February 14, 2008Weekend at the Observatory
Another wintery day in Los Angeles. Griffith Park Observatory. I've been itching to write for a while now, but the knitting and spinning have not been terribly interesting, because the Hoolia, she has not been terribly interesting. I've been sick as a dog for several weeks, so the only crafty thing that I've done is plug away on the baby sweater from hell (see it masquerading as a cute, fun project in the entry below), and then only when the nausea let up enough to allow me to knit. Fun! I am probably being a bit harsh on the baby sweater. It's darling, and I will be very pleased with it when the drudgery is over, but I overestimated the thrill of "honeycomb stitch". Honeycomb stitch is just lovely when completed, but it's hard to read as you're knitting it because the bulk of the action happens on the RS while you are working the WS. It's easy to f*ck up and it's about as interesting as seed stitch (but just as pretty, too!). I am only a little ashamed to say that there are at least four places where I screwed up half a row and just left it. I couldn't bring myself to rip out a row of that stuff if the error was not glaring, and my feeling is that the wee recipient, who is likely to barf on it anyway (all hail machine washable wool cotton!) will not notice. One sleeve left to go and I'll photograph it for you, mistakes and all. Happliy, I was graced with a nausea-free weekend, just when our weather decided to go from a lovely 70 degrees to an even lovelier 80 degrees (for those feeling envy, fear not - we are sure to experience 100 degree weather in May and July-August, with a nice June Gloom sandwiched in the middle - even Angelenos get their due). We took full advantage of both the weather and my wellness for the entire weekend, and enjoyed the great outdoors. Before the fire, Griffith Park was one of our regular weekend stops, but since then many of the trails have been closed, so we've only gone to volunteer with the recovery effort. The last tree-planting we participated in was in early December, so when we went back this weekend to help out with the planting efforts at Dante's Peak, we were pretty surprised to see that a lot has changed and many trails are now open. I was pretty pooped out from the effort of going to the planting site and back again, but Moxie, who used to run the mountain, decided that he wanted to go back for a run in the afternoon. He got in his exercise while I lazed around on the deck and ploughed away on the aforementioned baby sweater. While there, he also checked out the observatory, which we have not been to since it re-opened, mostly because we aren't big fans of crowds. M was very impressed, and insisted that we get up early on Sunday morning and beat the crowds to the observatory so that we could enjoy the morning there. It was a great idea, because no one in LA seems to be up and about at 8:00 am on a Sunday. I even had a chance to coax my esteemed photographer into doing a Mishka photo shoot....bonus! Posted by Julia at February 14, 2008 08:04 AMIn ash | judy's gram's baby sweater | main | mishka | places we love | zosia
Comments
So glad that you are feeling better. And what lovely scenery - just gorgeous (and a beautiful setting for Mishka!) Posted by: mel at February 18, 2008 05:51 AMAnd another thing, Julia, you make my day! Posted by: Elspeth at February 15, 2008 01:44 PMMay you feel better real soon! I look forward to seeing your honeycomb stitch work. I've been thinking about making a simple cardi with honeycomb stitch. Posted by: loriz at February 15, 2008 07:52 AMMishka is really beautiful-- and your dogs are really well behaved! (They do look like they're anxiously awaiting the OK to leap up and run around.) Posted by: Angela at February 15, 2008 04:39 AMI hope you feel better soon! Several weeks of nausea sounds pretty serious .... In any case, it's great to see you back! All of your pictures in the post were gorgeous: the doggies, the light/space of the observatory, and of course, your lovely Mishka. Posted by: Hanna at February 14, 2008 08:32 PMi am sorry you were not feeling well and am glad you are feeling better. i missed your posts. looks like a wonderful sun filled weekend! Posted by: mary kay at February 14, 2008 04:24 PMThe photos are beautiful!!! Posted by: Julia at February 14, 2008 04:24 PMAhhh, gorgeous photos. Wish I were there. Look at you, all fabulous and gorgeous in that lovely Mishka! Seems like you had a wonderful weekend. Posted by: Amy at February 14, 2008 12:15 PMtank tops in february, gotta' love it. actually, i have come to resent the warm weather when it happens at the wrong time as portland made me love inclement weather. cannot always have it all. you have made me a bit glad that i did not start the honeycomb....no time for drudgery here. glad you are feeling better. Posted by: mamie at February 14, 2008 11:38 AMWhat a perfect weekend to be at the observatory- it was gorgeous (albeit very warm)! Those pics are great. So glad you're feeling better. xo-S. Posted by: Nonnahs at February 14, 2008 11:00 AMI had similar issues when I knit that baby sweater, too. Its cute as can be, but deceptively tricky to knit. :-) Posted by: disentangled at February 14, 2008 10:33 AMSo good to see you! Glad you're feeling better. 80 degrees sounds so HOT. Although nice spring weather would be welcome for sure. Posted by: Cara at February 14, 2008 10:22 AMthe shots of the observatory are amazing. what a weekend we had huh? The last time I was up there was a few years ago. After reading your post I am inspired to go back again soon. Posted by: winnie at February 14, 2008 10:20 AMThe first photo looks like a set design for a Roman or outerspace movie - or both. Great photo. Zosia and Ash look so well-behaved. And Mishka is beautiful. What a fabulous place to be. Albina would have let the mistakes go too - she wasn't really all that strict. Posted by: Mom at February 14, 2008 10:10 AMWow, what a lovely day. |
