Trip Finale Plus

Hi Knitters,
Are you up for one last look at our summer trip? I hope so. My brother lives and works in the Washington, D.C. area so we ended our trip at his house, which is beautiful by the way. He lives on a quiet street in a big house so it felt wonderful after the crowded streets and hotels. We mainly hung out and visited with our families but we did make one journey downtown to see the monuments. On the way to the monuments we walked by the house where Abe Lincoln died and the theater where he was shot was right across the street. I hadn't seen that before and it really made you stop and think about that history from so long ago. It is hard to imagine the times during that period of history. Everything was so small in size, the buildings I mean, but the Lincoln monument is massively impressive when you are up close.
It is a sight to behold.
The Vietnam Memorial Wall is by far the most moving monument to me. I don't know what it is about that wall that brings me to tears, it surely isn't the fanciest or prettiest. As you are walking it is like the world gets really quiet the farther down the wall you go, silence surrounds you. Seeing the staggering list of names of the people who died hits you like a ton of bricks but it is the trinkets and notes that are left by loved ones that gets me every time. You see how personal and current is still remains. On the bottom of one list of names there was a simple little note left in the gutter. Scribbled on that scrap of paper it just said, "I love you." I get so sad just thinking about it.
It was a perfect day as the sky was overcast with only one brief and light shower along the way. The temp and humidity were not high and the crowds were surprisingly small. It is a memorable journey and a somber journey at times as you think about all of the people who have paid so much for our country.
On a lighter note, on the way to the monuments we went to Georgetown where I ran across this little gem of a yarn shop, Stitch DC. They have three locations in the D.C. area. What a cute little shop to stumble upon.
The young woman working was helpful and friendly and cute. It is a wonderful little space with some fun yarns. It seemed they had a lot of Karabella, Debbie Bliss and O Wool.
I especially like seeing this on the shelf when I walked in. That makes you feel good:)
I bought this scrumptious and huge skein of Mary's Little Lamb Light Worsted in True Blue. It has 450 yards and is by Farmhouse Yarns. I love the gentle color and I am planning on making some sort of cabled scarf out of it eventually. I ran across this array of free cabled scarf patterns (scroll down) you may want to check out. What a plethora of patterns from this wonderful designer.

Here are a couple more cool links I have been thinking about. I am making that sweater (from the first link) and I think I have the yarn in my stash for it, more later. If you have the magazine then you will know what I am talking about when I say that passed that sweater right by at first. Then when I saw the photos from the designers blog, I can't get it out of my head. What a fantastic creation. The other link is another great new resource you may want to visit. There are some interesting patterns here.
I know this is getting long but I want to finish by sharing my daughter's altered book. She had so much fun with this project. Here are some of the pages:
Yummy.
This page features glitter and a working zipper. When you open the zipper you see she wrote, "Happy Days," and glued two little buttons on either side, very cheerful.
I love this because you can make the horse move by pulling on the sucker stick on the side. It's an action feature.
Cheeky monkey!
You have to have a blue bird, sun with a smiley face and a big ol' tree, always.
This book is now featured on display in our living room for all to see.

Have a super weekend, Knitters. I hope it's a good one.
best, susie