Stash Acquisitions

Well .... my yarn diet was definitely broken within one day of being on
vacation. We arrived at my brother's cabin on Gull Lake northwest of Brainerd, MN last Friday. On Saturday, my sil and I went into Brainerd to see the newest yarn shop there, Between Friends. It's located in a corner store in the downtown area of Brainerd. I picked up some yarn for socks - Tofutsies, Plymouth Dream Baby, and SandnesGarn Mandarin Petit, and a couple of Clover Soft Touch crochet hooks. I also found some Plymouth Fantasy Naturale to knit another market bag since I just used some of the Sugar 'n Cream dishcloth yarn I had and I don't think it will hold up as well of the FN. When I was ready to check out, the owner asked me to draw a popsicle stick from a bowl on the counter. Well, I drew the only 50% off of the most expensive item you have, so the Tofutsies was only $8.50 ....
what luck! We also stopped at Among the Pines in Brainerd where I picked up two hanks of Jitterbug in the popsicle colorway and two cakes of Malabrigo worsted in the saphire magenta 239 colorway. I picked both of these for my daughter who couldn't make it this year due to working the week-end of July 27-29. When I spoke with her, I told her that she would have quite a bit of the second hank left over since they only have 295 yds ..... then I thought to just go in for another hank and we can both have a pair of socks. When my dh and I went into town for some fishing "stuff", we stopped at shop to pick up another hank. Well,.... the dh was really missing his hunting dog, Cozi, by this time. The owner's very old, very arthritic yellow lab was strolling around the store. My dh got about 10 minutes of a "dog fix" that seemed to last the rest of vacation.

On Monday, my sil and I went north to Nisswa (no yarn shop there but a very good coffee shop/roaster) and Pequot Lakes where we found Unraveled, a new yarn shop that opened after the first of the year. I had already done enough damage, so just purchased some BSYC Wildfoote in the brown sugar colorway. Oh, could I have done more damage .... they even had sari silk. The owner asked how I did my socks, I replied that until the last pair I had always used dps, but since I did the June RSC socks on magic loop, that's all I want to do if I can make the pattern work. I didn't have my current socks with me, so on Wednesday my dh wanted to see Nisswa (actually to get a pizza fix at Rafferty's Pizza, a family pizza restaurant) and Pequot Lakes. He didn't even object to stopping at the yarn shop so I could show the lady how ml works. I even said he could go in the bookstore next door to the shop, but he came in with me. What a sweetie!
TLGB

Back From Vacation!

After a week's stay at my brother's cabin/bunkhouse, I'm back home ..... and from the kennel are our two lonesome dogs. Took some gorgeous pictures, this was the sunset the first evening at the lake. Also a pic of my db and dh with one day's catch. Fishing was great .... this year! Last year, my dh hardly caught a fish a day. Weather was very warm during the day but with a breeze most of the time ... nights cooled off enough that sleeping was comfortable with a fan.

While in the Brainerd MN area, I was able to visit two new yarn shops ... one in downtown Brainerd and the other about 15 miles north in Pequot Lakes. Both shops have sock yarn - both wool and non-wool (yes, I did break the yarn diet), basic wool, and lovely specialty yarns. I will definitely go back to either. I also paid a return trip to Among the Pines, along hwy 71 in Baxter/Brainerd. Some trendy clothing has been added to the front of the shop, but she had added Malabrigo, Jitterbug, and a couple other yarn lines since Alcariel and I visited last year. The other yarn shop in Brainerd is part of a quilting shop but I didn't go there .... did plenty of damage at the three I did go to.

Finished the second Broadripple sock from Knitty ... one Christmas gift for the coffee girls done, eight to go!

Since returning home, I've worked on Central Air from BMFA in Trekking. I had started the socks on dps, but after completing the Solstice Slip socks on magic loop, decided to frog the one sock ... I almost had the leg completed. I've been working since returning home on Friday evening and am about 4 inches down on the leg. There wasn't any chance of matching the stripping on both socks, so I guess they will just be fraternal.

A Special Shawl

A friend from church lost her husband to cancer earlier this summer and I decided that I wanted to knit her a comfort shawl. My daughter found the perfect yarn in Omaha .... Mountain Colors in the Indian corn colorway. I have started two different shawls, but didn't care for either one .... just didn't seem right for Joanne. Well ...... I have found the pattern ... Moonlight Sonata Scarf/Shawl from Elann; a free pattern. Here's the pic of the set-up 12 rows and the first pattern repeat of 12 rows ..... need to do a total of thirteen and I'm just about to the end of my second. The yellow dots are pin heads. I really like it!

I hope to get a couple of pattern repeats on my Central Air socks this afternoon. That happens in between trying to get things ready to take off for a week of fishing at my brother's cabin on Gull Lake near Brainerd, Minnesota. Last year, DD and I did a yarn crawl in the area and also taught DSIL to knit .... dishcloths. She was thrilled. Maybe I can get her going on something else. There were rumors of a yarn shop opening in Nisswa the first of the year, so we'll probably check that out for sure. My DH and DB can do the fishing. SIL and I will knit, shop, and drink coffee .... yes ..... she likes flavored coffees, too.

Better get busy ..... TLGB.