Celebrating Schacht's 50th Anniversary

The Schacht 50th Anniversary celebration was last Friday, September 20, 2019. There was a full day of events - factory tours, shuttle races, a spin-in, demos, and more - to celebrate the occasion. My wheel is a Schacht Sidekick, and I’ve wanted to see where it was made since I moved to the area. Never got around to taking the tour in the last few years, and I’m happy to have finally gotten the chance.

I was there a few minutes before the next tour ran so I took in the sights. There was Oliver, a personable Corridale/Teeswater sheep, and a whole flock of chickens named after Lord of the Rings characters. This is a naming theme I can stand behind.

The factory was really interesting. Our guide showed us the whole process from start to finish. We saw the CNC routers cutting down blanks to make looms and wheels. There were the jigs used to make pretty much everything. There was even a crash course in how the “wheel” part of wooden spinning wheels are made which was so cool to learn. We saw how the various pieces were sanded and finished with oil before heading off to assembly. I got a little thrill seeing the stacks of cut wood that would become Sidekick wheels.

It was really neat seeing where my wheel was made and the people that made it. As expected the whole place smelled like wood and saw dust which was nice. Though I didn’t expect how loud it would be, not due just to the various machines, but the factory wide vacuum system for controlling sawdust.

I wasn’t able to stick around as long after the tour as I wanted to. The heat and a crushing headache were not a good mix. I was able to find some neat fiber and project bags though. On the left is a fun bump from Hummingbird Moon and the right bump of fiber is the 50th anniversary colorway from Sweet Georgia.

I did pack up my wheel and some fiber for the spin-in, but just wasn’t up for sticking around. Same deal with the Try Out tent. I’ll try my hand at weaving one day. Headache aside, I enjoyed myself and the peek behind the scenes.

Yarn Along The Rockies 2019

Yarn Along The Rockies was the third week of August, and I happily joined in. I only visited the closest 3 of the 13 shops, but I still enjoyed myself. One of those shops, FingerPlay, was brand new to me and I’ve been meaning to get down there for months. It’s a cute shop with a great vibe, and frequent knit afternoons/open studios. I’m looking forward to stopping in again soon since it’s been so long since I’ve had a regular knitting group to visit. I also made it to Shuttles, Spindles, and Skeins which remains one of my favorite yarn and spinning shops. Maverick Fiber Arts was my other stop and had a nice selection of different yarns and notions.

The stash did get a little larger, but not by much. I have no shortage of sock yarn or spinning fiber, but everything I bought came home with intention. Both sock yarns, Cascade Heritage Wave and Regia Pairfect, made me excited to knit socks for myself again. That’s an exciting feeling after finding it lacking for so long. The fiber, 8 oz of Frabjous Fibers and 4 oz of Hummingbird Moon, will eventually be handspun gifts or play a part in a Nightshift shawl. My plans are still a little murky on that front. I also came home with a pair of sock blockers for the Bearded One’s socks. The blockers are a little shorter than I would like but will still do the job.

While I only visited a fraction of shops on the tour, I enjoyed myself. I got to visit different places, see new yarns, and go on a little adventure. Also picked up a nice project bag which is cool too. I’m glad I didn’t skip the yarn crawl this year, and I’m looking forward to next year.

10th Anniversary Celebration + Sale

This week is the 10th anniversary of With Wool! It’s had a few different names over the years since I cut my teeth blogging on LiveJournal, but With Wool got it’s real start when the Bearded One bought me a domain for my birthday. I had graduated college a few months before, and was using my greater amounts of free time to dive a little deeper into blogging, knitting, pattern design, and fiber arts. My first few years of posts weren’t just about knitting. I tried origami, shared kumihimo tutorials, and wrote about monthly goals for yoga, art, and learning to spin yarn. The bulky blue and yellow yarn below is my very first handspun!

It’s been wonderful looking back at my posts and seeing the projects and yarn I’ve made. I’ve learned so much and made dozens of tutorials. My life has changed so much as well with several cross country moves, marriage, and a now a young kiddo. It’s been a wild and wonderful 10 years.

What’s next?

• For one, the blog will keep going because I like writing it though I will be mixing things up a little. There will still be step-by-step tutorials and other longer posts, but I’m also aiming to post more short WIP updates and other ramblings. I miss writing that sort of thing. And I’m going to try to post more than twice a month which should be easier with shorter posts.

• I’ve mostly given up on the idea of video tutorials because I hate filming and editing videos. There might be the rare tutorial video, but they’re not a top priority.

• I’m going to keep working on knitting patterns even though they’ll take me longer than usual. My main work time is nap time after all.

• I’m also giving myself the permission and leeway to change things up if they aren’t working anymore. No more feeling obligated to do something just because I’ve been doing it for years.

And it’s also my birthday. So to celebrate my joint blogging anniversary and birthday, I’m having a sale. With Wool patterns will be 34% off for the next 2 weeks! Thanks for celebrating with me!

Use code HOORAY here, now through August 21, 2019, to pick up a pattern or two you’ve had your eye on.

A Day At The Estes Park Wool Market 2019

Last weekend I packed up the family and plenty of snacks to drive up to the Estes Park Wool Market. It’s a fun local wool festival that I enjoy visiting every year with a neat marketplace, classes, demos, and animals. Then when we’ve had our fill of the festival, we can head over to Rocky Mountain National Park which is always worth a visit. Since we had to skip the festival in 2018 (new baby + no sleep = so tired), I was really looking forward to going this year. Plus, it would be the Mini’s first fiber festival! How could we not go?

I wasn’t about to let precious knitting time go to waste and brought my Curve of a Boat shawl with me for the drive. The pattern was great for letting me knit and watch the scenery at the same time.

We started in the marketplace. Mini didn’t mind being pushed around in the stroller too much, but she definitely wanted to be carried around for a better view of all the yarn and excitement. Thankfully, she let me follow my usual festival shopping routine which looks like this.

1. Go in with a list. I like to make a list of all the projects I’m shopping for and what materials I need. If the festival is going to be super crowded or huge, I check out the vendor list before hand and write down which ones I want to visit as well.

2. Next I take a full circuit of the market place to see which ones catch my eye or might have something I want. Unless I see the absolute perfect yarn/fiber, I write down the vendor and their location so I can come back later. Admittedly, this is way easier to do at smaller festivals where backtracking isn’t so much of a hassle.

3. Once I know which vendors I want to visit, I get down to shopping and trying not to get overwhelmed by all the pretty yarn. Knowing where I want to go helps me get exactly what I want for a project and not settle when the perfect thing might be in the next booth. And when I see a sample project that I like, I take a photo of the info so I can look it up later.

My shopping list was pretty short this year. I only had two things on my list: a large, single skein gradient to knit Wingspan by Kyle Vey and fiber from Hummingbird Moon. I couldn’t find the colors I wanted for Wingspan but I did buy two very fun fiber bumps from Hummingbird Moon. The colors she dyes always spin up magically, and I can’t wait to see how these transform.

After finishing up in the marketplace, we took Mini on a walk to see all the animals. There were sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, and rabbits. I’m pretty sure she liked seeing all these new and interesting animals, but was much more interested in getting lunch.

We left the festival and grabbed burgers before spending the rest of the day wandering around downtown Estes park. I picked up a few souvenirs and just the right amount of chocolate drizzled caramel corn. It was a nice surprise to come across the Estes Park Area Weaver’s Guild during our walk. Their space was filled with huge floor looms and a giant walking wheel. The wheel and been repaired and restored, and my fingers were itching to give it a spin. Maybe it’s finally time to get back to my own spinning wheel.

All in all, it as a good trip and a nice family adventure. We all had fun and I’m sure we’ll be back next year for the festival. We didn’t make it to Rocky Mountain National Park this time, but now we have a reason to go back to Estes Park again soon.

Second Cast On's The Charm

It never fails. No matter how diligently or how much I swatch for a new hat, the first time attempt is always too big. Even when I throw in the 10 - 20% amount of negative ease that I like in my hats, too big. I added an extra repeat to the Regina Hat and knit an inch of ribbing before trying it on. Here’s the ribbing with a copy of Yarnitecture for scale. Way too big.

I put the hat out of sight until I felt like ripping out and starting all over again. That turned out to be a few days before I needed some simple knitting for a day trip. Casting on 100+ stitches at home sounded a lot better than frogging and casting on 100+ stitches on a bumpy road. So I grudgingly got to work. 

Here’s a tip that’s saved me a lot of frustration over the years. Whenever I have to cast on a large number of stitches, say more than 80, I use stitch markers. It’s easy to count to 20, place a marker, and start another group of 20 stitches, than count more than 100+ stitches at once. The number of stitches in a repeat is a nice place to drop a marker too. Those markers mean that interruptions aren’t as big a deal. Also, you don’t have to question if that was the 82nd stitch or the 83rd before giving up and starting from 0 just to be sure. This trick is just one of the reasons I have so many markers.  

I got a few rounds on the needles and packed it into my purse with the pattern and my usual notions. Travel knitting ready and waiting to go. 

Ended up with a nice chunk of time in the car and another inch of 1x1 rib. The hat actually seems to fit this time! Thankfully, the second time is usually the charm. I didn’t spend the entire time looking at my hands which is why I keep my travel knitting simple. I want to enjoy the sights and the adventure, not be stuck looking at my knitting counting increases. Ended up seeing a lot of beautiful landscapes, incredible views, and chubby marmots at Rocky Mountain National Park.  

Estes Park Wool Market

Early this year I started putting together a list of 100 things I wanted to do. There are small things like riding my bike around town and big things like taking a trip to Yellowstone. I am no where close to even having 100 things I want to do written down, let alone completed, but a big chunk of that list is fiber arts related. No surprise, right? Well, I wrote “Go to a fiber festival” and I was finally able to do just that on Saturday at the Estes Park Wool Market.

There were sheep, goats, llama, and alpacas. Some of them really hammed it up for the camera.  

I tempted the Bearded One to come with me with the promise of herding dogs. We were able to see amazing Border Collies at work, and then we got to pet them! They were such a sweet bunch too. This handsome guy’s name is Bruiser.

There were so many venders with beautiful yarn and fiber, and I couldn’t resist enhancing the stash. I fell hard for 200 yards of bulky 100% alpaca spun together with metallic thread. So soft and cuddly. Then I broke from my usual color scheme and bought a wild variegated skein of pinks mixed with dark, muted colors by Traci Bunkers. And I got an awesome wool/bison felt hat from The Buffalo Wool Co. It kept the sun out of my face for the rest of the day. Looks good too. 

The last thing I bought was an orifice hook for my wheel. I’ve only been trying to find one that would comfortably fit my hand for literally years. I found this one at Clemes & Clemes. It’s made of hand turned maple with a long hook and a spot to attach a charm or lanyard. Tried it out when I got home and it’s perfect. 

Wool Market was a great first fiber festival and I’m looking forward to going again next year. Hopefully, I’ll remember to sign up for a class or two before the deadline. I’m also thinking about submitting a skein or two to the handspun competition.     

Saturday also happened to be World Wide Knit In Public Day. I made sure to get my knit on during a side trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Exploring Rocky Mountain National Park

The Bearded One and I went on adventure to Rocky Mountain National Park over the weekend. We got a late start to the day but still had time to stop in Estes Park for caramel corn and a visit to The Stitchin’ Den. The weather was absolutely perfect for driving the Trail Ridge Road and making frequent stops to enjoy the view. I probably could have finished knitting the pair of socks I brought with me, but the mountains and sky ruled the day. We even got lucky enough to see a herd of elk. 

P.S. Caramel corn is the perfect snack to munch on a mountain top.

Interweave Yarn Fest 2016

Normally I hear about an interesting yarn/spinning convention/festival, find out it’s a day’s drive away, decide NOPE, and do my best to forget about it. Not this time. I’ve been looking forward to The Interweave Yarn Fest since I realized I’d be able to go without needing to spend a day in the car or book a hotel room. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to take any classes this year - and a few of them were really tempting - but that didn’t stop me from doing a little stash enhancement. 

I walked into the marketplace with a vague plan. I was looking for yarn and buttons for 2 projects and new types of fiber to spin. There was no shortage of yarn or fiber, but after doing my first walk around it was all fiber that really caught my eye. Then I got caught up in a whirlwind of yarn fumes until I escaped out the front door. I stuck to my shopping list, but looking at all of my fiber purchases now, I’ve realized that I bought something that satisfies every reason why I love to spin. 

I love trying my hand at spinning new fibers. I’ve spun lots of wool but only a few ounces each of cashmere and alpaca. So, one of my goals for this year is to expand my fiber repertoire, and now I’ve built the stash to do it. I’ve got yak/silk, llama/silk, and merino/silk. Apparently, I really wanted to spin silk this year and didn’t know it until now. The blue roving is 100% mohair. I even splurged on an ounce of ultra soft paco-vicuna. Looks like I’ve got a pretty full year ahead of me.

I love spinning color. I was walking by the 100th Sheep booth when I spotted this amazing blue and rust colored roving. There was no way those colors weren’t coming home with me. The 6oz of blended roving looked amazing spun up and I couldn’t resist it either. Note: The ball of roving is a big as my head.

I love learning new yarn constructions and new techniques. The handy Fiber Preparedness Kit packed full of punis, dyed locks, and roving seemed like a good way to branch out from my usual 2-ply. As for the firestar, there’s a drum carder coming my way and I want to make some sparkly batts. 

The market was also full of handspun and handspun-looking yarns. Inspiration and motivation was everywhere you looked. There was handspun with beads and coils. There was handspun that showcased color. There were absolutely gorgeous crepe constructed yarns that I want need to learn to spin. 

I love fun spinning and batts are fun spinning. This absolutely giant 8 oz batt (Ysolda’s Mousie for scale) fit the bill perfectly. I can’t wait to start tearing into that thing. 

I only bought 3 skeins of yarn and none of them were for projects on my list. One of them was a secret gift and the other two, well, I’m a sucker for beautiful grey -  Stone Walk by Western Sky Knits - and a good gradient - white to purple by OgleDesign. Enough said. 

Now that the yarn fumes have faded, I’m happy I went. I came home with yarn, fiber, ideas, a ton of inspiration, and even a pair of earrings. Looking forward to going back to Yarn Fest next year. Until then I’m going to keep an eye for other fiber events to go too. What are your favorite festivals?

Exploring the Balclutha

Long weekends are the perfect time to go exploring so  The Bearded One and I took the opportunity to explore more of San Francisco. This time we ended up wandering around the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. Meandering through a collection of old, restored ships is a pretty good way to spend the afternoon. The Balclutha, built in 1886, was particularly interesting because of its age and beautiful details. The spinner in me kept noticing all the really cool knots and rope work. 

The chart house is happy to see you.

The Eureka ferry boat is a little confused. 

This handle was in the galley of the steam tug Hercules. 

My Favorite Posts of 2014

And it’s almost 2015. How did that happen? While it seems like it should only be July or August, I’m looking forward to the new year. I’ve got lots of plans and I can’t wait to get started, but first I’m going to remember all the good stuff that happened in 2014. It’s so easy to always focus on the next step that you can forget to celebrate what you’ve already accomplished. So, in no particular order, here are my favorite posts/wins from 2014.

One of my top wins is relaunching this site. I love the With Wool name, the new layout, and direction. My only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. 

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Rolags: A Love Story & Handcarded vs Drumcarded Rolags

In bits and pieces this year, I learned that I love making and spinning rolags. Rolling them is easy and they spin up in no time at all. Even better, the resulting handspun is fluffy, light, and warm - the perfect thing to add to my ever growing stash of handspun. Can’t wait to do more with them in 2015.

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Looking back through the archives, I was able to relive a few of the past year’s adventures. There’s my first trip to San Francisco, exploring LA’s Natural History Museum, and working my way through the Scorpion Submarine. I hope I can go on as many adventures and more in the new year. 

Another win is my surprise favorite of Tour de Fleece. On the bobbin and even plied, I just wasn’t sure about this skein. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t like it either. It was weird and totally different from what I usually spin, but a good soak did wonders. Glad I put in the work and followed through to the end. 

One of my favorite tutorials from this year is about how to start and keep a handspun journal. It’s a great treasure trove of information about your spinning and helps keep track of future goals. 

The Shur’tugal Socks took far too long to get off the needles. The wait was worth it because they’ve become one of my favorite pairs of hand knit socks. I’ll grab them on the rare occasion I can actually wear wool socks out of the apartment. They also made the list because I’ll really happy with the photos. Taking attractive photos of your own feet is no easy task.  

This year’s Spinzilla was a powerful win. I learned more about productive spinning, but the real lesson was that I was only spinning against myself. I don’t have to compete and constantly compare myself to others. Plus, I got 4 awesome skeins of handspun out of it.

I can’t pick a favorite post but it’s fun to look through the Wander the Web series. The photos are mini journal of my days and there’s lots of interesting links tucked away on numerous topics. If you’re wondering what happened to the new updates, the series has moved to my weekly newsletter, with a wooly bent, which you can sign up for here.

Onward to 2015!

San Francisco

If you follow me on Instagram, you have some idea of what I was up to last week. The Bearded One and I drove up to San Francisco to tour the city and find a place to live. During the long Labor Day weekend, we walked 33 miles and wandered through Cow Hollow, Marina, Pacific Heights, Russian Hill, Knob Hill, and SOMA. We saw the city from the top of Twin Peaks and were reminded about hills after living in LA for a year. It was a lot of fun exploring a city that I’d never visited before with the thought that I’d soon be living in it. Picked a great weekend for it since everyone said that this was the first time they’d seen the sun in weeks. Plus, the temperatures hit 70º several days in a row and the fog stayed at a minimum. 

Looking forward to living in a city where I can decide if I want Austrian or Chinese for dinner. The sheer number of yarn shops doesn’t hurt either. 

My favorite meals in the San Francisco (in no particular order):

21st Amendment - Good food and amazing beer in the South Park neighborhood. The seasonal ‘Hell or High Watermelon Wheat’ is not to be missed.

Roam Artisan Burgers - A local chain with great burgers and fries. 

Leopold’s - Delicious Austrian food and beer. ‘Nuff said.

Tacolicious - Walked past this place and it smelled so good we went back to get dinner. Tasty margaritas too.

The Scorpion Submarine

Until the Bearded One and I went down to visit the Queen Mary, I had no idea The Scorpion Submarine existed or that touring it was even an option. Once we knew that we could, we couldn’t pass up the chance to see it. After buying our tickets and passing through the gift shop, we crossed a bouncing gangplank to the Scorpion’s top deck before climbing down into the sub. 

Once you get into the cramped halls and tiny rooms, you forget how big it looked when you were walking around on top of it. The photos don’t do the tight space justice. I somehow managed not to hit my head ducking through hatches and doorways but my toes were not so lucky. Seems like I violently found every step, rise, and pipe despite my best efforts not too.

One of the facts broadcast through speakers across the sub was that, during it’s operation, 79 souls lived and worked on the Scorpion. Imagining 79 people crammed into that sub is an exercise in claustrophobia. I’m not remotely claustrophobic but I was glad to be back in the open air after 30 minutes in that sub with a scant 5 other people. Happy I went during the week when it wasn’t crowded. The other bonus was that only the Bearded One got to see me awkwardly crawl/fall through the compartment hatches. Figured out how to climb through by the end but I wasn’t any more graceful about it. 

If you can push claustrophobia aside, the Scorpion Submarine is worth a visit. Just watch your toes. 

Part 1: To The Aquarium of the Pacific

Part 2: Exploring The Queen Mary

Part 3: The Scorpion Submarine

Exploring the Queen Mary

Ever since moving to Los Angeles last year, my Mom’s been telling me to visit the Queen Mary in Long Beach. Took over a year but the Bearded One and I finally went after our visit to the Aquarium of  the Pacific. Since we went during the week, the ship wasn’t crowded and it seemed like we had the place mostly to ourselves. The two of us trekked up and down decks, through quiet hotel corridors (it’s still a functioning hotel), down the promenade, and stopped to catch our breath on the bridge. The history and grandeur of the Queen Mary was impossible to miss and it was easy to image what taking a voyage on the ship during its heyday must have been like. 

Part 1: Aquarium of the Pacific

Part 2: Exploring the Queen Mary

Part 3: The Scorpion Submarine

To The Aquarium of the Pacific

To celebrate my birthday on Friday, The Bearded One and I went to The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. I love visiting Aquariums so this was a great treat. It’s fascinating to watch fish, sharks, jellyfish, and all matter of creatures swim. Some use large tails to get around, some use tiny fins, and others jet around with squirts of water. Seems like I’m getting a peak at an alien world. Plus, I get to see octopuses which are pretty awesome even if they do hide from the camera. 

Next up, The Queen Mary and Scorpion Submarine.

Weekend Wrap Up: Disneyland and Beyond

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The Bearded One took Friday off and we made a split-second trip to Disneyland and California Adventure. On 5 hours of sleep, we covered 17 miles, walked over 35,000 steps, did everything we wanted too, and somehow didn’t get sunburned. We rode Space Mountain 3 times and even got to see the inside of it during a shut down. With the lights on, Space Mountain is even more impressive. Later in the day we tackled The Tower of Terror, which was even more fun than I remembered, and California Screamin’.  Only got to ride it once but Screamin’ is definitely my new favorite roller coaster.

August Break 2014 also kicked off Friday and I had fun looking around for interesting details to capture. Forgot to pick a photo for the first 2 days but I think I’m finally getting into the swing of a daily photography project.

Sunday, after a week and a half break,  I was finally able to get back to my spinning. My shoulder and wrist are back to 100% so I finished the first Color Bot single from Tour de Fleece. Spinning the second single is on this week’s to-do list. Going to use this technique again and also trick myself into a decent spinning posture to spare my shoulder from the pain of poor spinning. You know, so I can spin more and not hurt myself.

Make Everyday in August

A couple of weeks ago, I stumbled across Year of Creative Habits. Everyday, Crystal picks one creative thing to do - maybe it’s drawing or painting or watercolor - and everyday she writes about it. The entries aren’t just about what the drawing but also about making, fear, learning, and just plain getting started. It’s inspiring and, no lie, I’m reading the archives from the very first post.

Reading about her daily project, reminded me of my own attempt, The Incremental Project. Every month I picked something to do everyday. I had a good run and tried drawing, writing, yoga, and photography. I even spent a month knitting one giant blanket, 2 rows a day (still not finished, by the way). Learning and challenging myself on a daily basis was great but the whole endeavor came to a screeching halt when I got married and moved cross country all in the space of a month. Just didn’t have the energy or the time to keep the project going.

Year of Creative Habits has been a good kick in the butt to get back to daily making and learning. So, starting tomorrow on August 1st, I’m committing to take one photograph a day as part of August Break. I’ve done photography before and August Break 2013 but that doesn’t mean there’s nothing left to learn or play with. I can’t wait to get started. Maybe the prompts and daily emails will keep me motivated and give me ideas for other things to photograph besides from knitting and handspun, great as they are. To keep myself accountable, the photos will be going up on Instagram tagged with #Augustbreak2014. 

If you want to join in too, you still can. Have fun making in August! 

My Mom's Garden

It’s been half a year since the Bearded One and I last visited our families. At the end of June, we changed that and spent a week and half catching up with family, hanging out with friends, and eating as much barbecue as humanly possible (didn’t realize how spoiled I was with good barbecue until we moved to LA). The thick blanket of humidity aside, it was a good trip. I got to annoy my parents in person which is so much easier and fun than doing it over the phone. The Bearded One and I got to watch 4th of July fireworks from a boat on Logan Martin Lake. Somehow, I squeezed in 2 visits to my favorite yarn shop. Plus, I was able to spend time with all my friends in the area. 

Before we got on the plane, a week and a half seemed like a long time but the trip seemed to fly by. Wish I’d been able to spend more time there which means I’m already looking forward to the next trip.

The neighbor’s cat is a frequent visitor and never one to turn down attention. 

World Wide Knit in Public Day 2014

The week of World Wide Knit In Public Day started on Saturday and I’ve hardly knit a stitch anywhere. That row and half knit on a sock while I was waiting for water to boil Sunday night barely counts. No worries though. The festivities are going on until June 22 and I’m making the effort to get out with my sock knitting everyday this week. Pretty sure I’m going to end up on the beach most days which is perfectly fine with me. Plus, I’ll be that much closer to a new pair of socks. 

Over at the World Wide Knit in Public Day site, you can search for meet-ups in your area if you don’t want to stitch alone. If the meet-ups have passed or there are none nearby, get out and knit anyway. Take your knitting to lunch, out for coffee, or to the park. Spread the love. I’ll be on the beach. 

Museum Adventure

The Bearded One and I took advantage of the long weekend to tackle our LA Bucket List. Friday, we went to the Natural History Museum and the California Science Center. It was great to walk around and see artifacts from all over the world. Wasn’t just pretty minerals and dead animals - though there were plenty of those - but also Roman Artifacts, a butterfly pavilion, Aztec carvings, space exploration modules, and amazing Dinosaur fossils. My phone’s battery just couldn’t keep up with all the photos I took. Our last stop of the day, a visit to the Endeavor Space Shuttle, was my favorite of everything we saw and not just because I’m sentimental about space exploration. Endeavor is absolutely amazing from any angle. 

Floor Mosaic from the ruins of Pompeii

Go On An Adventure

View from the edge of The Getty Art Museum

This past weekend The Bearded One and I crossed two things off our LA Bucket List: The Getty Museum and The Griffith Observatory. At the museum we saw ancient manuscripts, Rococo furniture, Pollock’s Mural, Van Gogh’s Irises, and so much more that I can hardly remember it all. The few hours spent wandering the museum cultivated an appreciation for the Italian portrait painters Pontormo and Titian that I didn’t know existed before Sunday. What’s more, walking through the exhibits made me want to crack open my sketchbooks and get back to my long neglected sketching. At the Griffith Observatory, it was also inspiring to see the space exhibits and get a bird’s-eye view of LA while standing next to the old school telescopes. 

I enjoy being a homebody as much as the next person. Okay, probably a little more than the next person but there’s more to life than the confines of one’s own walls or the flickering glow of the screen. That’s why, every so often, you need to get out and go an adventure. Don’t have to go far or spend a lot of money. Just try something new or something that you’ve always wanted to do and jump start your brain. 

LA from the top of the Griffith Observatory

Griffith Park and LA