Achievement Unlocked: San Francisco!

We’re returned from our jaunt to San Francisco! It was awesome.

We attended my cousin’s wedding in Walnut Creek for the first few days – it was HOT but there were actually a few shops and restaurants in walking distance, even if it did take 4 pedestrian signals to cross under the highway! The hotel had a pool, so we bought bathing suits and hung out there for a bit before going to the wedding at Heather Farm.

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Once back in SF proper, we toured all around. It was fairly warm, but nicely breezy. Every day we’d get up a pretty relaxed time, have breakfast, go around for awhile and have lunch, walk around some more and then pretty much pass out at the hotel at dinnertime. My feet were pretty tender from all that walking – you never know what giant hill was around each corner.

By the time dinner came around we’d pretty much be done with being out, so we mostly had dinners in the hotel suite with my mum (groceries or take-out), except for the one night we had ramen, in Japantown. I didn’t take many photos, but here are a few highlights…

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Took a hop-on, hop-off bus one day – it got us to Fisherman’s Wharf, which was great, but then when we wanted to leave, the last bus had already gone! We ended up waiting an HOUR to take the cable car back downtown. The Cable Car Museum was a great (and free) little museum stop.

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SF MOMA recently reopened after a long renovation – it’s beautiful. And rather large!

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Union Square

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Japantown was great – interesting shops and buildings, yummy ramen. We actually spent more time there than I was expecting.

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Asian Art Museum.

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Happy hour oysters at the Farallon with my mum! (I should probably have gotten some photos of the three of us.)

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Golden Gate Park. We went to the California Academy of Sciences and the de Young museum, which had a great observation deck view.

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So many pretty flowers and plants, surviving the drought.

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Lands End was a highlight – definitely worth the bus trip! The views were breathtaking.

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Golden Gate Bridge, of course. (We didn’t go across or even very near it, ha!)

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Sutro Bath ruins.

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I was there!

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And of course, high on my list was visiting A Verb for Keeping Warm in Oakland! It was beautiful, I spent a bunch of money, and then we went out for tacos with Kristine and Julie.

I’ll share my purchases from Verb next post! Stay cool.

New Pattern! Willowdale Shawl

Willowdale is the neighbourhood I grew up in, in North York. North York was its own town (mayor, city council, school board, etc), until it was incorporated into the City of Toronto in 1998.

What’s that got to do with this pretty shawl? Not much! But it’s a nice name, right?

Willowdale Shawl 1

Willowdale is worked from the top down, beginning with a garter tab and a zigzag-and-garter-ridge lace pattern. The bottom edging is worked in a similar pattern of chevrons.

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The yarn is Mountain Colors Louisa, a SUPER SOFT cashmere/silk blend. Since it’s a pretty precious yarn, I wanted to make sure that the shawl uses just one skein – perfect for light layer or even a gift for a special someone. It’s pretty big just with the one skein too, since both cashmere and silk tend to loosen and grow when they hit water. Finished measurements: 66″ across the top edge, 16.5″ deep.

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The lace patterns are given in both charted and row-by-row directions.

This 4 page PDF pattern is $6 CAD.

Queue, fave, and buy on Ravelry!