October in San Fran

San Francisco rocks!  It was wonderful to finally see my brother ‘in situ’, and meet everyone who is everyone in his life.  The city itself is so vibrant.  I expected the artsy, hard-core & touristy vibe but those Union Square high-end stores were a big surprise.  Made Toronto’s Yorkville look like a joke (or three).

This is a 1st run from our pics of the happy trip.  My machine has been acting up of late, so I am rushing to post before it decides to crash on me.  Getting a replacement is now priority no. 1.  I can’t tell you how many times that this workhorse has stopped dead in its tracks mid-keystroke.  So, in the interests of posting something, I’ll keep it simple for now.

Biggest take-away?  I am someone’s sister-in-law!  She was a beautiful bride, and I loved all of her other bridesmaids.  Couldn’t be more proud!  It was a great blend of traditional & their style.  She was a vision in ivory & his tux was balanced out by the very dope sneakers.  It was all expertly planned & executed.  I even liked their wedding planner, which is saying a lot.  The highlight for the reception was the live blues band.  The lead singer was a vision in red velvet.  His life partner had such a clear voice.  Even with my bruk-foot, I was out there dancing the night away (under vodka’s influence).

Brother Man picked us up from SFO & we headed for brunch.  You need mad parking skills in that city, man!

At last, a parking spot!

Street View

Brunch great – everyone knew their names & the waitress was a bit toooo keen on Brother Man.  Next stop was Golden Gate park.  We hit the gardens.  The plaque:

The hokey $5 donation guilt trip:

Little big brother & me

Wait for it...

How to feel small in this world

Patron Saint perhaps?

All admiring this:

Until my brother notices & points to this:

"Obtained" from Mexico City... nice

Definitely Entish

The wedding was at the Legion of Honour, a working museum.  Views of the GG bridge & a golf course.  It was the perfect setting.

The Happy Couple - check out the shoes

Seriously good blues

My Wisp wrap & the onyx necklace:

All dressed up!

In from the cold...

It’s a snazzy wrap that now has a second life as a snazzy scarf.

If you remember, my neighbour made the necklace & matching earrings.  It’s her original design and my first piece of custom jewelry.  I usually wear small, light jewelry but wanted to go all out.  This necklace is so well made for me and this dress that it was a dream to wear.  Coping with all the compliments wasn’t too hard to bear!  Sonja truly worked wonders!

Sonja shows her jewelry privately as well as at craft shows.  Let me know if you would like to get in touch to see more of her work.  I’ll be happy to pass her contact info. on.  She offers a variety of styles at different price-points.  It really is good value for the quality of her materials, which she sources in Asia.

Now that I’m back home, I haven’t stopped knitting.  More to come on that front…

Mohair & other Pitfalls

Where did the week go?  Just one big blur of frenzied knitting.  I’m not quite wedding ready but am getting there.  The Wisp wrap was painstakingly slow.  Working with 2 yarns is usually not a big deal but mohair?  Keeping it all straight meant stopping each row change.  And the dark colours did not help matters at all.  Take my word for it, overcast fall days are not the best time to use black Silk Haze mohair.  A few hours in & I was running upstairs in search of white clothes.  Contrast matters with this stuff.  It just does.  

Oh, and the dropped stitches!  Thanks to Macwinger, I managed to get those under control.  There I was with open stitches & no idea what to do about that when she suggested I thread in yarn instead of a needle.  Yes!  Yes! Yes!  A lifeline.  Smart knitters use lifelines in lace.  That was the turning point in this project.  Shocking pink Jitterbug yarn saved the day.    

Up close & personal - Wisp 'o Necessity

 And the full monty:

To set all of this off, I will have a custom necklace.  Just this summer I learned that my neighbour, Sonja makes jewelry.  She uses materials from Asia, and her pieces are exquisite.  I tried it on this morning & am very excited.  It’s black onyx with a drop of coral.  The dress is black, so the coral will stand out beautifully.  Sonja has final touches to make but I will definitely post pictures of the final piece!  

The continued knitting is because I would like to wear the Purple Cocoon Cardi.  It’s a U.F.O. from this summer that would be perfect for San Francisco in October.  Except, I really went & did it on this one.  Instead of just ripping back the wonky tops, I went & frogged both front sides down to nothing.  Yea.  Even I can see that finishing this is impossible if I hope to do important things like pack for the trip…  Perfectionism is a terrible thing.

On the brighter side… Here’s proof that I have company in the stubborn department:  one of our daylilies has said to hell with the fall & bloomed today!

Sight for sore eyes