) of unused, quality yarn for our group Yarn Swap. Leave something you aren’t planning on using and go home with something that brings you joy!

Chicago Tea Collective will be here pouring teas for our guests in the ancient style of Gong-fu tea brewing and sharing traditional Chinese teas from their personal collection! You can learn more about Chicago Tea Collective by following their Instagram.

Spots are limited, so click below to reserve yours today!

Join us for our annual Halloween celebration! This is essentially our usual Friday Maker Night, but with Halloween movies, light costuming, and probably too much candy and other sweet treats.

Come hang out, work on your projects, gorge on sweets and shop our special yarns to celebrate this Halloween!

Join us Thursday, October 26th for our monthly meeting! We’ll be screening the American animated miniseries Over the Garden Wall in its entirety!

Join us as two half brothers, Wirt and Greg find themselves lost in the strange woods, adrift in a time. With the help of a shadowy Woodsmen and a foul-tempered bluebird named Beatrice, they travel through the foggy land of the Unknown in hopes of finding a way home.

Over the Garden Wall is a stunning cartoon, perfectly blending mood and atmosphere with humor and heart — a Fall classic you won’t want to miss!

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!

Join us October 22nd from 4 -6pm at Firefly in Avondale for Queer Stitch Night! Bring a travel-friendly project to work on and wind down your weekend with a fun and friendly craft night!

Tickets are $5 to cover costs for light refreshments and for staff to work the event. Space is limited so reserve your spot below!

Join us Thursday, Sept 14 for our monthly meeting! We’ll be screening select episodes of the adorable slice-of-life anime K-ON! Get into the back-to-school vibes with Yui Hirasawa and the Light Music Club, curated by chi cartoon club member Sophia!

Brief Synopsis:

It’s a fresh high school year, and that means joining a club! Having difficulty deciding which club to join, Yui Hirasawa stumbles upon and applies for the “Light Music Club”, which she misinterprets to be about playing simple instruments, such as castanets. Unable to actually play an instrument, she decides to quit. But the Light Music Club is desperate for membership, at risk of disbandment, and after promises of treats, slacking off during club time, and an inspiring performance Yui decides to stay. But the problem remains: she still can’t play any instruments!!

We hope hope to see you there! 🎸🎸🎸

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!

Come meet the sisters and local dyers behind Metro Chicago’s RMR Yarn Co! Come bring a project and come kick off our September Trunk Show with us! Work on some projects while shopping new and exclusive yarns! Hope to see you there!

About RMR Yarn Co:

We are three sisters from the Chicago Metro Area who love yarn and all things creative. Our varying creative abilities complement each other, allowing us to create a wide range of hand-dyed yarn and accessories.  We strive to provide top quality, ethically sourced yarns that are hand dyed in small batches.

RMR Yarn Co. is a small family business named after our mother, the finest example we’ve had of what can be achieved through hard work and determination. Her initials, RMR, serve to remind us of the strength, love, and endurance all women possess.

For this month’s meeting, we’ll be screening an arch of episodes from the animated variety show The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends!

Rocky & Bullwinkle is known for quality writing and wry humor. Mixing puns, cultural and topical satire, and self-referential humor, it appealed to adults as well as children. The art has a choppy, unpolished look and yet the series has long been held in high esteem by those who have seen it; the show has been described as a well-written radio program with pictures.

The main segment of Rocky & Bullwinkle is the serialized adventures of the two title characters. The main adversaries in most of their adventures are the Russian-like spies Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale. spies for the fictional country of Pottsylvania and their boss, Fearless Leader. Supporting segments include Dudley Do-Right, Peabody's Improbable History, and Fractured Fairy Tales, among others.

We hope hope to see you there!

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!

This Chicago Yarn Crawl, hit some of those city shops aboard the Windy City Trolley Tour! Park your car, and board our trolley for an exclusive shopping event with Nina Chicago, Sister-Arts Studio, Knit 1, and Firefly Fiber Arts Studio! 

Thursday, July 27, 3:30pm - 8:30pm

The tour starts at Nina Chicago where you'll park your car and head into the shop. You'll be greeted by your guide and have 1 hour to shop, all while enjoying treats and beverages. Then, you'll hop on our open air trolley to continue the tour to the next LYS! En route, knit, crochet, relax, and enjoy the tour as we guide you to each shop, sharing the unique characteristics they bring to the Chicago fiber community. After visiting each shop, the trolley will drop you back off at Nina Chicago, where you parked.

Tickets Cost: $60/per person

Your ticket includes:

• Transportation to 4 local yarn shops

• 1 hour of shopping time at each shop

• 10% off your yarn and accessory purchases at each shop

• A unique selection of food and beverages at each shop

The Trolley Tour will begin and return to Nina Chicago, 1256 W Chicago Ave, Chicago, IL 60642. Street parking is available around the shop. Please arrive at 3:30pm to enjoy the full 1 hour of shopping before you board the trolley for the next shop. Windy City LYS Tour will not be liable for any missed trolley departures. Tickets are non-refundable, but may be transferred to another guest upon formal request.

Learn about the Windy City LYS's
www.ninachicago.com

www.sisterartsstudio.com

www.knit1chgo.com

www.fireflyfiberarts.com

Click below reserve your spot!

Avoid the overwhelm of so many stores/so little time by creating a pre-crawl plan using Julie’s customized worksheet and curated bundle of patterns!

Shop your stash and plan your projects! In this workshop, learn how to use what you have to make intentional purchases that will become finished items you’ll love for years to come.

Don’t let your stash, leftovers, unfinished objects and works-in-progress stress you out! Julie will share her tips and tricks for storing your yarn, projects, needles, hooks, and notions so that you’re more likely to be inspired by them and less likely to despair about what to do with them.

Click below to learn more about this event and reserve your spot!

Join us for this July’s Chicago Cartoon Club meeting! This month we'll be screening select episodes of the classic 90s MTV animated sitcom Daria with the original score.

Daria, a spin-off of Mike Judge’s Beavis and Butthead, centers on the bookish and misanthropic teen Daria Morgendorffer, along with her best friend sarcastic and artistic Jane Lane, and her popular and vapid younger sister, Quinn. The show is set in the fictional suburban American town of Lawndale and is a satire of high school life, full of allusion to and criticisms of popular culture and social classes of the late 90s.

For those who may not know, the original sound team for Daria took full advantage of the licensing rights for popular music MTV had at the time, and made a stellar score that was fully of-the-time.

But once Daria reached syndication (and now in the age of streaming), the rights to the score were lost and the music was replaced with a more generic sound. Even the (very low quality) official Daria boxset does not feature the original score, but with the power of the internet, fans of the show have pieced together the OG soundtrack for our viewing pleasure!

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!

Join us for this June’s Chicago Cartoon Club meeting! This month we are voting for which animated feature we are screening! Cast your vote by joining our Discord server and joining our online community!

Choices for this month’s screening are:

Perfect Blue (1997) - Japanese animated psychological thriller directed by Satoshi Kon (Paprika, Millennium Actress). The plot follows a member of a Japanese idol group who retires from music to pursue an acting career. As she becomes a victim of stalking, gruesome murders take place, and she begins losing her grip on reality. Watch the trailer here.

Origin: Spirits of the Past (2006) - Japanese animated science fiction film directed by Keiichi Sugiyama. Some 300 years in the future, the Earth has been devastated by mankind's greed; meanwhile, Agito stumbles across a strange machine in a forbidden sanctuary and awakens Tula from the past, who continues her mission right away. Watch the trailer here.

Tekkonkinkreet (2006) - French animated action film adapted from the Japanese Manga of the same name, directed by Michael Arias and art directed by Shinji Kimura. The streets of Treasure Town are said to belong to "The Cats." They know everything that goes on in the city, and no one can stir up trouble without going through them first. In reality, The Cats are a pair of orphan boys called Black and White, who aren’t afraid of anything or anyone. But their rule of the streets is challenged when the Yakuza come to town and start making changes. Watch the trailer here.

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!

We’re hosting a special Stitch Night at Avondale Bowl!

Gather your knitting or crochet and come join us for a fun evening of cocktails, bowling and making! We’ve reserved some lanes at the fabulous Avondale Bowl, which features a fun, retro design with manual scorekeeping and a beautiful cocktail bar.

Tickets are $23 to help cover costs for our lane reservation and pay our event facilitators. Space is limited, so reserve your spot below!

Avondale Bowl is located at 3118 N. Milwaukee Avenue.

Please note that Avondale Bowl is a 21+ facility

The Wild Ride Book Club is a book club for spicy fantasy romance lovers. It was created from the shared love of reading fantasy romance novels. This book club does not take itself too seriously, and its main goal is to bring people together to have fun, swap books, and read books with lots of spice!

We meet every 1st Sunday of the month, 4pm - 6pm
Scroll down to see what books we are reading and to learn more about the club.

Must be 18+ to join.

This club offers two books to read each month. Read one, or both, either way we’ll have fun talking about it!

This month’s books:

• Games With the Orc by Kathryn Moon

• The Sins of the Orc by Finley Fenn

Our next meet up will be on Sunday, June 4th from 4pm - 6pm at Firefly Fiber Arts

Click below to learn more about what we’re reading this month and more about The Wild Ride Book Club!

Come to Cheif O'Neill's lovely beer garden and meet the Avondale Gardening Alliance and urban agriculture adjacent small businesses!

Firefly’s own Sarah will be there demonstrating some natural dye techniques and will have some kits for folks who are interested!

Pet some chickens! Learn to make paper with native seeds embedded! Meet your neighbors and leave with new gardening skills! Hope to see you there!

Join us for this May’s Chicago Cartoon Club meeting! This month we’ll be screening Genndy Tartakovsky’s new series Unicorn: Warrior’s Eternal.

The creator of Samurai Jack and Primal gives it his all in his new Adult Swim animated series!

The series follows a team of ancient heroes protecting the world from an ominous force. Throughout history, unicorns have symbolized the virtuous, appearing to ensure that goodness reigns. When the reawakening of our heroes comes too early, they find themselves in the bodies of teenagers. Damaged as a result, their memories of who they are and the history of the unicorn over the centuries have been lost, with some of their magical abilities weakened and fragmented. Not only do they have to protect the world against the prevailing darkness, they have to do it while navigating the unexpected laughs and humor that come with teen angst and emotions.

Click below to learn more about Chicago Cartoon Club!