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 

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Inspiring, fun, thought-provoking, and crafty links to round out the week and jumpstart your brain. 

I was on the hunt for a washcloth pattern that would look great in variegated yarn and decided to try something that’s been on my knitting bucket list for awhile, Entrelac. The Garterlac Dishcloth was a great and addicting introduction to the technique. Pretty sure that I’m going to be making a lot more of them. 

Sprawling Ink Cityscapes by Ben Sack

Coconut Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies might be on the menu this weekend. 

Romain Laurent’s Looping Portraits 

Learn about circuits and electronics with conductive play dough. The site includes “recipes” for the dough and tutorials for building circuits that would be great for kids of any age. Totally going to make a batch. Science is awesome and occasionally unexpected.

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Spinzilla is already half over and I’m still spinning along. I’m over halfway through 6 oz of Perendale which smells delightfully wooly. Hope it’s all spun up by Sunday! During the moments I haven’t been producing yardage, I found some interesting links. Got to give my wrists a break some time. Good luck, fellow Spinzillians! 

Observing Earth: Satellite Photos from European Space Agency

Handknit Socks in Space!

Interview with knitting extraordinaire Leethal AKA Lee Meredith 

Learn a little about Foula Sheep

An emergency home built in 5 hours to last 15 years 

The Yarndale Bunting - Over 6,200 crochet triangles from 31 different countries decorated the Yarndale Wool Festival. The before and after photos are wonderful. (via KnittyBlog)