A day out

I took an afternoon trip to a couple of local yarn shops yesterday. A former client and now friend asked me to go to a new shop that opened recently not far from where I live and off we went. The shop is rather small and was very expensive. A small selection of yarn was available but I was assured that the owner could get whatever we wanted quickly. After leaving there we went to a more established shop a little further away. This one was huge! The offered weaving lessons and looms to use during the training. I'd always thought I'd like to give it a try but after checking out the prices on the looms and seeing tags with amounts close to $5000 I decided that it might not be something I should fall in love with. My great great great grandfather was a rather famous weaver in Pennsylvania. There's even a book published with his patterns. The selection of yarns and threads at this shop was mind boggling. I wanted to bring tons of it home. It's been a little while since I've knitted or crochetted and I was itching to make something. Too many choices! The friend with me is an avid knitter and quilter (which is something that I never had a desire to try). I do enjoy knitting and decided on trying out some of the new yarns on some new patterns of scarves.

I finished Maeve Binchy's "Light a Penny Candle." I've read her quite often and always enjoy her books. A wonderful Irish author! This book was written in 1982 and somehow I'd missed it. Once again the story started with WWII and the setting was London. A child was being evacuated to Ireland to live with Irish friends to keep her safe from the war. At the age of 10 she went from living with her rather remote parents to a family full of children in a strange country. She and the Irish daughter became best of friends. After 5 years in Ireland she returns to London to try to live with her parents. It wasn't long till her mother left them and sought a new life with a new man. The daughter stayed with the father and at 15 became the housekeeper. She finished school and then college. Her friend in Ireland barely finished school and went on to secretarial school. Over the years there were few chances for visits between the two girls but through trials and mistakes they made in their lives they were brought back to the closeness they had shared for those early years. A great story of friendship even with differences in background and religion.