Gather DTLA and other La La Land adventures

Hi there friends, and happy Friday!

Phew, this week’s flown by — I can’t believe I’m just getting to tell you about my time in Los Angeles! It was a wonderful (almost) week, and we crammed in a lot — especially considering we had to carry on with work Thursday, Friday, and Monday as usual.

So, obviously, the most important part of the trip was visiting a new-to-me yarn shop! I’ve been working my way through the fiber spots that are scattered around LA.  A few weeks before I arrived, Mr. N had, by chance, had an opportuntity to scout out one of the shops I’d been hoping to visit — Gather DTLA — and was very enthusiastic about it (“They have Quince yarn!” he reported, “and locally dyed yarn as well!” — clearly, he’s done a good job learning how to evaluate yarn shops.)  Our original plan had been to do some hikng Saturday and visit downtown LA, and most importantly, the yarn shop, on Sunday, but bad weatehr Saturday morning conviced us to swap our weekend plans.  And in the end, by the time we got downtown early Saturday afternoon, it had turned into a brilliant day.

Mr. N’s predictition that I’d really like Gather DTLA proved to be spot on.  It’s a delightful yarn shop that’s tucked into a magical mezzanine corner of a larger building that houses the Last Bookstore (a building with a giant book shop + yarn store — what could be better?!) as well as some other small shops and gallery spaces.

View from the mezzanine onto the Last Bookstore

I didn’t think to take a picture of the sign, but luckily, Mr. N did when he first visited the shop and sent it to me! Thanks Mr. N!

Gather DTLA might be, as the sign suggests, a nook, but its been filled to the brim with some really fabulous yarns.  In addition to the range of Quince yarns that Mr. N touted, the shop stocks Madelinetosh, Blue Sky Fibers, Fibre Company, and YOTH, just to name a few, complimented with a selection from local dyers and even some handspun from right here in Philadelphia!

Wall of Quince (also courtesy of Mr. N)

I love when shops have a good range of samples out, and Gather DTLA certainly did .. I could have spent ages squooshy the lovely skeins and inspecting the samples!

I always love getting to see yarns I’ve ooh-ed and ahh-ed over online in person for the very first time!  And I really enjoyed chatting a bit with the shop owner, Tifanee.  It’s always so nice to find not just lovely yarns, but really friendly people! Tifanee’s created a really special space, and I’m so glad I stumbled upon it. I can imagine many repeat visits on my return trips to LA over the spring, and I’m looking forward to trying out a class or dropping in for a knit night when I’m out in California for a longer chunk of time this summer.

How fabulous are those crochet covered stones?!

With so many pretty yarns to tempt me, it was very hard to not take any home. So I did treat myself to one little skein (admirable self-restraint, I think) — Madelinetosh BFL Sock in the Optic colorway. I’ve been eyeing a skein of this for quite some time, so it seemed like fate when I saw it in the shop!  Now, if you’ve been following here since new year, you’ll know I’m trying to be a bit more intentional in my stash acquisition — I felt good about this purchase because a) I love supporting great local yarn shops b) it’s a yarn that’s been on my mind for quite some time and c) it’s a non-merino sock yarn, which I don’t have much of in my stash!

How could I not get it?

While I contented myself with this one skein, I was seriously lusting after some YOTH Mother, a heavy laceweight yarn, which I had never seen in person before.  If I can work through some stash yarn, I might treat myself to a few skeins the next time in LA — I think it’d make a stunning Houlland hap.

Many thanks Tifanee for letting me snap some photos in the shop and the lovely chat!  I can’t wait to come back soon.  Gather DTLA’s website is here, and they are also on Facebook and Instagram — and if you’re in LA, I definitely recommend checking this lovely shop out!

Yarn shopping aside, it was also really fun wnadering a bit around downtown LA.  I hadn’t actually been downtown before this visit, and there are so many lovely old buildings, which looked extra pretty once the sun came out:

Inside the Bradbury Building

I loved all the ironwork

Not an old building, but — Audrey Hepburn!!

We also walked past City Hall:

And ambled up to the Walt Disney Concert Hall:

Sunday was a spectacular day, so we went on a little hike to Eaton Canyon Falls:

Let’s just zoom out a bit:

Turns out that traffic jams aren’t just for the highways in LA! I’ve never seen such a crowded trail. It was our own fault — all the descriptions online said it was “well traveled” and “popular.”  While it was still a nice day out, I think next time we’ll try to find a slightly less beaten path 😉

Otherwise, we squeezed in my favorite taco spot (tacos de patatas, mmmm!), my favorite ramen spot, saw La La Land (thus the other half of this post’s title), which I loved, and some delicious enchiladas (are you sensing a pattern? there are so many delicious things to eat in LA):

And some nice lunches outside and walks on breaks from work at the Huntington Library, aka Historians’ Spa:

A lovely trip … I was not ready to leave on Tuesday!  But it was made easier knowing I’ll be heading back this time two weeks from now, and get to stay for almost two weeks!

Hope your week is wrapping up well! What are your plans for the weekend?  I’m hoping for a little sleep (traveling and get back to work here has been tiring!), catching up on some work, and, of course, lots of knitting.

xo K