Escape to San Francisco - Artfibers Review

I prefer to answer to my email individually, so I hope you will forgive me for sending a group thanks to those who commented or sent an email regarding the fires and our evacuation. I deeply appreciated your kind thoughts. It was wonderful to get so much support from both long time blog friends as well as new commenters. We escaped the fire with nothing more than a nasty layer of ash on everything outside, in the courtyard and filling every windowsill. A mess, but nothing compared to folks just a few miles away, so I'm not complaining a bit.

We left town shortly after our return from evacuation for an already planned mini-vacation to San Francisco. I just finally finished unpacking from both adventures. The girls are still out of school (a standard break time in our district), so they're keeping me busy as well. Given that, not much new on the crafting front, but I did finish the ripple scarf. It doesn't have it's posed shot yet, but here it is worn. Blocked it at midnight before the flight and wove in the ends on the way to the airport. I used it everyday on the trip. My DH accused me of arranging the trip to justify knitting the scarf. Guess a winter mountain trip is next huh?

One of my girls took this photo in City Lights Books and I'm not sure what happened with the flash. I'm not really this peachy/yellow and the yarn colors are clearer, but this is the best in the lot. After this I took to wearing it euro style (ends pulled through a loop), which I found kept the front side better placed. Is this is my first blog showing of my glasses? After years of contacts I finally needed bifocals for close work and reading. Yes, there are loads of cute little reading glasses, but I found I spend way too much time reading, knitting and sewing to not go ahead and get an all-in-one pair. I still miss peripheral vision, but I've embraced the geek look.

Other than City Lights, Caffe Greco is my favorite stop in North Beach. I know Caffe Trieste is a favorite for many, but my personal history with Caffe Greco goes back 15 years, so I always drink at least one cappuccino there. The baristi was so rightfully pleased with himself about this design he came around from the espresso bar to direct my photoshoot and check the results. We all shared a perfect tiramisu that disappeared before I could get a photo!

A yarn story for which I don't have a photo:  Wore my Birch shawl to our hotel bar in Tiburon and the Swedish man on the next stool loved it. Told me about how his mother back in Sweden was a knitter. He kept holding it up to see the pattern and trying to get the other men down the bar to admire it ... yeah, a little alcohol may have been involved. Tried to get me to give it to him for his girlfriend several times -- don't think so bud. My husband was more than happy to have the knitting admiration quotient met by someone else, especially when the guy bought my martinis in honor of my handiwork. So, you single gals out there - wear your lacework proudly; it's a great conversation starter.

This was a family adventure, so not nearly as much fiber and fabric time as I would have preferred. Still, I forced my family to wait for me while I popped into Artfibers in downtown SF near Union Sq. Even if you have a great LYS, this shop is well worth your time. All the fiber is their own, so even if your stash has every brand out there, this shop will give you the thrill of discovery. Each fiber has it's spot on the shelves with at least one knitted swatch displayed for fondling examination. All the specs for each blend are listed on cards next to the yarn and every fiber from wool, silk, bamboo, cotton to stainless steel is there somewhere. Yarn is wound on cones which you can buy outright, or wind yourself in the shop and pay by weight. The spec sheets had handy guides for estimated weights for standard applications (e.g., 100g will make a 7" x 68" scarf).

My only regret is that we were on our way to visit the SF MOMA that morning so I couldn't sit down in this chair and really enjoy the shop. My loving family kept popping in to check on me (they're so very kind). The owner was very welcoming during my short visit and helped me explore my yarn options for a scarf pattern of theirs I adored at first sight. It would be so much fun to plan a sweater there. They have a cozy circle of chairs, needles and samples of all their yarns available so you can test-knit whichever fibers entice you. Next time I hope to ditch the family and indulge, at least for a few more minutes! In the meantime, they do sell yarn samples on line, so I guess I'll have to go for the cyber experience.

After two days in SF we crossed the Golden Gate and stayed in Tiburon for the weekend. Still, we had to drive back into the city for our family's most anticipated adventure:  Saturday morning at the Ferry Building Marketplace.

The poster says Tuesday, but it's on Saturdays too. Outside are temporary stalls while inside are permanent shops and restaurants, so even if you aren't there for the farmers market, the shops are well worth the visit. Below and above right show just one half of the old ferry building. It's a fabulous re-use of an area that was very unappealing. Now the place is teeming with people.

This is SF foodie heaven, so don't expect bargains. What you can expect are some of the best and more interesting food options the bay area has to offer. Organic fruits and veggies, bread, meat, seafood, chocolate, pastries - everything is there and all wonderfully, enticingly displayed. There are also garden, flower and cookware shops.

We had to skip the veggies and could only buy the fresh fruit we expected to eat that day, but we did indulge in cheese. My girls LOVE good cheese, so the whole family crowded in when our number was called at Cowgirl Creamery.

After a fun tasting session we agreed on one blue, a Gouda, a nutty dry and one runnier variety, though not too - we had to carry it on and didn't want to frighten fellow passengers when a strange smell wafted out of the overhead!. If you love cheese, wade in - it's worth it. It looks like chaos as you walk by, but once your number is called your personal cowgirl or boy will give you full attention and make recommendations. This is my only photo where the crowd parted enough and the young men and women weren't a total blur of activity:

We split up to explore and my oldest and I found the best -- hands down BEST -- custard filled donut I have ever had in my life!

An Italian couple has a tiny cart set up inside the building (the bridge side) with just four flavors:  cream, chocolate, fruit and nutella. We almost collapsed with sheer joy when we tasted them. Basically, these are everything you ever wanted a custard donut to be, but it sadly never quite was. Light, airy dough and lots of real, rich egg custard cream in perfect balance.

When we went back back to buy four more for the family I told her how much we loved them and she said they were amazed at how popular they were. If this is typical Italian baking, I think I'll be in heaven there! As it is, I know what's first on my list next time we go to SF!

Along with the food I found the Spindles & Flyers Spinning Guild doing demos in far corner. They tried to get me, but I told them I'd resisted the powerful dual forces of Risa and Rhinebeck and I'm still holding out!

To balance out all the food (and there was so much more) we walked everywhere. Up and down through Chinatown, Nob Hill, North Beach, and Union Square. For a change from the city, we hiked in Muir Woods in Marin County. It is so beautiful there, but hard to photograph because it's very shaded.

 

On our last afternoon I let the kids and my husband loose in the Exploratorium until they kicked us out. We exited the building to enjoy the sunset on the the Palace of Fine Arts until it was time to go to the airport.

Comments

[Mama-E]

I love that shop and I love that city!

[Ruthanne (in Seattle)]

someday I'll get to artfibers! Lucky you. . . the pictures are lovely - so glad you had such a good time. . . may your creative times resume soon!

[--Deb]

It all sounds just wonderful . . . but, really, spinning is GOOD!

[Jules]

Wow, sounds like an amazing time and that shop looks divine, beautiful photos too, love the farmers market.......so glad you only had a layer of ash to deal with when you got home and looking forward to even more creativity from you soon

[Risa]

LOL. Amazing willpower there! Someday the siren song of the unspun fiber will snare you :)

What a fabulous trip. I'm jealous! Beautiful pictures as always.

[Terry]

Ah! Artfibers! I used to work a block away and Artfibers became a wonderful lunchtime haven. They do have a nice website, even more shopper friendly these days. Looks and sounds like you packed some wonderful eating and sites in - next time you're in SF, email me and maybe I can do the fabric/yarn store crawl driving in my city :) (ps thanks for the tip about the spinners, I've wanted to locate a spinning guild here.)

[moni]

SF is by far my favorite city. And Artfibers is just awesome. I'm finally knitting up a sweater with the yarn and pattern I got there on a visit two years ago!

[Jolanda]

I'm glad you and you're family are oke.
Lovely idea to go on holiday to finish some needlework, i'm afraid it will be more then one for me (feeling very sorry for myself....not).
Thank you for a little peek of your vacantion. Loved your story and also the photos.

[ellen]

I just finished reading "A Crack at the Edge of the World," so I'm feeling very connected with San Francisco. It looks like you had a lovely trip. I really understand that feeling of not wanting to impose on the family by spending too much time in a yarn shop, but also wanting to fondle every fiber and contemplate its possibilities. You made up for any imposition on their patience by finding the worlds best donuts.

[Octopus Knits]

Wow! I love all the photos - what a great trip!

[kerri]

Ah, found you! And your website as as well-put-together and well-worded as you were when I met you in the sewing shop in Carlsbad! Thanks for the bag tutorial, the memories of the Palace of Fine Arts, & the inspirational blog by a fellow sewing sister. Good luck on your quilt--can't wait to see it here!

[juliet]

The photos look gorgeous and the scarf is so pretty - a perfect match of colour and stitch, your trip looks wonderful (and I am loving the spectacles!!! btw I never understand why when you go into an opticians and they ask you to choose frames they put the mirror so far away from you that you can't tell what they look like, but then I have had some bad suprises in the past!)