I’m a bit of a sentimental soul. I love sitting with my mom, aka “Mimi”, looking through her old photo albums. While she reminices about the old days, I have the opportunity to learn about my relatives that have since passed. A recent conversation brought up stories about her childhood, growing up in the Sunset District of San Francisco. Mimi turns 80 this May. It’s so nice that she remembers as much as she does about “the good old days”. She spoke of her neighborhood friends and walking to school, Lawton Elementary. This conversation inspired a field trip to see mom’s childhood home, neighborhood and school. My parents moved to the East Bay nearly 62 years ago when they married.

I have made countless trips into the city over the years. My grandparents lived there all their life and my daughter lives there now. I have explored many of the city’s riches, but I had never come across the Moraga Steps until this excursion with mom. Over 300 people, from 2003-2005, had their hand in making this project become a reality. Neighborhood residents and tourists alike have enjoyed their beauty, and that’s not all, turn 180 degrees from the steps and there you have a view of the breathtaking Pacific Ocean.

The wheels were turning in my head. Something creative was going to come from this moment. The leaves used in Lawton have been a favorite of mine for sometime, but their directionality casued an issuse I needed to solve. Why not knit from the center out? This is where Judy’s Magic Cast On came to play. That way both ends look the same without having to graft two pieces together in the middle. This idea had its challenges as well, when working from the center out, the stitches do not line up perfectly, they are actually half a stitch off. After thoughtful trial and error negotiating knits, purls and yarn overs, I was able to create what looks like a seamless join.