Greensboro Sit Ins

One of the other exhibits that blew me away at the Smithsonian was this lunch counter.  It is the actual Woolworth lunch counter from Greensboro NC. 

For those that don't know, in 1960, 4 students from the Agricultural and Technical College of North Carolina sat down at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro. The problem was that they were African-American and the counter was not desegregated...They were refused service, but sat there all day.  The next day about 20 students joined the "sit-in."  While not the first non-violent sit-in, it has become one of the most famous...and did lead to that lunch counter and others being desegregated.

Now we looked at the counter, I told my niece the story and then we moved on.  We were in a nearby exhibit when we heard singing and came out to see what it was...this lead us to a performance exhibit back at the counter.  I took a few short videos of it.

The actress was named London and she was just fantastic... If you get a chance to go see this, please do...

Trip Interruptus for a WIP

Sorry the picture is so dark....I'm at my Mom's and not great light.

I picked up this book at Monticello earlier this week.  It's the testimonials of descendants of Thomas Jefferson and those who believe they are his descendants through the children of Sally Hemings.  It is very fascinating!

The project was started last night.  It is the Sour Apple Socks.  I am using Lorna's Laces Soulmate in Camouflage.  It's beaded!  I'm doing a beaded sock.....remember I've only made three pairs and only two are wearable!

As always please visit Ginny at Yarn Along and Tami

Smithsonian - Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Since I was last at the Smithsonian, about 7/8 years ago, it has undergone a makeover.  I didn't even recognize the building!

This is my favorite museum, as I'm all about history and I love trivia.

Of course, the major reason to go the museum is to see THE RUBY SLIPPERS...they are now the focal point of an exhibit called American Stories.  Some amazing things in this exhibit! First up:

These are the possibly the shoes that Judy wore in the dancing scenes.

They also had the Scarecrow's hat and shoes, which I don't think I've ever seen before...I was beside myself!!

Why?  These are some snippets of things that surround my desk at home....

Do I need to say more?

There were three other amazing exhibits that deserve their own spotlight...

On The Road

On Thursday, the Winggirl and I left on a road trip.  The Hubs is working, so he is back home. Yesterday we made it to our final destination, Mom's house in Florida.  We have a couple things planned for the week.  I will be meeting at least one online friend from Nerd Wars, but in addition will be a visit to Universal and Harry Potter's World!!!!  So excited for that!  But what have we done so far?

Thursday:  A pretty uneventful drive to Maryland....let's just say traffic and construction don't make Maryland the most hospitable place to drive!  We stayed over so that we could visit DC the next day.....the Winggirl really wanted to see DC.  I'll post some favorite pics from our pedi-cab ride around the Mall.....it was over 100 degrees...felt so bad for the driver, but it was so much nicer than walking!  I'm going to do a separate post for the Smithsonian.

Battle Cry

There is another battle raging in our country, the battle for women to be in control of their bodies....this is a great video about a woman who has had enough!

WIP Wednesday and Some Finishes

Friday I'm going to be on the road...ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!  So I figured I'd post some of my recent finishes today...

The kitty is from Nicki Trench Super-Cute Crochet

I made a companion for Wil-key for the road trip (she's for my niece) The pattern is in Interweave Crochet, Spring 2011

I love these and can't wait to wear them!  I've been wanting to make them forever!  Dragon Skin Gauntlets by Aoibhe Ni 

I finally finished Johnny's blanket.  Johnny is my FIL and at the moment he is at extended care in a rehab/nursing center. The pattern is by Michelle Rhodes

And what am I working on?  Well still plugging away at my Kai-Mei's (the green) I turned the heel and am working on my first knit chart ever!  I am also still working on my Jaywalkers.  The granny squares are for my Nerd Wars dissertation.  I am making a tunic.  

Last week during one of my restless nights I had to download Alison Arngrim's book "Prairie Bitch:  How I Survived Nellie Oleson and How I Learned to Love Being Hated".  I've been wanting to read it forever and I downloaded it that night and finished it the next day.  I loved it...she's great at telling her story.  I'd love to see her stand-up act. I've previously read Melissa Gilbert's book...and Melissa Sue Anderson published one in the past couple years, so maybe hers is next.

Since then, I've mainly been reading blogs, Ravelry and patterns..  I have to decide what projects to bring with me.  I'm taking the two socks, the dissertation and I'm going to take the Miranda Hat, pop over to Evelyn's blog to read about the free pattern, KAL and charity event.

As always head over to Small Things: Yarn Over  and Tami's Amis

I will be posting from the road, so please come back and enjoy the trip with us. 

It Happened

Today I picked up a random skein of yarn and had no idea where I had gotten it. So been ruminating on it for a couple of hours and BAM! It hit me…It was the yarn for the latest Cookie A pattern. I joined her club for this year…

It’s a really pretty color, Vintage Icebox, and I remembering being excited when I saw it….

and now a sigh of relief…..
cuz ya’ know maybe yarn is just showing up at my house on it’s on to join the yarn party!

Another new club skein I received was from Nerd Girls…

Remind you of anything? It’s the Mystery Van from Scooby Doooooooo!