Diary of a Mad Fabri-Holic: Mr. Shawl Goes to Washington (part 1)

Recently, I finished knitting my first ever lace shawl (rav link), with the blocking expertise of Cathi Pink. Because I am angling for massive knitting geek status, and because the shawl was done mere hours before we left on a vacation to Washington, DC, I decided that the shawl should get its photo taken everywhere we went. While I didn't quite achieve that goal, this very photo heavy post will show you what a great time the shawl, and our entire family, had!

First, the shawl checked into a hotel...

The next morning, the shawl went to the new (since I moved away, anyway) National Air and Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center, and saw a REAL space shuttle!

Then we headed downtown, where we checked out more museums, and went to our favorite restaraunt in the ENTIRE world. We were so busy eating that we did not take the shawl's photo...but we did remember to snap a pic on the Circulator.

The next day, the shawl got MORE museum action in. At the original Air and Space Museum, it touched a real moon rock!

Then it went next door to the National Museum of the American Indian- my first visit if you can believe it! (Again, it opened AFTER I moved away...) I don't know how the shawl felt, but I was in awe of this place. It's designed stunningly, installed beautifully, and has an amazing cafe.

We all spent the next day at the National Zoo, but it was a billiony-million degrees out with 900% humidity, and I didn't even take the shawl out of my bag... I did get a photo of some giant tortoises having, um, relations, but I'll spare you that.

After we recovered, the next day was Sam's Family day. We started by visiting with my 3 great aunts- the first time they met Henry! Then it was off to see the rest of the family. But first, we stopped for yarn (twice!) and cupcakes! The first yarn destination was Fibre Space- and oh, was it yummy!

Then it visited Knit Happens, owned by a friend of that amazing Cathi Pink! Sadly, they were in the midst of a going out of business sale. Wish we could have seen them in their glory... Holly at Knit Happens helped us choose which of the seemingly dozens of local cupcakeries to try out. We went with Lavender Moon Cupcakery, whose name and decor both won me over. Next, we headed to my Aunt Millie's for what we learned is known as Whacky Wednesday. Aunt Millie (my great aunt) hosts her 2 grandaughters and their assorted 4 kids under the age of 5, along with other assorted relatives! We got to see so much of our family, to watch the kiddos bond, and really connect with a cousin-in-law for the first time, and to have the bittersweet experience of having each and every one of my family individually comment on home much Henry reminded them of my Dad. We were helped past that by the aforementioned cupcakes. Seeing them has really made me miss them all so much more. I don't want to live in DC, not at all, nor in VA, but, I wish my family weren't all so damn far away.