Frequently Asked Questions

The Great Tennessee Yarn Tour (GTYT) is a very special shopping experience that encourages participants (aka: Tourists) to discover and support local yarn shops based in Tennessee over a period of time, while also also exploring the great state of Tennessee itself. Think of it like a pub crawl, but for yarn!

The 2025 Great Tennessee Yarn Tour will be August 1 - August 31, 2025. Please note that opening hours and days will very by shop, so be sure to check each shop's schedule to verify which days/times they will be open during the Tour.

The GTYT is happening all over the state of Tennessee! There are 19 shops participating this year - stretching from Covington in the west to Johnson City in the East. Click HERE to see a map and list of shops.

Your first step is to buy a ticket. Just like going to a concert or visiting a museum, tickets help us know that you are an "official" Tourist and allow you to take advantage of everything the GTYT and its participating shops have to offer! Tickets are available online through June 1. We cannot guarantee tickets after June 1, so be sure to purchase yours today! Click the Register Now button below to get your ticket.

YES! The GTYT welcomes fiber enthusiasts and crafters of all stages and skill levels. Whether you are an established fiber artists or someone looking to pick up a new hobby, we hope you'll find something along the Tour to (re)ignite and inspire your creative journey!

Nope! The great thing about the shops that participate in the GTYT is their variety. Each shop has its own focus, style, and passion. While all shops feature yarn that would be appropriate for both knitting and crochet, you'll also find shops that have weaving, spinning, cross-stitch, Tunisian crochet, felting, sewing, and even painting supplies!

The GTYT is a self-guided tour. Tourists are responsible for their own schedule, transportation, and safety. This allows Tourists to visit shops at their own pace and schedule. We have learned the touring is more fun with friends! Don't be afraid to grab a friend or family member and bring them along for the adventure!

The GTYT is an in-person experience, dedicated to raising awareness of and support for brick-and-mortar shops. Therefore, we do not offer any virtual or online component. We encourage Tourists to make every effort to visit shops in person and support local, brick-and-mortar businesses!

While you don't need a ticket just to walk into a yarn shop, if you want a tote bag, to buy an exclusive mini-skein, or a chance to win a grand prize, you will need a ticket. Buying a ticket makes you an "official" Tourist and opens the door to the full Great Tennessee Yarn Tour (GTYT) experience. With a ticket, you will receive the 2025 Travel Pack, access to purchase exclusive mini-skeins at each participating shop, access to Tourist-only specials and giveaways shops may be holding, as well as automatic entry for the Triple Grand Prize Giveaway at the end of the Tour! We want to make sure that every Tourist who goes on the GTYT, as well as the shops who participate, have a stellar experience. Selling tickets before the Tour allows us to do this. We can make sure that everyone who wants a Travel Pack (tote bag and more) will get a Travel Pack. No longer will you walk into a shop, and ask for a tote bag, only to be told "We're all sold out." Everyone who buys a ticket is guaranteed a tote bag! Selling tickets also relieves much of financial burden off of participating shops because they do not have to worry about using their own money to purchase GTYT inventory (such as tote bags) that may or may not sell. Selling tickets in advance also helps our shops plan their schedule and inventory, so they can be well-prepared to welcome Tourists during August! Purchasing a ticket also means that you, as the Tourist, don't have to worry about keeping track of a passport, stamps, or turning anything in. Once you buy your ticket, you can sit back and enjoy the journey!

Your ticket makes you an "official" Tourist and ensures that you'll have full access to everything the Tour has to offer! Here is what is included with your ticket: Travel pack Commemorative 2025 Tote Bag Printed Guide Book Printed Pattern Booklet (includes all 8 2025 Official Patterns) Additional 2025 swag! Exclusive Mini-Skeins Each participating shop will be featuring an exclusive mini-skein of fingering weight yarn, acquired or created just for this year's Tour! You *must* have a Yarn Tour ticket to be able to purchase these mini-skeins. You can collect these mini-skeins as you visit shops and utilize them in the 2025 Patterns to create a one-of-a-kind Tour Memento.​ Special Attractions & Prizes Throughout the Tour, participating shops may offer special deals, giveaway, or promotions just for Tourists! You will need a Ticket to be able to advantage of these great specials! Triple Grand Prize Giveaway Why have just one grand prize when you could have three? By purchasing a 2025 Ticket, you are automatically entered into the Triple Grand Prize Drawing at the end of the Tour. This is not based on how many shops you visit; it is automatic with the purchase of a Tour Ticket.

Tickets cost $25 for 2025.

For a guaranteed ticket, please purchase your tickets via the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour website by June 1, 2025. After June 1, tickets will no longer be available. Click the button below to buy your ticket: *All ticket sales are final. Tickets cannot be returned or exchanged. Tickets cannot be resold to other individuals. (ie, no "scalping") *Beware of scams! Tickets for the 2025 Great Tennessee Yarn Tour can only be purchased via the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour website. If someone on social media comments that they have extra tickets for sell, ignore them.

Yes! Please follow these steps to buy multiple tickets at a time: 1) On the checkout page, enter the total number of tickets you want to purchase: 2) On the next page, enter your details for Buyer Details (or the details of the person making the purchase). 3) In the next section, you will enter details for each specific ticket. You will need to enter the person's first name, last name, email, City & State, and pick-up location. You will need to complete "Ticket Details" for every ticket that you are purchasing. Remember to choose the correct Pick Up Location for every ticket!

In 2025, Tickets are on sale from March 21 thru June 1. You must buy a ticket during this timeframe! We cannot guarantee any "extra" tickets after June 1.

You do not need to print out your ticket, but you should be ready to show it to shop owners/staff upon request. Shops may ask to see your ticket when you pick up your Travel Pack, to verify that you have purchased a ticket. If you are travelling without your tote bag, you may also be asked to show your ticket to verify that you are an Official Tourist.

If you lose track of the original confirmation email, please send an email to Info@GreatTennesseeYarnTour.com , and our team will be happy to resend you a copy of your ticket!

At first, we just said "tote bag," but we have started using the term "Travel Pack," because Tourists get so much more than a tote bag when they buy a ticket for the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour. This year's Travel Pack includes: a commemorative 2025 tote bag 2025 Guide Book The Guide Book is a tour guide that fits in your bag! It includes a map, key information about each participating shop, and spaces for you to jot down thoughts and notes while you're on the road! 2025 Pattern Book This year's pattern book includes 8 brand new patterns by Tennessee-based designers. These are the winning patterns of our 2025 Pattern Contest. Each pattern has been designed with the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour and Mini-Skeins in mind! 2025 Souvenirs! Each year, Tourists may find some extra little goodies in their Travel Packs. These vary from year to year, but past souvenirs have included stickers, stitch markers, and pens!

When you purchase your ticket on the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour website, you'll be asked to choose a Pick-Up Location: Pick-Up Locations are listed alphabetically. Click on the drop-drown list to expand and choose your selected shop! You must pick up your Travel Pack at the location you select!

While many Tourists choose to start their Tour at the same place where their Travel Pack awaits, it is not a requirement! You can start your Tour at any participating shop and pick up your Travel Pack along the way! Please note that if you start Touring without your Travel Pack, you may be asked to show your ticket to verify that you are an official 2025 Tourist.

Travel Packs are distributed to shops before the Tour starts, based on the number of Tourists who have chosen to pick up their Travel Packs there. This means, each shop has an exact number of Travel Packs available and will not be able to swap or hand out Travel Packs to Tourists who had chosen a different shop as their pick-up location. Please remember that you do not have to have your Travel Pack to start the Tour! You can start touring at "Shop B" and pick up your Travel Pack at "Shop A" when you get to it!

Tourists can pick up Travel Packs any time during the 2025 GTYT: August 1 - August 31. Travel Packs will not be handed out before August 1 for any reason!

No, Tourists may not pick up Travel Packs early. Travel Packs will not be handed out before August 1 for any reason. This is a standard set by the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour that all Tourists agree to when purchasing tickets. Please remember that you have agreed to this condition. If you try to pick up your Travel Pack early, regardless of the reason, your shop will refuse this request.

Shops will hold Travel Packs that were not picked up for up to 60 days after the end of the Tour. We understand that "life happens," and sometimes plans don't work out. If you are not able to pick up your Travel Pack during this year's Tour, please contact your pick-up shop as soon as possible to make arrangements to retrieve your Travel Pack. There have been instances where Tourists are not able to visit shops during the GTYT dates, but still choose to "make their own" Tour whenever their schedules allow. We love this spirit of adventure! While we hope everyone is able to make the GTYT, shops love seeing Tourists all throughout the year!

Tourists are responsible for their own Travel Pack items, and these cannot be replaced if lost/stolen. Shops may be able to make a copy of a specific page(s) of the Guide Book but will not be able to provide extra Guide Books if one gets lost.

You can send an email to Info@GreatTennesseeYarnTour.com , and our team will be happy to send you a reminder of your pick-up location! We will also send out emails a couple of weeks before the Tour starts reminding Tourists of their pick-up locations. Make sure to check your email that you used when buying your ticket for these reminders! If you don't receive a reminder, please also check your junk/spam folder.

If you think you chose the wrong pick-up location, please contact Info@GreatTennesseeYarnTour.com by June 1 to make an update. You will need to let our team know your first name, last name, and email (must be the same one used during ticket purchase), and correct pick-up location.

The "Exclusive Mini-Skein" has been a marker of the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour from the beginning! Each year, participating shops procure an exclusive mini-skein of yarn just for Tourists. These may be hand-dyed, indie-dyed, spun from a shop's own fibers, or a completely new product that the shop has never carried before. Tourists may purchase these mini-skeins along the Tour and use them to create souvenirs of their Tour experience - or add them to any project that calls for a pop of color! Mini-skeins are generally 20 - 25g, fingering weight, and made out of an animal-based fiber (wool, alpaca, or a blend).

The Exclusive Mini-Skein is a Tourist Only Item. This means, you need to buy a ticket for the 2025 Tour to be able to buy each shop's Exclusive Mini-Skein once the Tour starts.

Not at all! Mini-Skeins are an optional purchase. Some Tourists like to "collect" these as they go through the GTYT, but it is completely up to you!

The current year's mini-skeins are a for-purchase item at each shop.

GTYT shops set their own prices for mini-skeins, so it varies from shop to shop. In the past, mini-skein prices have ranged from $6 to $14 each. Each participating shop on the GTYT sources their own mini-skein in a way that works best for that shop. They may be dyeing the skeins themselves, having them specially dyed by an indie-dyer, having them spun at a mill, or special ordering them! Shops are provided with general guidelines for fiber content, but the exact fibers may vary from shop to shop. Some mini-skeins may be 100% wool or 100% alpaca or a blend! Because every shop is getting their mini-skeins from a different place and going through a different process, the cost varies widely. Therefore, each shop sets their own price range for mini-skeins, based on their process/experience. Mini-skeins are a great way for shops to express their individuality and share their interests (like a favorite indie-dyer) with Tourists. Many mini-skeins have a great story behind them - so don't be afraid to ask for more info!

This is a decision left up to each shop. Some shops may allow Tourists to buy as many mini-skeins as they like, while others may set a limit. Make sure to ask if you're not sure!

At the GTYT, we embrace the individuality of each participating shop and recognize that the exclusive mini-skein is one of the best ways for a shop to share its personality with the Tourists who come through. Therefore, we do not tell shops what color(s) to make their mini-skeins or try to coordinate them. Just like a road trip often contains spontaneous stops, we embrace the adventure that each mini-skein brings and hope you do too! Shops may share "sneak peeks" of their mini-skeins leading up to the Tour, but some may keep it a total surprise! Be sure to follow the participating shops on social media, to see any glimpses of their mini-skeins leading up to this year's Tour!

Mini-skeins are a small skein that pack a big creative punch! Whether it's adding a splash of color to a cuff or a yoke, contrast to a sock heel, or a creating a rainbow of Granny Squares - mini-skeins are showing up everywhere! The 2025 Pattern Book will include 8 different projects that can all be made with mini-skeins. You can also check out our list of "Bonus Patterns" for additional patterns that utilize mini-skeins. We will also be adding a gallery showing the creativity of our Tourists and shops with mini-skeins!

Mini-skeins are not available for purchase before the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour starts. The GTYT is first and foremost and in-person event. Therefore, shops are discouraged from selling mini-skeins online during the Tour, to make sure they have enough mini-skeins to sell to Tourists who visit their shops in person. If a shop has remaining mini-skeins after the Tour ends, they may choose to keep selling them online or in-store. However, this varies by each shop!

We know that some of our Tourists may have a wool or animal-fiber allergy that keeps them from purchasing/using the Exclusive mini-skein. While this is a question we revisit every year, at this time, the main mini-skein is an animal-based fiber. We apologize for this inconvenience. In the industry as a whole, wool-based yarns/mini-skeins are much more accessible to dyers and shops. The qualities of wool make it suitable for a wide variety of projects, from socks to shawls. Different types of fibers (animal vs plant-based) require different methods and types of dyes. If shops provided both animal (i.e. wool) and plant-based (i.e. cotton) mini-skeins, they would have to potentially work with multiple dyers or find a dyer who was set up to use these different types of dyes. Because of these factors, the main mini-skeins do use animal fibers. If shops want to offer a plant-based option, this is up to each shop, but is not a requirement.

We understand everyone has a different purpose for Touring, different crafty projects going on, and different tastes. Tourists are not required to make a purchase at each shop they visit and there is no "minimum purchase required*" to be counted as Tourist. As long as you have bought your ticket, you are a Tourist! We hope that this experience inspires you in your fiber crafting journey and exposes you to the great wealth of local yarn shops present in Tennessee. We thank you for supporting these local businesses! *Please note that some shops may have a "minimum purchase" required to be entered to win in that shop's door prizes; however, this is set by an individual shop and not across the board.

We are excited to announce that there are 19 shops participating in the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour in 2025!

We are so excited to welcome back 18 amazing shops from 2024 plus a brand new destination for 2025! Each shop is completely unique - with its own style, setting, and wonderful selection of yarns and fiber-arts goodies. Keep an eye on the Shop Info page for more details! The 2025 Participating Shops are: Appalachian Yarn Company, The Bees Knits, Carriage House, Chattanooga Yarn Company, The Clinch River Yarn Company, Ewe & Company, Forbidden Fiber Co., Hickory Bluff Farms, Hook & Needle, Kudzu Cottage, Loopville, Mooney's Market & Emporium, Smoky Mountain Spinnery, Sunshine Weaving and Fiber Arts, Terri's Yarns & Crafts, Two Roots Alpacas, Walther Handmade, Yarn Patch, and Yarntiques.

Not at all! At the GTYT, we believe in "crafting" an adventure that you will love. Just as every shop is unique, so is every Tourist! Some Tourists like to visit a small number of shops; some Tourists may have schedules that limit their ability to visit shops; some Tourists like to visit as many as possible as fast as they can. Because everyone has a different style of travel and schedule, there is no minimum amount of shops that you must visit. Whether you visit 1 shop or all 19 is completely up to you! We hope that you enjoy whatever type of adventure the fiber road brings you!

Yes! You can view a map on the Shop Info page: You can also take this map with you! Click the button below to go directly to Google maps:

Shop set their own schedule during the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour, including open days and hours. Shop hours will be listed on the Shop Info page as we get closer to the Tour. You will also find each shop's schedule in the Guide Book, once you pick up your Travel Pack. Please note that "Yarn Tour Hours" may differ from a shop's regular hours. Likewise, "stitch happens," so there may be a time when an unexpected event causes a shop to shift its hours. It's best to double-check with a shop to make sure they are open when you are planning to visit.

One remark we hear from Tourists every year is that every shop really is different. Tourists may visit 10 different shops and see something different in each shop. This is one of the great things about our local yarn shops in Tennessee; each shop has its own personality, focus, favorite items, and style. At the GTYT, we embrace the individuality of each shop and want to let each shop shine just how it is! Just as our Tourists are completely unique individuals, so are the shops that participate in the GTYT. We know that not every shop is going to "speak" to every Tourist, but we hope you enjoy your adventure and discover a shop - or multiple shops - that inspires and excites you!

August will be a special time for every shop participating in the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour. Some shops may be having special events, trunk shows, social stitching times, and more! Each shop sets their own schedule and events. We encourage you to follow each shop on social media for updates on their Yarn Tour events and check out the Shop Info page!

Every shop that participates in the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour is excited to welcome Tourists and spends time thinking and planning behind the scenes to prepare for Tourists. For some shops, this may mean providing Tourists with a "freebie," such as a sticker or post card. However, this is completely up to each shop; shops are not required or instructed to provide free gifts to visitors or Tourists.

Due to some personal events with our team in 2025, we are focusing more on planning and implementing a good, solid Tour experience than expanding to new shops this year. If you are a local yarn shop based in Tennessee, or know of one that you would like to see participate in future Tours, please reach out to Info@GreatTennesseeYarnTour.com for further information!

We want every Tourist to enjoy their time on the Great Tennessee Yarn Tour. We recognize that every one has their own schedule and style of travel. We encourage you to visit as many or as few shops as you like, in whatever area you are comfortable traveling to.

The GTYT can be a very busy time for shops, as it tends to bring in more visitors than usual. Because of this, some shops may not be able to offer certain services, such as winding yarn. Please ask if you're unsure and be patient with shops during this busy time!

When we first started planning the GTYT, our team thought "What's better than 1 grand prize? THREE grand prizes!" Since then, we have decided every year to offer 3 grand prize baskets as the end-of-Tour giveaway. Each basket is chock full of awesome items from our generous sponsors that fiber crafters will love! Every Tourist who buys a ticket will be automatically entered into the Triple Grand Prize Giveaway. This is not based on how many shops a Tourist visits or a minimum purchase amount. Please note that buying multiple tickets for yourself does not enter you multiple times into the Triple Grand Prize Giveaway. This is not a raffle. Every Tourist who buys a ticket will be entered once for the Triple Grand Prize Giveaway.

While we know that freebies aren't the only reason to visit shops, everyone likes a prize now and then! Our Prize Team works with our generous vendors to acquire items every participating shop can use for door prizes throughout the Tour. Every shop chooses their own method for giving away these door prizes. Some shops may do instant or daily drawings, weekly drawings, or combine all items into 1 big prize basket. Don't be afraid to ask shops how you can enter to win Door Prizes when you visit there!

All shops will have items that they give away as "door prizes" during the Tour. Some shops may be giving away 1 big prize basket at the end of the Tour, but other shops may choose other methods to give away Door Prizes, such as daily or weekly drawings. How shops give away door prizes is completely up to them! Feel free to ask a shop about their door prize drawings, if you are unsure.

Every shop is excited to welcome Tourists and may have their own special events or attractions planned. Sometimes these "specials" may be free gifts*, but it may also be a trunk show, a special sale or discount, refreshments, or a special guest. We hope you enjoy whatever experience you have exploring local yarn shops throughout Tennessee! *Free gifts here does not mean door prizes, but is referring to smaller items that shops may hand out to visitors, such as stickers or cards.