MarQ1

As the purple hat for J was not particularly successful, I made another.

The wool is Debbie Bliss merino dk, knit on a #4 Addi Turbo circ and Inox dpn’s. The diagonals are twisted stitches as per Barbara Walker’s method. They carry up into the decreases to form a spiral in the crown.

The color is closer to actual here, but it does make the detail harder to see.

In other news, I went to work yesterday happier than I’ve been in a long while, not because of work or because I have today and tomorrow off, but because the Republicans lost on Tuesday. You know that it’s bad when the Democrats can’t screw up an election.

How could anyone not vote when there’s actually a candidate named Weiner? (sounds just like you think.)

Today is Primary Day in NYC, the second Tuesday after Labor Day. This is also the first real business day after summer, Monday being a catch-up day for many. Four years ago, Primary Day was a beautiful, clear day when I went to the polling site on my way to work. Then the towers fell, and who cared what the day was like?

Today is a beautifully clear day also, but warmer, and I voted, but I did not go to work. Just a sense of dread, nothing more.

If I were President, Tuesday afternoon, Wednesday morning at the latest, I would have been in New Orleans, with aid workers in my wake, water or no water. Vacation shmation. My Vice President and Secretaries of State, Treasury, Commerce, Defense, etc. would be hitting up all their friends in Industry and Commerce and Finance for beaucoups of charitable support. The military would have been mobilized at alarming, but justifiable cost.

Of course, I’d have a military to call out and a third of the equipment and the National Guard probably would not have been in Iraq.

And I hope I would have funded the flood prevention needs of the Delta, and considered one of our major ports a security necessity.

Given the number of oil and gas concerns that were shut down by Katrina, I’m surprised the Administration didn’t act more prophylactively. It speaks more to stupidity than cold-heartedness, but I’m guessing this disaster took a lot of both.

When the terrorists brought the World Trade Center towers down on 11 Sept four years ago, a lot of people supported the Administration and its president, saying Gore would not have responded as well. To that: B***S***.

To say that Gore or Kerry would have responded so late or so cold-heartedly or so WHITEly as this Admin or its president to the New Orleans disaster is unconscionable. The Administration and its president are not criminally liable or impeachable, but they should be. Tax cuts. Budget cuts. BS. Lives, human lives.

Who the f**k thinks flying over New Orleans at a safe altitude constitutes sympathy and an appropriate response? I expected no less from DAFT (Dumb Ass From Texas), but I am so disappointed. Disappointed? Where was DAFT on Tuesday? I’m so glad he abandoned his Vacation. I FEEL SO MUCH SAFER NOW.

We had a good 4th of July, nice and lazy, appreciating the comfort our liberty affords. Tried not to consider too often those in our own country who don’t give a damn about our liberty or anyone else’s but their own.

Had a spectacular bike ride, as previously mentioned.

The weather couldn’t have been better. J and I had an early, lazy dinner at LuluC on Smith St (earlier than old people early: 4:30pm) and took a nice walk down Smith St. after. On the walk back, we saw a sign for apple mojitos at Quench, a cool (usually mixed) bar also on Smith St, and had to stop in. They were really, really good. We watched the throngs–thinly spaced throngs–headed up north on Smith St to Atlantic Ave and over to the waterfront to watch the Macy’s fireworks. We saw two guys headed the opposite direction, each with a salad bowl, to a some party to celebrate the Fourth.

Finished the apple mojitos and headed home to relax.

Followed by Six Feet Under, which isn’t relaxing. It’s so family-oriented.

This would be a reasonable facsimile of lace, I hope. Try not to look too closely. The knit side’s not to bad, but the WS purl side’s killing me.

Gearing up into my hyperactive I-have-to-get-ready-for-vacation mode, where I make lists of absolutely everything I buy, do or pack, and make my spouse want to kill me, I’ve been considering what I might want to knit while away. The baby afghan is not vacation material. A sock or two? Maybe. Practice lace? Probably. Something simple and stockinette? Why not?

It’s probably too late to start a beach hat.

In other words, I haven’t decided yet, and as a result, I wound every bit of yarn I might possibly want to take with me, far more than would ever make it out of the suitcase. Feza kid mohair in a soft grey (practically invisible on Inox needles, btw), 250m. The two hanks of Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Camouflage, 215 yds x 2. The Kaalund Yarns kid mohair lace-weight in “Mulberries” (what a h*ll that was to unwind, twisted and turned back on itself), 460m. And the absolute pinnacle, the acme of ball-winding: the hank of “Soft Coral” Grignasco Marinosilk. 1400m/1533yds. For the Grignasco, I pulled up a chair. I stopped for refreshment three times. The resulting ball still fits into a one-pint Chinese take-out soup container. Lovely stuff, but I can’t think of anyone it would look good on, and it would be too much work for those I’d want it to look bad on. I need to find a needy drag queen.

Before I started this post, I watched Knottyboy’s latest, and found myself speaking Texan again (to myself, of course), which is odd because I don’t think I’ve ever had much of an accent. Same thing happens every time I have a conference call with my fellow employees in Texas. It can take hours (ah-ers) to get back to normal.

At 12:30am, I smell smoke outside my window. I hope it’s a late barbecue and not someone’s apartment.

Happy Independence Day, everyone. Let’s hope we can keep our freedom another year.