We Stand With Arizona, and Against Illegal Immigration - Petition - Sign this petition here - Signature page - GoPetition

We Stand With Arizona, and Against Illegal Immigration - Petition - Sign this petition here - Signature page - GoPetition

April socks

Well, here are my April socks. As with all self patterning yarn, getting the two socks to match exactly is extremely difficult. Usually I settle for just getting the color bands in the same order, although sometimes I just let them be different and have people wondering what I was doing in my sock drawer that morning.
This pair caused me to start the second sock over twice because the swirly patterns were so fancy or loud or garish or whatever, I figured no one would ever wear them if I didn't at least get them to almost match. Except for one band, I think I did pretty well, but I almost drove myself nuts getting that second sock. In fact, I think it's safe to say that I nearly had a case of terminal SSS

Tea Parties

Spent a couple of hours on Thursday evening in Laishley Park in Punta Gorda, FL, exercising my constitutional right to make my opinions heard. We had about 1200 people there through the evening, and it was a very lively, well behaved group. We even had a few folks who were of a different opinion, complete with signs, which is fine. Nobody bothered anybody else.

I hear and read a great deal about the anger of the tea party crowd, and the nation in general, but in all honesty, I didn't think that was the predominating emotion. Yes there is anger and frustration - and not just among conservatives - but the tone of the proceedings was positive. The Contract from America was introduced and most of us signed it. There was prayer, patriotic music and a sense of "this is what Americans do when they disagree with the government".

We were priviliged to hear from several candidates for governer, who may or may not ever speak to a larger audience. They were treated cordially and spoke from the heart. My personal favorite was a candidate who was born in Cuba and has seen the worst that government can bring to it's people. He encouraged people to teach their children about the Constitution and the Bible. I couldn't agree more.

I've posted the 2 pics I took, plus several I recieved from my son, who attended the Tea Party in Diablo Stadium in Arizona. They had about 7000 there, but then this is a much smaller area.

For all the criticism leveled at the Tea Party activists and the Obama administration - the two sides in all of this - there is a positive. The American people are dusting off the Constitution and reading it. That can only be a good thing. An informed public is much more likely to seek solutions that are true to American values than an ignorant public. Good people can disagree on how to go about many things, but God help us if we base our decisions on anything other than the foundation our Founders - who often disagreed with one another - gave us. For myself, I remain an unapologetic conservative.

Wow it's the middle of April

Well, it's already April 14th and I haven't posted my March socks yet. My excuse is that it's been a busy time. We had an exceptionally rainy month down here in Sunny Florida, although it was nothing like the MidAtlantic and my home turf of New England. This is one Connecticut Husky praying for the folks in Rhode Island.

This is normally our dry season and frankly the rain helps me to remember just why cold and rainy is awful, and warm and rainy feels so good. But it was an excellent excuse to catch up on reading and knit up a pair of LOUD socks. Definitely cheers ya up.

I recieved a few very positive comments about my quilt. Thanks for that. It was clearly a one shot project. I don't think I'll ever do it again, but in the process I created a family heirloom - I hope.

So now I am working on my April socks - 3/4 done - and a gift for a friend. One thing I have learned about self-patterning sock yarn: It is nearly impossible to get the socks to match perfectly. The bands of color, yes, but the little swirly stuff, no. Usually I don't even bother trying except to get the bands in the same order. But my current project has forced me to restart twice to get the decorative parts at least close, because it's such a riot of color that it would look like a train wreck any other way and I'd be embarrassed - they are a gift. Anyway, hope to have them done and posted in a couple of days.

Tomorrow night I will be in Punta Gorda for the Tax Day Tea Party, as well as to support the Florida teachers in their fight to have SB 6 vetoed. As a former teacher, I really feel it's unfair to base teacher pay and advancement on student tests. We have all had bad classes, uncooperative students and parents who fight us every step of the way. Enough said. Hopefully I'll have a few pictures to post from all of this