Memorial Day Weekend Fun

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I actually spoiled myself on Friday of Memorial Day weekend by taking a few hours off in the morning. Lori and I got together for breakfast and then hit our LYS for their annual Memorial Day weekend sale. The store opened at 10:00am, which is when we arrived and there were already knitters leaving with bags full of their goodies. The doors opened 10 minutes before we arrived. Not to worry as I still came away with what I went for. Solid color sock yarn, I have some instructions from Twig on Mosaic socks and the blue and white will make nice warm Penn State hockey socks. The multicolor was an impulse buy a well thought out plan for a pair of socks. When I left Lori was still shopping.

I worked for about four hours and then MFB picked me up and we headed north to Canada to visit his family for the weekend. It's usually about a seven hour drive and if I'm knitting, then I'm a happy camper as it makes the drive go quickly. About two hours into the drive and my knitting, I was to the point of picking up stitches on the gusset of the P socks when I discovered I didn't have the fifth needle. OH NO!! I searched and searched. No luck. I accidentally left my MP3 player at home, and my camera in the back seat of the other car, and my knitting needle - who knows. Shortly afterwards MFB heard "I'm bored, you must amuse me now." We managed - somehow.

My SIL and I were going to do our version of a yarn crawl but she had to cancel as she was hosting the family barbecue the following day. Several months ago Martina had passed along some information to me about Myrtle Station Wool and I was bound and determined to find it, which we did. In my experience this shop is a little different. I was browsing stock in the owners actual living quarters - bedrooms. She has a lot of stock, but I had my heart set on more sock yarn and I fell for this Lana Grossa Meilenweit Cotton Maya color 7019. I'm excited to see how the color striping will look. I also asked her for a some #2 needles forgetting that in Canada when you ask for #2 Canadians think millimeters, and not the #2 that I needed. The good news is it never hurts to have an extra set of needles, eh? The shop owner was very helpful and friendly, so much so that when I got out to the car MFB told me I had been in there for an hour! He's a good sport, but I've also gone with him when he's being fitted for hockey skates and that can take some time.

From there we headed into Whitby for the shopping highlight of the weekend. I mentioned Martina, well this was my chance to actually meet her. A couple months ago Martina did what I think a lot of us dream of. She bought Kniterary! I emailed her about a week before and told her I hoped to stop in as we would be up visiting family. This shop is wonderful. I don't know how to describe the interior color but it was a light green color somewhere between lime and neon, bright, cheery and the perfect backdrop for Martina. You know who had some stops to make in the area and after meeting Martina he went off on his own. If any of you have read Martina's blog you'll know that she's had some changes in her life recently, a few rough patches, but I have to say she's found her calling. I even met her husband Jim who stopped in while I was there. The Kniterary website shows that they have Canadian wools and this was of special interest to me. So while Martina and I were getting to know one another she was showing me all her special yarns. And here is what I came home with. The hank of hand dyed yarn is Fleece Artist Kid Aran, 50% Kid 50% Wool. I think it's the Cosmic Dawn colorway. Then two balls of Mission Falls 1824 Wool, 100% merino superwash in the Macaw colorway. Martina suggested a scarf with alternating rows and then braiding the ends together and she showed me some braiding she was working on which was just lovely. All too soon it was time to head out and at the last minute I remembered a set of dpn's and I saw these little packages of tissues and picked up one for my SIL and one for Lori. This was such a treat for me. I enjoyed meeting Martina as much as I enjoyed meeting Jessica. I'll be back Martina! Not just for your wonderful wares, but your company as well.

Our time not spent hunting yarn was spent enjoying family. MFB, his brother, and sister's boyfriend had planned on golfing Sunday morning before the family barbecue but wouldn't you know it - it rained all day. As my MIL predicted, the rain let up some time late afternoon. All the "grandkids" were in attendance which is a real treat as all but one are now over the age of 18 and have very busy social and work schedules. Our best friends (see you later this month in Grove City) who we get to see maybe once a year came out to the family barbecue even though it was about a three hour drive for them, so my SIL had, lets see 19 people in her house. She makes it look so easy.

On the drive home I was able to knit so here is my progress on the P socks, which lost their twinness somewhere along the way, and here is the yarn haul for the weekend.

Thanks to all the family and friends who made our first trip back to Canada since Christmas another one to remember.