We are back from our wonderful vacation in California! We had so much fun attending the Anime Expo, going to Disneyland, and stuffing ourselves with delicious food. One of the highlights of this trip was the blog meet-up that my fellow amigurumi artist Jo (of “A Morning Cup of Jo Creations”) and I organized to meet other crochet enthusiasts!
We ended up holding this get-together in the very peaceful and beautiful Schabarum Park in Rowland Heights. Some people who were interested in coming to the meet-up ended up not being able to make it since it was during the very busy Independence Day long weekend. Others were attending the last day of Anime Expo or the location was a little too far out of Los Angeles for them. We ended up with a smaller group, but this made the meet-up more intimate and personal which I really enjoyed!
Jo had the brilliant idea of having a handmade pin exchange so that we crafters could prepare something for the meet-up and come away with a variety of pins! It was a lot of fun seeing what everybody made, from hand-stitched pins to cute crocheted stars! Can you guess which one Jo made (it’s very reflective of her company name)?
For our pin, Ryan and I ended up making this little yarn ball and crochet hook that resembles my logo! I’ll do a full step-by-step blog post on the making of this pin so that you can make one for yourself if you’re interested!
It was great meeting in the park because Myla could run around and be free! She also really enjoyed looking at all the handmade pins and examining each of them!
Being naturally introverted, I was both nervous and excited for the meet-up. I enjoy talking with people one-on-one and was unsure how the larger group setting would be like. Jo actually brought some board games and yarn, but we ended up just chatting for most of the time! It felt very casual and relaxed as we talked about when we all started to crochet, how we got started, and traveling in general. Ryan is very extroverted so he really enjoyed the large group setting and getting to know everyone!
It’s rare that we get to really sit down and talk with people when we travel (besides just chatting with people in passing), so it was wonderful being able to get to know some new people as well as meeting on-line friends in real life! Despite our geographical differences, I thought it was so neat how our love of crochet and crafting united us all together. We all came from different occupations, backgrounds and experiences, but our passion for crochet was such a unifying factor that helped lead us into other topics of conversation easily. We had a good laugh about how there is no need for chunky cowls, hats and scarves in California since it’s always so sunny and beautiful there (as opposed to the frigid Canadian winters we experience).
Here are all the people who took time out of their busy schedules to meet up with Jo and I! Love all the big smiles 🙂 We want to thank each and every person who came! You made our trip to California very memorable, and it was so surreal meeting people who read my blog! I know there were some of you who really wanted to come but were unable to for various reasons- we apologize that the timing couldn’t work out, but we hope we can meet you in the future!
Besides Jo and I, there were two other crafters who have blogs! Check out Amanda’s “Crystal Panda” HERE (and photo credit to her for the last two photos of the collage below) and Peng’s “Yarn Treasures” HERE! I also want to give a shout-out to my brother Corey who came along with us on this trip (he’s a big Anime fan) and helped us take care of Myla so much, including at this meet up!
Jo is such a talented artist who is also very passionate about her education and teaching! She is very inspiring, and I am so happy that I could finally meet her in person after connecting with her for the past few years. Thank you for helping me organize this meet-up, Jo!
I am excited to share more about our trip to California, especially the Anime Expo! We took a lot of photos of our cosplaying, and I can’t wait to show you what our experience was like! Thanks again to those who came to the meet-up, and I really hope I can meet more of you in the future!
