CHA in Anaheim looked a lot like this.
We admired all hard work that went into the booths and displays. (I think this was 7Gypsies.)
This cool chandelier caught my eye.
We spotted a lot of globes.
And globes plus paper airplanes.
There was some petting of the Thickers at American Crafts.
We all drooled collectively over the Dear Lizzy line and display.
And talked Instax for a bit.
And we of course love the Hambly.
And Allison!
And the peacock overlays. (This was a fave for all of us.)
And the gorgeous papers. (Don't you wish you could have them all?)
This yellow + gray fabric trim by Pink Paislee had me swooning.
We loved the new lines by Crate Paper.
The colors were just fantastic (and the textures, too.)
But Studio Calico really won my heart.
April was super sweet and friendly and their displays were simple but cool.
(Check out all the rad ways they showed off the great colors and patterns and alphabets.)
And it doesn't hurt that they have downright awesome design/color concepts.
How can you not love everything they do?
But a really exciting moment for me was spotting all of the yarn displays. (o m g)
First up was Bernat.
Check these wicked cool sweaters.
And wraps, shawls, hats, cowls, armwarmers and legwarmers.
And next was the Lion Brand area – if you've seen these photos around the internets, you already know how insane this was!
Everything here was hand-knit. So incredibly cool that these photos really don't do it justice.
I got to see all of their incredible yarns in person, which was so nice, since quite a few of their products are only available online. Like their cashmere and the new gorgeous Amazing yarn (think Noro.) The colors were really impressive in person. Although I still really love my Noro. :)
And last but not least was the brand new Stitch Nation by Debbie Stoller line.
(This would be the part where Tina nicknamed me 'Yarn Girl.')
Ummm, wow.
If you aren't familiar with the name Debbie Stoller, you should know that she's the author of the Stitch and Bitch books. A beginning knitters' must-have resource, and the book that really helped make knitting cool again amongst a new generation.
I got to see, squish and pet her three new lines – Full o' Sheep, Bamboo Ewe and Alpaca Love. The colors are divine. (Seriously, especially the colors for the 100% Peruvian wool single ply Full o' Sheep.) And the price can't be beat – each skein is only $4.99.
And that was our CHA experience in a nutshell. It was such a blast to spend the day with equally crafty girls (who totally understood my need to take pictures of yarn and didn't mind me stopping to chat for five minutes with the washi tape guy.) It was a long day for sure, but we loved it.