SF

What did I know about San Francisco before my recent visit?

It would be hilly.

There was a corner where some hippies may gather.


I would see more old VeeDubs than here on the East Coast.
(I love this one's number plate.)

There would be good yarn buying.

And chocolate eating, (rare for the US where the choc is almost all inedible).


What I didn't know about San Francisco before my recent visit:

It would be flippin' cold!

They eat cactususus.

It's home to the gayest place on Earth.

The purpose of the trip was to buy vintage clothing and see what the youth of  CA are wearing.

We covered the Mission, Hayes Valley, Berkley, Haight St, Castro and the City Centre.  It was a mad few days of rushing around and shopping to the point of exhaustion but we got some great stuff and I even got to catch up with my old mate, Tina, for gossip and a bite :o)

Tina advised that I go to Imagiknit which was fab, then over the road to taste the wares at Urban Bread but it was getting late in the day so there weren't too many tasty things to try - that said, my feet welcomed the break!

Other ramdom stuff of note:

The film Beautiful Losers was just released when my travel-mate, Jenny, was in NYC lately. She was shopping in Marmalade Vintage when a magazine photographer came in and asked the girl at the counter if she knew the history of the shop because he had seen the film and thought that the shop was the original Beautiful Losers store front gallery in the early 90's. 

While shopping in SF we came upon a shop called VASF where there was a workshop area in the back where shoppers could take creative classes and display their work in the shop windows.

I was just interested in what was going to happen with all that yarn!

Also - Graffitti - Good to know that I am not the only one who has this subject on the brain:

Statues.

As this was not a holiday, I really didn't get a good stab at San Francisco, a city I have wanted to visit for a loooong time, so I may have to go back soon and do it at a more relaxed pace, see sights AND spend more time with Tina.

Things I do for money and glory...

I'm very, very lucky to have a job where I can be creative. I knit, crochet, macrame, cut, sew and glue. I usually do my own thing but once in a while I am asked to make something extraordinary.

This is what I made yesterday:

I'm a little bit more blind now and my fingers are sore from sewing all those tiny letters but I'm happy with the result.

Spring into Summer.............

What a long and sweaty summer it's been so far!

Being in a house with faulty air-conditioning and an uncooperative landlord is not a good place to knit in a humid climate!  I did, however, manage to finish my two secret projects and look forward to their unveiling sometime in the near future...

Cooler climes were sort in the guise of travels up t' North.  Firstly, the Annual Crowley-Girgensons Oktoberfest in New Hampshire was a little early this year and so renamed Springfest.

Hostess, Annabel, was there to make sure the party was swinging.

And Lucky was making friends in her usual less-than-subtle way.

Even Spud made a new friend!

The barn was looking good, stylishly representing the majority of the nations attending.

Fun, frolicks and good food were had by all.  Some even over-did things a bit and had to retire early!

Thanks to all involved for a fab party!  I even stayed up all night to watch the sunrise - that's something I haven't done in a very loooong time!!

Our next escape from the sticky city heat was to Salt Springs State Park in upstate PA for the 4th of July weekend.

We rented a rustic cabin in the woods and they weren't kidding with the description!  

We weren't expecting much, which is a good job as this place was no more than a shed with bunk beds and a table!

We had fun.  Although we had hoped to escape the noise of the fireworks for Lucky's sake but some fellow campers had other ideas.

Then on the following evening the park played host to a wedding and we had to endure the sounds of a really baaad DJ and drunken guests - hoo hum, at least it was cool!

Lucky found a good way to beat the heat by jumping waterfalls, while we watched with our hearts in our mouths.  This dog has no fear!!

Chef was a master of the fire-pit and we celebrated the nation's independence in fine style!

The usual suspect had her fill of fresh country air, again finding a comfy resting place to round off the evening whilst I got in a spot of knitting.  (Details of which will be reported in a later post.)

It was while jotting down my row numbers when I realized that my notebook matched my outfit - funny that.

We left the park a day early.  The hiking trails were too overgrown past the distance that most of the visitors were interested in walking and well, it really wasn't as nice as the Catskills for about the same drive time.

Walking out of work one early evening, I noticed a squirrel running up a tree with a whole bagel in it's mouth!  It found a safe place to devour it's hefty meal while I snapped the hungry critter with my zoom lens!

Many moons ago I was into a little band called The Cure.  I wore out my taped copy of Boys Don't Cry while sitting in my room, mulling over how awful my life was, just the way I'm sure all teenagers do!

Anyway, my English work-mate got us both tickets to see them and they were just as good as I remembered.  Robert  Smith looks just as floppy as always!   Thanks Jenny!!!!!!

Catch Up!

Blimey O'Reily! Has it really been that long since I last posted?!?
Sorry about that - I must've been busy!

So what's been happening in the Land 'O' AoK? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm......
Lots of work... Entertaining guests... Fair bit of food tasting and a modicum of knitting.

Let's start with the knitting as that is what this blog is supposed to be about.
I finally finished the gargantuan task of knitting up the Cable Junction Cardi for Marlene.
Figuring out the placement of the cables was somewhat of a headache:



























Then came the crocheted trims:















but we were both pleased with the end results:




















I'm now working on two secret projects for a new book - can't show photos but will let you know more about it soon.

My new(ish) job has me machine knitting and playing with new stitches. I got an old Brother 950i from ebay and have been re-teaching myself as I go along. Any hand knitters out there who are thinking of getting a machine to speed up their projects, be warned - it may be fast but there's nothing like the relative calm of knitting by hand.

My fella's oldest bro and his ladyfriend came over for a short stay, unsettling the neigbours with their loud bikes and leather garb - heheheee!
Here's a shot of Bob on his steely horse in front of Spud:














Last weekend my friends from up North came for a visit. We all piled into Spud for a trip out to Lancaster County.
Face pulling and cookie eating kept us entertained en route:


















The reason for our journey? To see the fabulous, foot-stompin' band Hot Buttered Rum:












A nicer bunch of talented musicians, I have yet to meet.

They were playing at the Great Green America Fest, held at Bizarroland!! A strange mock renaissance town where I happened upon a real-life Wide Mouthed Frog!!


















Annabel got her face painted to look like a pink cat and we all ate home-made chocolate!















Taking of eating, there's been a fair amount of polishing off of yummy treats here at chez AoK!

Whole grain breads:














Parsley hummus:


















Crumb topped banana muffins:














and moist cupcakes:














Washed down with a fair few pots of Betty's tea:














That's all for today - posting those last few picks has made we hungry!
I'll leave you with a shot of painted eggs that my work-mate brought in to show us - they really brightened the place up!














HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY AMERICA!!

And a big, big thank you to my own Mumble Trimbles for sending chocolate and wool - you know me so well and I miss you :o)