On April 26, 1862 Civil War Cartoon about Union Naval Victories

This Cartoon was printed in Harper's Weekly on April 26, 1862. Cartoonist Justin Howard uses a sports analogy to praise Union admiral Andrew Hull Foote's victories in the Mississippi River campaign.  His capture of Island Number Ten from the Confederates is represented as a game of ten pins (a type of bowling).  Go here to read the complete article about these victories.
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Look What Happened to Iroquois Point Military Housing in Ewa Beach, Hawaii

A friend just sent me this.  These townhouses and duplexes used to be military housing that we lived in when we were stationed in Hawaii back in the late 80s and early 90s.  It is hard to believe that the military built new housing and got rid of these.  We had a great time when we were there and I really would like to go back someday.  You can go to the column on your right and mute the blog's music to listen to this video better.


NOTE:   The video seems to be marked private now. DRAT!!! Here's an article about this place that might interest you: 2,000 Military Homes to go On the Rental Market
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ps--I'm leaving the video thingie here in case they decide not to keep it private.

I Lucked Out: My Thrift Store Find

Today I decided to stop at the local Goodwill thrift store.  I wanted to pick up a few paperbacks since I find it ridiculous to spend the "big bucks" on them at WalMart and other retailers.  I only do that for a select few authors that I really like. I checked out the very small selection of craft-like items.  Usually, I don't have much luck finding crochet patterns or yarn at thrift stores in our area.  Today, however, I lucked out and found a small book of crocheted patterns for afghans at only 50 cents!  Yippee!  Here it is:

Afghans to Crochet (Crochet with Style from Simplicity, 0423)

"Old Timers" Making Lace

Many of us enjoy crocheting gifts for family and friends.  In the days when my grandparents were children, crocheting or tatting was not always a leisurely pursuit but rather a way for women to supplement the family income. Often, they would work in their tenement homes with inadequate light and ventilation.  Here are some photos of a few of these craftswomen that are posted at the Library of Congress site.  The titles of the photos are the original from the LOC.

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Title: Carmela Picciano, 311 E. 149th St., 3[rd] fl[oor] rear. 12 years old. Making Irish lace for collars. Works until 9 P.M. sometimes. Dirty kitchen. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title:  Antoinette Fazzino, ten years old, makes Irish lace for collars and waists after school.  Her younger brother (by the stove) said, "Lace is too dam-cheap."  Antoinette wears glasses. 303 E. 149th Street, New York, New York (State)

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Title: Celina Anzalone, 2264 First Ave., making lace for Cappallino's factory, near by. She said she was doing it only until Christmas. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: A typical view of Carmina Caruso, a ten year old Home Worker as she walks around crocheting as she goes. Location: Somerville, Massachusetts.

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Title: Italian family living 428 E. 116th St., 2 floor back. They were so illiterate I couldn't get their names. Have been in U.S. only one month. Mother is learning to make lace for factory near by. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: Katie (13 years) and Angeline Javella (11 years), 311 E. 149th St. 2[nd] floor front, making cuffs, Irish lace. Income about $1 a week. Said they work some nights until 8 P.M. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: Mrs. Maggie Conte, 428 E. 116th St., top floor makes about $2.00 a week working lace collars, yokes, etc. for Cappellino's factory. Husband is carpenter. Work not steady. Brother-in-law boards with them. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: Mrs. Tony Totore [or Totoro?], 428 E. 116th St. 2nd floor back, makes from $2.00 to $2.50 a week making lace for a Contracter, Mrs. Rosina Schiaffo, 301 E 114th St, 3[rd] floor. Mrs. Sohiaffo, in turn, sends her lace to a manufacturer, M. Weber Co., 230 E 52[nd] St. Husband and two children, 4 and 7 yrs. Old. Mrs. Totoro said, "I rather work for a factory. They pay more." Husband is a cement laborer with irregular work. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: Mrs. Palontona and 13 year old daughter, Michaeline, working on "Pillow-lace" in dirty kitchen of their tenement home, 213 E. 111th Street, 3rd floor. They were both very illiterate. Mother is making fancy lace and girl sold me the piece she worked on. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: Home of Mrs. Rosina Schiaffo[?], 301 East 114th St. 3[rd] floor. She is a Contractor, getting lace from the home-workers in the neighborhood, (woman in black has just brought in some work), and the lace goes to M. Weber Co., a manufacturer, 230 E. 52[nd] Street. On the couch with Mrs. Schiaffo is seven-year-old Millie, who is learning to make lace. Father is a street-cleaner. Another little girl, about seven, was at work on the lave when I came in, but she fled. Location: New York, New York (State)

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Title: 4:00 P.M. Making lace collars at home (usually in kitchen). Mrs. Vencique, 309 E. 110th St., working with baby asleep in lap. Her sister, Tessie Amendola, 15 years old, works all the time. Some days she says she makes over $1.00 a day. At times only $2.00 a week. Been working at it three years. One of them was making lace for a contractor, Marchina, 207 E. 109th St., top floor (in an old dwelling). The other was making lace for factory, P. Cappellino, 401 E. 116th St. Husband is plasterer and "works some." Location: New York, New York (State)

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The above photos were all taken by Lewis Wicke Hine (click on his name for biographical information source). Hine was an American sociologist and documentary-photographer born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, where he studied at the State Normal School, completed courses in drawing and sculpture, and worked in a factory before studying sociology at Chicago University in 1900. A self‐taught photographer, he moved to New York in 1901, becoming an instructor in nature studies and official photographer to the Ethical Culture School. In 1905, informed by his training in sociology, and with his reformist interests sharpened by his experiences at the school, he began using the camera to study social problems by recording the arrival of immigrants at Ellis Island. These images led the National Child Labor Committee to hire him for its campaign to ban child labour in agriculture, the canning and textile industries, mining, and other places progressive reformers regarded as unsafe or morally unfit for children. While working for the NCLC, he completed his master's degree in sociology at Columbia University. He first published his photographs with accompanying text as an essay in Charities and Commons, later better known as Survey magazine, in whose pages his passionate opposition to child labour appeared regularly. Between 1908 and 1918 the NCLC sent Hine throughout the eastern states to document the prevalence of the problem. Using flash-photography techniques pioneered by Jacob Riis, he documented young boys working underground in coal mines in Pennsylvania. Plant managers at southern textile mills tried to exclude him from their premises. Always he accompanied his images, intended for use in posters, pamphlets, lantern lectures, and other NCLC campaign media, with detailed captions describing working conditions, the ages of the children, and, if possible, their wages. Hine also did occasional photographic work for the American Red Cross between 1910 and 1914, and between 1918 and 1920 documented post‐war conditions in the Balkans, Italy, and Greece, images which became part of The Human Cost of War.  Hine began to receive recognition as a photographer rather than simply as a reformer, when his first one‐man show was mounted. He continued to work as a photographer and photo director for Survey and for the Red Cross. Notwithstanding his standing as a reformer and photographer, his experience photographing construction of the Empire State Building, New York 1931, and the work of the Tennessee Valley Authority 1933 and Rural Electrification Administration 1934-1935, Roy Stryker did not hire him for the FSA's monumental documentary photographic effort. Instead Hine became photographic director of the National Research Project of the Works Progress Administration.

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Squares Made for a Crochet Throw

Tonight, I finished the last of the squares for a throw I'm making.  Now I need to sew them all together and then weave in the ends.  I wove in the ends of the squares as I finished them (except for 1 square that got away from me) so there won't be nearly as many ends to weave in.  Although, there will be a lot just from sewing the squares together.  Anyway I made basic granny squares, sometimes smaller ones crocheted together so this isn't a complicated job.  I mentioned before that this was a relatively inexpensive ghan to make.  The burgundy color was a mills end and the grays are from a buy at a Goodwill Store for 50 cents per skein.  A couple squares have centers made from left-over dark reddish color from a previous project.  Here are the squares...

I'm lucky I don't have overnight company expected because these squares have taken over the guest room and bed!  Take care everyone...



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Thunder Over Louisville

This time of the year, an enormous fire works display and air show called Thunder Over Louisville, takes place in Louisville, KY. It kicks off the Kentucky Derby Festival. One of these years I may actually see it in person.  Also, one of these years I may actually go see the Derby too although I'll have to win the lottery to afford decent tickets.  For my friends and readers who, like me, didn't make it there this year, here is a video of a previous display.  We really missed something spectacular!

To better hear this video you may mute the blogs music player that is located in the column on your right.




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Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Here is a pattern for an afghan that is promoted as a Christmas afghan but would be suitable anytime of the year by using  non-Christmas colors.  Afghans seem to promote the coziness of a home and this one looks relatively easy to make.  Enjoy...








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The Chis Looking Out...

DH and one of our sons cut little windows in the privacy fence when they built it.  Here are a few pictures.  Do any of you remember the show Bewitched?  I have nicknamed the chis and my husband the "Kravitz family" after the busybody neighbor on the show.

Inside the fence look at chis' window

Outside look at their window

Nellie Belle and Opi looking out at me

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A Bit of Humor--Duck Style!

I received this in an email and I thought that I would share it with you. It took awhile to locate an embeddable version but I did and here it is. We all need a laugh now and then and I hope this does it for you. Hugs...

Spam Comments on Blog!!!

One of my posts was repeatedly getting spam comments.  It was for the 27th of December and was about the anniversary of Howdy Doody.  I changed the video and still got spam.  So, I deleted the post.  So, if anyone is looking for that post (probably not anyway), it is gone.

Monday's Link for Free Crochet Pattern

Bonus Monday!  Two patterns today:

The first is the Mei-Mei Crochet Jacket.  It is a short jacket, some may call it a shrug, and the pattern has 6 sizes.  


The next pattern is for Gem's Bootie Socks.  Cute socks that you might be able to use as lightweight slippers in the summer.


Happy hooking!

Crab Apple Tree for Barney

I love flowers and I'm getting more and more away from annuals and into flowering bushes, trees and perennials. This is what we planted in memory of Barney.  Here are a couple pics.

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A Cute Round Ripple Baby/Toddler Blanket is Finished!

On the 9th, my entry showed a partial view of one of my wips (work in progress) and I said that I'd let you guess what it is.  No one guessed but I'll show you the completed item anyway.  It is a round ripple blanket almost 48" point to point.  It is a good size to wrap a baby in or cover a toddler up with.  I made this for a baby, gender unknown.  I fussed over the choice of a color to coordinate with the off-white.  I think this should do nicely--not too girlie or too boyish.  Here it is:

And here is a closer look at the edging:

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So What Have I Been Crocheting Lately?

For a while, I haven't posted much on my crochet projects.  There is a reason for that.  The first reason is that I finished a dishcloth and I promised you no more dishcloths for a while.  Honestly, I forgot I had this one almost completed in the bottom of my purse!  You know, it's what I call one of my "purse projects!"  So, here it is:

I've also been making a bunch of granny squares out of burgundy and assorted gray yarns to assemble into a throw for a chair in my living room.  The chair's upholstery is rather blah and I think a nice throw will give it a little pizazz.  Since the yarn is all coming from my stash I haven't had to spend money on this project.  Last fall, the gray yarn was a great buy at only 50 cents a skein at Goodwill!  The burgundy was a mill ends I had gotten sometime ago.  Guess I'm just jabbering away a lot here so I'll just hush-up and post a picture of the squares:

Finally, a sneak peek at another wip (work in progress). Of course, I'll post a completed project sometime soon.  Any guesses on what this might be?  I'm using a 2nd color but I'm not showing that until I'm finished with this project.

Y'all have a great day!  Hugs...Sharon

Happy Easter!

Hope the Easter Bunny brings you lots of yummy chocolate!  Wishing you a blessed day with your family and friends.  Hugs....Sharon
p.s.--to hear this without the blog's music playing over it, scroll down the column on your right and mute the music player.

The Bread Revolt

Virginia governor John L. Letcher

On 02 April 1863, the Bread Revolt took place in Richmond, VA when the governor refused to meet with women who were desperate because of spiraling inflation and the inability of working families to afford food and other necessities.  The new tax laws didn't help this situation.  The women attacked and looted local businesses. This took place during the Civil War.