9 - 21 - 08

I've finally moved into a place after months of searching, putting myself out there, getting frustrated, let down, and sometimes even taking it personally. My new housemates are nice and sane, as far as I can tell. Except for the cat who is afraid of almost everything and everyone. I am telling myself I made a good decision moving in by focusing on the fact that there is an enormous amount of potential in the space itself. And I like the neighborhood. Within range of Article Pract, Knit-one-one, Berkeley Bowl, and many other things I haven't checked out yet but am very much looking forward to.
I am also not sleeping on anyone's couch, trying to remember where my stuff is, or spending $7 a day on Bart fare.

The other (almost even more) exciting news is that I won five ribbons at the Lake County Fair! 2 blue and 1 red for knit items and 1 white for crochet (my first real crochet project ever, I might add) and a white ribbon for the shoes I made in May at Peters Valley. Here are some pics my mom went and took:

The red sweater and the red lace shawl were my blue ribbon items. The sweater was my own adaptation of 28 thirty. By that I mean I started it at the top using the pattern but I didn't get gauge with the yarn and needle size I wanted to use so I made it up for the rest of the way down, adding length and waist shaping. I used Cascade 220 Quattro. The shawl is the Diamond Fantasy by Sivia Harding. I did the smaller version using Shaefer Anne.

Another shot of the sweater.

Giant granny square with white ribbon.

Cheese on a stick stand.

Mystery fowl.

Best in show by Sue Wilson!

I guess I'll be able to get back to knitting. I haven't been doing much, partly because I've been living like a transient with most of my stuff 140 miles away, and partly because my creative projects have been more jewelry oriented lately.

Oh yeah! The same day I found out about the new house and the ribbons I went to a Vietnamese fusion restaurant on 3rd and Folsom called Bong Su and had one of the best meals ever. By best ever I mean I was very close to tears through most of the evening. The fact that I was dining with 2 of my oldest and dearest friends and their families (for the first time in AGES) made the whole experience even more wonderful. It was May Ying's birthday and the manager there is a family friend of hers from infancy who gave us the royal treatment - down to selecting all of our dishes based on a couple of vague requests and doing wine pairings for each course. It made us forget our meal that we had two nights earlier at the Chez Panisse cafe.