Marin Headlands

Yesterday we traveled over to the Marin Headlands to take in the sites along the shore. Our first stop was the Golden Gate Bridge and then we traveled farther north to Stinson Beach.

Old is New

My prize purchase of the day!::

After breakfast and reading the early edition Sunday paper (we can't wait until tomorrow to get the real Sunday paper!), C and I went out this morning to do some quick furniture shopping.

We found a couple of amazing things ~ he's going to purchase a Japanese bed for his room. These usually come with woven mats where the mattress would be, but we can order it without the mats and he'll have a sleek, beautiful bed frame. We stopped by Ikea to look at a few things, but all we left with were a couple of hot dogs and some jars of pickled herring! On our way home from Ikea we saw a sign for an estate sale and we decided to check it out. We walked away with three old and beautiful oak chairs for his kitchen table and I bought the old table pictured above. The base is cast iron from an old foot powered sewing machine and the top is a piece of marble. I'm so excited about this table and wish I could take it back to Boston with me!! Unfortunately, I think it's going to have to spend the year in Berkeley while I scheme up ways to move it east. Now... all I need is an old card catalog and my furniture dreams will be complete*

Ooh ~ and I added ears to the lamb washcloth!**Note ~ if anyone would like the pattern details for the lamb washcloth, I'd be happy to post them!

{Fog}

Yesterday was C's birthday, so we met his dad in San Fran for a tasty italian dinner at North Beach Italian Restaurant. Which brings up the idea of south beach and dieting, but it's the opposite. Full, rich, and delicious meals were had by all.

After crossing the Bay Bridge, we drove along the Embarcadero, stopped at a marina with a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, and then took a stroll through China Town before dinner. I'm going to spend more time in the city this weekend before I head back to the east coast!

~Alcatraz from the Bay Bridge~
~Statues along the Embarcadero~

~Golden Gate Bridge in the Fog~
~Alcatraz~
~SF Building~

{A Portable Herb Garden}

Gather your supplies::
>Four lovely pots with drainage holes
>One serving tray with room for your pots, sides to keep the pots safe, and handles for portability.
>Herbs to fill your potts
>Potting Soil to feed your herbs
>A sunny spot for your garden.

Plant your herbs::
Water thoroughly.
Move to sunny location.
Bring into kitchen when cooking your herb-filled meal.

Enjoy!

We spent the weekend at the lake again. This time with some friends who were in town for the weekend. The weather was a bit overcast, but that just gave us time for an afternoon game of monopoly ~ the most cut throat game of monopoly that I've played in a long time.
We pulled out the windsurf boards for one last run around the lake. C managed to actually take his around the lake, I managed to go in a straight line and make one turn!

Before we left town, I snapped some pictures as I was riding my bike to Article Pract to pick up some yarn to start the sweater on the cover of the fall IK!

I pass this van once or twice a week on evening runs and I thought it deserved some blog love.


These are the kicka** tables on the sidewalk outside of Bakeshop Betty's ~ a great bakery/cafe on the same block as Article Pract (around 5000 Telegraph in Oakland). Do you see what they are?Ironing Boards!!

It's been a week!

And we moved! Again! 4th and !final! time this summer. And let me tell you, this move is definitely the best! We could not be happier and I'm bummed that I can't take this neighborhood back to Boston with me. C found a great apartment in the Rockridge section of Oakland (only about 12 blocks from campus and smack dab in the middle of some great eating and shopping!).

I'm sure more pictures will come as I continue to explore the area, but here's a sampling of what we have:

Two doors away from his apartment is a great little restaurant called Noodle Theory, where they serve up all sorts of asian-inspired cuisine. From hot noodle soups to cold noodle salads, this place is wonderful.
Lemongrass Soda!~~

Walking past Noodle Theory is a block full of shops - there's the butcher the baker and the wine maker... plus some great fresh produce and shops full of little goodies.

Keep walking and eventually you find the homemade ice cream at Ici. I sampled their green tea and lime with candied orange rind. yum.

And the cafes. So many great cafes. I've spent quite a bit of time in them since we don't have a connection yet.

And finally, some knitting! I made a little lamb washcloth. It looks ok, but I'm trying to think of some ways to improve the design ~ any ideas you have would be great!

And - I'm wearing Glee today!! I finished this so long ago, yet I haven't sewed the hooks and eyes on yet, so I'm wearing it with safety pins. Going for the grunge knit look.

Now back to work and tonight I'll try out another new yoga place!

Out and About

Just an update on what I see when I turn my eyes away from the computer~~


~Click on the fly picture to see some great detail ~ including the hairs on the fly's back!!


*note - the bright light in this picture is just the sunlight shining through ~ no special effects or flash.
**This is the second time I've come across this deer gang. They hang out in the Berkeley hills where we park our car. Today they surprised me from behind. I was walking down the hill and wondering why the car (the green one behind the deer) was going so slow, I turned my head and came face to face with these guys tiptoeing behind me!

Boats and Beds

We spent last weekend at the lovely little house on the lake. It's a great quiet place to stay for the weekend ~ the weather was cool, but it made a swim in the lake feel that much warmer.


On Saturday evening we moved a futon mattress out to the deck to sleep in style under the stars.

On my needles~~

There's a lot of knitting happening behind the scenes of WinterFoliage!

My ongoing project is Sarcelle. I'm about halfway done with the item and the second half is going much slower than the first because I've distracted myself with a few other projects! Luckily, I'm not doing a full size Sarcelle ~ I've kept the pattern skinny and plan on using it as a scarf. So instead of expanding to the full 7 repeats of the pattern, I'm only repeating 5 times.

Here's Sarcelle next to my Clapotis (folded in half length-wise), so that I could get a sense of how much more I had to go.Yarn note ~ I LoVe the Malbrigo yarn, and with 400some yards per skein, it's only going to take two skeins for the whole project!!

Before our trip to Yosemite, I wanted to make a quick hat in case the nights were chilly. So I dug into my stash for some cozy yarn. Details: This hat is made of a white alpaca yarn and a greenish wool held together. It's just a basic top-up hat. About 84stitches (I should recount) on size 7 needles. I did a one by two rib on the bottom and then just stockinette stitch for the rest of the hat. For the decrease I did knit two together on every other row in 5 sections. I think the hat could use a design... maybe something embroidered on the side?

Once the hat was finished I was so pleased with the quick project that I decided to use up some of the cotton I had for the Lion Washcloth from this Season's Knitty. This was so much fun!! Seriously, if you're at all tempted to make the lion go for it and don't worry about the loops!
I was so excited by how much fun it is to knit loops that I started to think about other animal washrags. So I stopped by Article Pract and picked up some organic creamy cotton and I'm going to try to make a lamb version.

Finally, I have a huge stash of black alpaca (and some skinny blue stuff) that was gifted to me, so I decided to make a sweater. The pattern? I can thank Elizabeth Zimmerman. I'll give more details as the sweater progresses.
I ordered the Knitting Workshop book a few weeks ago and already I've learned so much! I'm using her formula to make either the shirt-yoke or hybrid sweater (I'll decide once I get to the top!)

Other lessons from Ms. Zimmerman?
-center-pull balls let your yarn loosen up and make for nicer, more predictable knitting
-how to avoid a pointy hat? increase your decreases near the top! duh - so simple why didn't i try it??
-how to make a sweater? just go for it!

I'm a full, lighter waving Zimmerman fan. I can't wait to place another order for more EZ books.

End Note ~ some of mother nature's knitting ~