Day Trippin' - Los Angeles and the Renegade Craft Fair

On Saturday, a friend of mine and I did a little day trippin' to Los Angeles.  Our main destination was the Renegade Craft Fair being held at Grand Park in downtown.  And, of course, there's always other things to find and explore in L.A.  We were excited about the fair and what else we might find.

We headed out fairly early in the morning with a stop at Starbucks for our morning elixir.  Then, we hit the freeways and made our way through traffic in time for the fair to begin.  We parked under the Music Center which was right across the street from the park.  Wow...there were eight stories of parking below ground!  We were on the fifth level down.  Only $9 for all day parking...not bad!

Grand Park runs across a couple of blocks.  There's a big fountain at the end where we entered...

It was an unusually HOT day for L.A. and people were enjoying the refreshing water below the fountain.  I was VERY tempted to join in on the fun.  Especially, later, when there was someone with a microphone leading people to jump up and down and dance in the water.  However, I had regular shoes and socks on and I was carrying my good camera with me.  Oh well, maybe next time!

The park was filled with visitors and activity.  The Renegade Craft Fair was being held at one end and the Dizzy Feet Foundation had the National Dance Day event going on at the other end.  And, look who was being interviewed by ABC as we walked through...Nigel Lithgoe from the show, "So You Think You Can Dance"!  I like that show a lot!  So, it was fun to see Nigel in person.  Unfortunately, we seemed to have missed the dance performances.

After hanging out in the shade of a tree for a bit to check out the dance event, we headed over to the craft fair.  There were rows of vendors set up, filling the north end of the park.

I had planned to take a lot of photos but the heat was really getting to both of us.  It kind of melted our enthusiasm, mood for shopping, and interest in taking pictures.  We walked through a couple of rows and then took a few minutes to try to cool off in the shade.  Then, we'd head back out for another couple of rows and go back to the shade.  We repeated this system until we made it through all of the vendor aisles.  Oy!  It was SO hot and humid!

There were lots of different types of things being sold...from printed art, to creams and soaps, to signs and jewelry.  A few of my favorites were:  Painted Bird with their cute and colorful crocheted shoes; Di Palermo Body with beautifully scented body scrubs and soaps; a vendor that I failed to get a card for that had suitcases filled with blank journals made from the covers of old books...everything from Dr. Seuss to old medical books to antique books with beautiful covers; and Bunny Butt Apothecary because of the name...they had lots of great soaps and stuff too. 

This is the only vendor photo I got...some fun scarves made from suit jacket lapels...

There were food trucks there.

I took pictures of a few that I liked the look or name of...

Baby's Badass Burgers...

A little Airstream trailer and Luckdish Curry...

Schmuck with a Truck...

There were even a couple of vendors with trucks.  One sold books and the other is my all time favorite, the "Yarnover Truck".  I rarely visit them without leaving with some gorgeous yarn.  Yesterday was no exception!  Look what came home with me....beautiful blues, turquoise and dark charcoal hues that are deep and chocolaty and with tints of green.

It's a gorgeous, 870 yard skein of "Squishy Lace" by "Dragonfly Fibers".

The colorway is called, "Rocky Top".  It reminds me of the rocky, Northern California Coast.  Beautiful!  I'm SO excited about how much yardage is in this skein!

Since it was so hot, we didn't stay very long.  We were anxious to find a place to cool down.  We needed food because it was already around 1:00 p.m.  We also wanted to see a yarn shop in the downtown area.  So, we drove over to the area it was in and found a place to park to find the yarn shop and a place to eat.

As we walked over to the yarn shop, we saw this face on the side of a big building.
It's interesting how parts of the face area are etched into the brick of the building.

As in most big cities, there are a lot of old and interesting buildings.
There were big Griffins all around this building...

The yarn shop we went to see was inside an old book store, The Last Bookstore.

How cool and how fun this book store would have been if the day was cooler and we'd eaten.

I think I need to go back someday...a cooler day!

There were artistic vignettes all through the store.

Here's one of them...

The yarn shop, Gather DTLA (Downtown L.A.), was on the second floor.

Their sign and the big, artistic use of crochet was breathtaking!...

Crochet love!

The store was tiny but how nice to have one downtown for people who work there and for visitors.  They had a small but nice selection of yarn and supplies.  And, they were friendly.  Best of all, for yesterday....they had a powerful fan that felt oh-so-good!

For lunch, we found a great little cafe, "Crepes Sans Frontieres", inside the Spring Arcade Building.  We found it because of a little chalkboard sign sitting at one of the entrances to the arcade/corridor.

What a find it was!  It turned out to be one of the best parts of the day.  It was cool, peaceful, the people were nice, and the food was delicious!  I had a gluten free/buckwheat gallette (crepe) with chicken, caramelized onions, mushrooms and tomatoes.  There was a small, mixed greens salad with a Dijon vinaigrette dressing included.  It was all delicious!  I also had an interesting and tasty version of lemonade...it had ginger in it.  We sat, relaxed, cooled off and enjoyed some time to chat.

After our mid-afternoon lunch, it was time to head back to the car and home.  We were parked in one of the many downtown lots.  I don't like graffiti but I thought this did make for an interesting photo...

I've always had a curiosity about Los Angeles.  It's far enough away to not go often yet close enough to go explore from time to time.  I know there are a lot of hidden and wonderful things to find within it's boundaries.  It was fun to go and spend a day discovering some of them.

Road Trip, Days 7 through 12 - Fiber Highlight

Something I love to do on just about every trip I take is to visit yarn shops.  This three week road trip was no exception.  I had searched online for yarn shops in every city we were planning to visit and even some in between and along the way.  It hadn't gone all that well through the first week as some were closed the day we were in town and some had gone out of business.  And, some just weren't all that great.  So, I'd really only had yarn shop fun in one place over the first week, iPurl in The Woodlands, Texas.  But, I still kept trying.

One place that had been on my list since I started planning the trip was "The Quarter Stitch".  It's right in the middle of the French Quarter and on the same street as the cathedral.  It was a surprise to me that there was a yarn shop in the French Quarter and I wasn't about to miss it.

I didn't get a picture of the front of the store.  But, here's a picture of the sign hanging outside of it...

It was a very colorful store filled with lots of yarn, needlepoint canvas and bins of yarn strands in many colors for needlepoint.  It was fun to look through.

They had huge balls of yarn in the front of the store...

And, some interesting and brightly colored yarn made from fabric strips...

They had lots of other pretty yarns throughout the store...

Almost right across the street was a something that I didn't know about ahead of time, a weaver.  Stopping in there turned out to be one of the highlights of our time in the French Quarter.  Not only was it exciting to find a weaving shop and see the gorgeous rugs that were for sale and being made but the owner is a gem that we were honored and thrilled to meet.  She was so sweet and fun to visit with.  We chatted for a long time the first day and went back a second time for another visit.  The shop was like a little escape or oasis from the chaos of the quarter.  It was so inviting and comforting.  We loved it!  This is a place not to miss if you're ever in the French quarter.  And, of course, if you're in the market for a beautiful rug, give her a call or visit her website HERE.  Click on the link to see some of her gorgeous work.  I love her sign too!

Another treat at the weaving shop were the kitties that she's rescued.  It was so fun to see and visit with some furry friends while we were so far from home.  They were all so cute!

This one snuggled up next to my feet when I first got there.

Awww...so sweet!

Then, later during our visit, I sat on the floor and the same kitty snuggled up next to me on my skirt.

Such a pretty kitty!  I think it liked me!

I just love meeting people in other places and getting to know them, hearing their stories, learning about the area we're visiting, and connecting.  Our visits with Ronda were priceless and a treasured memory of our trip.  I feel like I made a friend and I hope we can stay in touch.

Oh...and, if you're ever in the market for handwoven baskets, she has some

beautiful ones in her shop as well.  They're made by one of her assistants.

Do you like to visit yarn shops and weavers on your travels?  Or, do you have a specific thing you always seek out when you're traveling?  I'd love to hear about it!  :-)

Thanks for stopping by!  Stay tuned...there's more to come!