H+H COLOGNE 2018 - a single day, there and back
The world’s largest trade fair for creative handicrafts and hobbies supplies h+h cologne opened once again in March 2018. It takes place once a year in Cologne, Germany and around 16,000 visitors form 75 countries attended this year’s event over 3 days to see the offerings of 423 exhibiting companies from 45 countries. It was filled with incredible inspiration for yarn, sewing and handicraft enthusiasts.
One of the conceptual sponsor was Initiative Handarbeit – a wellknown German association for DIY handicrafts, and I was ecstatic when they invited me to their h+h Blogger Bash.
I’ve never traveled out of town for any blog-related event before, so this was my first trip and I never dreamed that I would be invited as a blogger to visit the h+h in Cologne! I was so excited to tour this show, see all the exhibitors and meet other creative people.
My flight from Munich to Cologne was very smooth and finally I arrived the exhibition center at about 2 pm on the 24 March which was the second day of the event.
The Koelnmesse was a completely new place to me and WOW, what a beautiful building it is!
I grab out my press pass, yes that’s right, my very own press pass and the next pic shows all the things I prepared to take with me to Cologne.
Then, I went inside to see what I could see. I’m relatively new to craft events, I’ve done CREATIVMESSE in Munich and Kreativ Welt Messe in Francfort and I knew this was going to be a bigger show but I wasn’t quite prepared for how AMAZING it actually was.
Sooooo many stands and halls and so much to look at and take in. I had not much time to walk around because I was a bit late but look what I found on my way to the Blogger Bash.
I wanted to visit the stand from Carsten and Tim, the guys behind "Häkelhelden" (crochet heroes) who recreated a football stadium and want to fill it with 10,000 amigurumis in anticipation of the 2018 Football World Cup. I've already crocheted one little amigurumi for this project... but... when I walked up to them... OMG - unbelievable!!! I couldn't believe my eyes at first, but then I realised who I saw there! Laura Cepeda, a crochet and knitting super star in Latin America and Spain posing for a photo with Häkelhelden. It was a great honour and a pleasure for me to talk with her.
Right across I found the event area "my lovely livingroom" with the famous "Talk Sofa" and also meeting point for our Blogger Meetup. I was greeted by the warm and friendly staff from Koelnermesse & Initiative Handarbeit who were smiling from ear to ear and it was absolutely amazing meeting so many of bloggers at the same time! We talked about upcoming activities and latest fashion trends. It was a lively get-together with drinks and snacks.
Take a look at how much yarn I got from this event - amazing!!!
Bulky yarns remain on trend in the crochet&knitting community. Giant jumbo yarns and yarn cakes dotted the show floors, too. Pom-poms and socks are still popular as well unicorns, cactus and this season's must-have animal - the llama. And I notice a lot of recycled yarns, so much to say about the eco-friendly fashion world!
One of the highlights of the h+h was the fashion show following the Blogger Meetup.
So... what about the trend colors? I found a nice video on YouTube from Strickschuh so watch HERE and find out yourselves!
Last but not least: the OZ Verlag stand. Here I found so many hard copies of Veronika Hug's new book "Crochet Shrugs & Co. with one of my designs appearing towards the middle of the book.
My favorite crocheted creation I found at the h+h Cologne is definitely this cute amigurumi football.
Aaaaaaabsolutely fantastic to be in Cologne and visit the h+h! It was a special time filled with yarn, blogging friends and more yarn.
I’m incredibly thankful for the invitation and this amazing experience!
See you next year Cologne - meeCrochet