Mawson visits Griffith Observatory, and other LA snippets

I’ve been in Los Angeles with Mr. N the last week and a bit.  One of the WIPs that came west with me was my almost completed Mawson hat, which I started at Thanksgiving with my mom, but, due to yarn shortage, we couldn’t complete before I left.

I finished the hat within a day of arriving here, but hadn’t a moment to get any pictures of it.  But on Friday, Mr. N and I decided to take the afternoon off and head over to Griffith Observatory, which I had never been to, to explore a bit and see the fabulous views.

There was enough of a nip in the air that I decided I might get away with wearing a woolly cap, so Mawson came along with us!

The hat hasn’t been blocked yet, and the pattern has some specific recommendations for how to properly block it — but I’m happy with it, even pre-blocking and didn’t want to miss a chance to take pictures of a finished knit at a fun California landmark! Like the Oslo Cap I made recently, you can wear it slouchy or with a folded brim, and I really like that versatility.

The hat’s a tad on the loose side, despite the fact that I went down a needle size.  I probably could have cast on 8-10 fewer stitches.  But the plus side is it’s a hat I can wear when I don’t want my hair to get totally smooshed!

And despite being a pretty simple cap, it called for a cast on that I’ve never done before — an alternate cable cast on, which sets you up nicely for ribbing and mimics the look of a tubular cast on (Woolly Wormhead has a lovely photo tutorial of it here.)   It’s a neat and stretchy  — I’m eager to try it on top down socks. And the pattern is written so you end up with a completely reversible hat, which is great!

Full project details — Pattern: Mawson by Jared Flood; Yarn: Brooklyn Tweed Shetler, Colowary: Newsprint, purchased at Loop; Needle Size: 5; Size: Slouchy version; Modifications: None! 

Despite the fact that it was a bit of a hazy day, there are some really lovely views from the Observatory:

The Observatory itself is a beautiful building:

With lots of pretty (and occasionally funny) details:

And the area around the Observatory is very nice for a walk!

We head back to the East Coast Wednesday, but it’s been so nice to spend almost two weeks in Mr. N’s temporary home — hard to believe I haven’t been out here since August!

We’ve had some really delicious Chinese food:

 

And ice cream sundaes:

 

Gorgeous sunsets:

And we even squeezed in a visit to the lovely Gathering Tree:

Sadly, I didn’t have my camera (Mr. N snapped this picture with his phone) or much of a budget for yarn shopping, but it’s a really lovely store. The staff were all super friendly, the shop was buzzing with knitting chat — I can’t wait to go back!

And while I might not have gotten any yarn, Mr. N got me one of these amazing mugs:

And my second Droving sock is coming along (after accidentally being left at a road side taco joint — thankfully, we recovered it!)

Hope you’ve had a nice weekend, too!  Happy Sunday!