Knitting in San Francisco

It feels good to blog again!

Where I last left off, I was preparing for a business trip to San Francisco, making lists of sights to see, restaurants at which to eat, shops that I couldn't possibly pass up.

Bilan of my list: I made it to two yarn shops and a Mexican restaurant. Not a very good track record.

But I reconfirmed my love for San Francisco when I saw a public transportation ad on television (perhaps MUNI or maybe BART, I can't remember) that encouraged Friscoans to take public transportation by giving them a list of things they could do during their commute that they would not be able to do in their cars, one of which was to knit. Priceless!

I may have packed my suitcase just hours before leaving for the airport, but I made sure to print out maps from the hotel to Artfibers and Imagiknit.

Speaking of the airport, I suffered a minor setback when my addi turbos were confiscated by the wildly erratic and irrational Paris airport security claiming that they were an objet tranchant. Right, just about as sharp as a ballpoint pen.  Imagine a 12 hour flight with no knitting. I was beside myself and it was only 7am! 

The solution was to run straight to Artfibers as soon as I checked into my hotel. Lucky for me, it was a mere 3 blocks away.  Jetlagged but jubilant, I hopped, skipped and jumped up the stairs to the second floor and was greeted with this: glory to the yarn world. Color, texture and touch bursting at the seams.

I browsed, I touched, I yawned (I'd been awake for over 24 hours), I repeatedly told the shopkeeper that we just don't have yarn like this in France...

and then I bought...

330 yards of Golden Chai (100% golden tussah silk) in color 10

This yarn reminds me of Tilli Thomas pure & simple, but with more beautiful colors and less expensive.  I chose this color because it matches my eyes...

250 yards of Alfabeto (70% silk, 19% superfine kid mohair, 5% wool) in color 7

I bought this in view of making a small swallowtail shawl for my future mother-in-law

lots of yards of Andromeda (30% angora, 70% silk) in colors 6 (left) and 5 (right)

Do you see a theme -- I have gone crazy for pure silk and silk blend yarns.  What I loved most about Artfibers are their fibers -- matières nobles -- as they say in French. Luxurious fibers at reasonable prices. Can't go wrong with that, and they ship to Europe, don't worry, I asked.

One last shot of Andromeda (color 5) and Alfabeto

Lest you think that my pocketbook had exploded after this yarn extravaganza, the following day, in-between two meetings, I hoped on the F-line street car to the Castro to pay a visit to Imagiknit.

Looked promising peeking through the window...

and in the end, la pêche était bonne. See for yourselves:

Koigu...enough said.

The only disappointment was that the store did not have the Charolotte's Web shawl pattern that I would like to make out of this painter's palette selection and it seems to be impossible to find...any one have any suggestions?

Lexicon:

bilan (m): literally, in accounting, a balance sheet. It is also used more informally as "progress report" or "results"

objet tranchant (m): sharp object, as in knitting needles :)

matières nobles: fine materials

la pêche était bonne: literally, the fishing was good or the result was fruitful

Comments

[cheryl]

that was magnificent!

[Kirsten]

They took your Addis?!? Ugh... I can't imagine a long flight without my knitting.
I live in SF and you managed to hit my two favorite yarn stores in town. Artfibers has absolutely great stuff. You got a nice selection!
I bought my Charlotte's Web pattern from FoxyKnits (no affiliation, it just happens to be who had it last Stitches West) and it looks like they still have it: http://www.foxyknits.com/pc-82-18-charlottes-web-shawl.aspx.

[Louise]

They did the same thing to me when I flew out of Orly (to Montpellier) on Dec 31st. Well, they didn't confiscate my needles, they made me go out and check them. Now I'm flying to the States on Tuesday and am wondering what's going to happen in Paris this time. The idea of a 17 hour trip sans knitting is unbearable!

Love all the pictures of SF yarn!