Blue Baby Pullover

I knit this for a friend who is having a baby boy. The yarn is a cotton I got from Italy, I used about 70 gr of it. The pattern is Knitting Pure and Simple Baby Pullover # 214.

Lu

Article the other side will deny for years

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

From Hitler to Pinochet and beyond, history shows there are certain steps that any would-be dictator must take to destroy constitutional freedoms. And, argues Naomi Wolf, George Bush and his administration seem to be taking them all

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2064157,00.html

By Naomi Wolf.

Scary stuff. Sinclair Lewis once said that when fascism came to America it would be wrapped in a flag and carrying a cross. Well, guess what?

And elsewhere I've got some rabid right-wingers telling me that "terrorists" don't have rights, to which I respond that if they don't neither do we. Unfortunately, these people just don't get it. I'd post this article at these places, but...see how I titled this.

Best "Letter to the Editor" response to the Supreme Court's meddling with women's health

From the NY Times Letters to the Editor:

To the Editor:

Re “A Sharp Turn for the Supreme Court on Abortion” (letters, April 20):

I am a rheumatologist caring for a patient whose lupus nephritis is flaring. Her creatinine is rising as her platelet count falls, and she has failed to improve with pulse methylprednisolone and intravenous cyclophosphamide. I am contemplating using rituximab. I would like to refer this case to the United States Supreme Court for its guidance.

Richard Zweig, M.D.
Santa Rosa, Calif., April 20, 2007

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/24/opinion/l24abortion.html

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I don't know this guy, but I think I love him...

If you think that global warming is a scary prospect, check out this movie, "The End of the Suburbia." I just watched it today and while it does have a bit of that propaganda-film doomsday thing going on, it really does address some serious issues that are on the horizon for the world and especially countries like the US.

Specifically, it's about the idea of "peak oil", which is a theory that eventually oil production in the world will reach a peak output before beginning a slow, permanent decline. As with any theory, there are differing arguments about when or even if this would really happen. But many experts seem to think that we may already be at peak oil or that we will be very soon.

This film shows how our society and economy is totally dependent upon not just fossil fuels but on relatively inexpensive fossil fuels. And of course, we are not just dependent on it to fuel our cars, which is the image that most people get in their minds about oil dependency. Our entire food growing and distribution system hinges on cheap oil (to drive farm machinery, to pump water for irrigation, to create pesticides, to send the produce to factories for processing, to get the final product to the grocery store). Heating, cooking, even a good deal of household electricity comes from oil or natural gas. Heck, just look around wherever you're sitting right now and look at all the items made of plastic. Those are all created from petroleum too. And these items are delivered by trucks fueled by diesel driven on roads made of asphalt (which contains oil).

So, if we do actually reach a peak in oil capacity we will begin to see a growing gap, year after year, between the ever-increasing energy demands of society versus the amount able to be produced. Obviously, this would put a severe crimp on economic growth and most likely would throw the country and the world into a pretty serious depression. The scariest part is that there is no known alternative energy source that could easily take the place of the fossil fuels. The film explains how the hype about hydrogen is completely ridiculous (hydrogen cells being only an energy-storage method that still needs a traditional fuel source to create), as is ethanol/biofuel (probably every square foot of farm land in this country would have to be dedicated to fuel production to make enough energy, and it still takes traditional fuels to refine plants into biofuel).

The movie concludes with some ideas for the future, mainly that we will likely have to return to a more pedestrian-based, urban lifestyle. It also appears that the producers of the film are making a sequel with more ideas on how to prepare for the possibility of peak oil. But, it is pointed out in the film that the political will simply does not exist for the huge steps that would need to be taken to prepare.

Many of the issues in the movie were ones I was already familiar with, as someone who works in the environmental field. But this movie laid out the peak oil theories in a clear and concise way that really captured my interest, and without being excessively dramatic (in my opinion). If you're interested in environmental and economic issues, I would recommend checking out this film and let me know what you think of it!

Made it back

Whew! I finally made it back. I got dropped from the list when Blogger switched, and I just now got everything set up to get back and post.

So far this year I've made 3 blue items; a sweater for my daughter, a jacket for me, and a pair of socks for me (I've also done the Hourglass sweater in - gasp!! - a nice shade of red, but I need colors in my wardrobe other than black and blue; I look like a walking bruise most days :) ). Alas, I'm still woefully inept with the digital camera and don't have pics to share with everyone yet. I'll figure this out eventually.

I just started a summery top using Nashua's Natural Focus Ecologie Cotton, and that yarn is a dream! I had been drooling over it for a couple months, since my favorite not-so-local yarn shop got it in, and I broke down and bought the yarn on Monday and started the top the same day. I normally don't like working with cotton, but the colors were so neat I made an exception. I also plan to finish the lacy cardigan I was making last summer when I was in the hospital for a week; amazing just how much knitting one can get done when one can't go out and do anything else. I just need to do the sleeves...oh, and decide whether it's worth ripping out half of one of the fronts 'cause I didn't do the decreases properly, and the shoulder patterns on front and back don't line up properly. Oh heck, who am I trying to kid? I'm such a perfectionist when it comes to knitting that of course I'll rip it out. I may rip that entire front piece and do it over to make sure I do it right.

I'll likely be making a political post in the near future, too. Got a lot of righteous indignation built up here, but I want to make sure I can handle being put on a terrorist watch list for merely expressing my opinion first (and with that I'd like to extend a hearty "heya!" to any NSA, CIA, FBI, etc., people who may be reading this right now) Ah, it's good to be back :)

our "culture" misses the point.....

I found this link (click here) on another blog yesterday.

It’s a long article from the Washington Post about an episode where Joshua Bell stood in a Metro Station in Washington DC and played. Long, but well worth the read.

It’s sad our entire "culture" is so busy that we never stop to see or hear anything beautiful. And we're systematically desensitizing our children to it by taking away the arts and music programs.

We say we are in Iraq to give them the kind of free society that we have, but in truth we are becoming more and more savage each year.

Our economy is so broken at the bottom end that many cannot see beyond “how will I make the next dollar to feed/house/clothe my family” (not to even mention the horrors of medical care).

We harp on more science and math while we ship all the jobs that use those skills out of the country.

And along the way we squash out of our children the joy of art and of music.

Sad, sad, that a line from Mr. Holland’s Opus is even more true…..”pretty soon there isn’t anything to read and write about”

I think I notice this even more now that I am no longer part of corporate America (thank God!), and I spend a lot of my time making art and seeing how hard it is for an artist to be noticed.

Let us hope that we will be wise enough to elect someone that will begin to turn this around.

Something Borrowed, Something BLUE!

Yes people, I finally finished something blue, yay!

All but one arm was knit in a week. I had to wait for my income tax money to be deposited so I could order a 4th ball to finish the 2nd sleeve and that came last week. This is going to the daughter of my downstairs neighbor since she, my neighbor, has watched Peanut on a few hours notice when he was suspended and such. I hope to take a picture of her in it soon, but the jacket will be big on her considering she is going on 10months of age and this was sized for a 1-2 year old. (I knew I wouldn't finish it until now when the weather has gotten warmer so I sized it to last through next winter at least; kids grow like weeds you know.)

So thus, my first finished blue project of the year!

Specifics
Brand: Sirdar
Type: "Snuggly Bubbly" Yarn
Color: Bluebell
Yardage: 4 balls = 140yards each
Needles: 5 for body, 3 for edging

Also posted on my blog.

Frustration Continues to Mount

I would like to echo Farrah's outrage of 3/21.

This administration has been caught in so many lies, had so many of their evil deeds revealed, had connections that they thought well buried brought out into the antiseptic light of day and....nothing. No consequences. No repercussions.

Gee, why don't we open the door to more corruption like theirs by showing that the American people and our democratically elected leaders have no backbone whatsoever?

Ugh. So.Outraged.

My First Blue!

I know I am a woefully bad Democrat knitter. This is the first blue project I have started since this KAL began! Oh well, better late than never.

I am making a pair of plain old stockinette socks from this:

Piece of Beauty, Boathouse.

I also just received this from The Loopy Ewe. Can't wait to get started on it. Maybe a pair of Jaywalkers...

Yarn Pirate, Clementine.

The race is about WHAT?

Is it just me, or did anyone else find it disturbing that how much money each candidate has raised is bigger news that what any of them stand for?

I realize that it takes money to run a campaign, but is anyone listening to what any of them are saying about ISSUES? (and if ever there was an issue that needed to be addressed, it seems to be campaign funding)

More and more I like what I hear Biden saying....

Baby Sweater

Hello,
I'm a new member here & first off want to just say *hi* (waves from the back). I'm Rae & I have a knitting store & blog. If this entry seems odd at some points it's probably because I cross posted it on my blog...
Politically I've been wanting to hide under a rock for the last 6 years. When the Democrats regained control of both houses last fall I began to see a new hope... Plus several of the Democratic Presidential Hopefuls actually look like viable candidates & seem to be people ( I love that I now get to say people rather than Christian white males) I would trust our Country to. So, when I found a Kal for democratic knitters & then found Franklin's super cute baby democratic sweater I knew I just had to join in.

I'm trying out a nice new yarn from Debbie Bliss, Rialto. It's a machine washable 100% superfine merino DK weight. Very scrumptious. For the blue I'm using Lana Grossa Cool Wool Big. I have several shades of blue in the Rialto, but none of them quite matched right with the fabulous red.

I decided to use Franklin's chart, but use a slightly different base sweater. I'm basically using the Striped Sweater from Debbie Bliss Simply Baby (sans stripes... at least on the front).

I really like this style of baby sweater with buttons on either the shoulder or on a raglan seam. I totally get how this is much easier to force a wiggling baby into. I may add in a little US flag on either the back or on a sleeve cuff. Or maybe play with the stripes in the original pattern. Or maybe just leave the rest of the sweater white with blue trim. Luckily the front is first so I have some time to decide...