Socks, socks, sock-socks, sock-socks.

I currently have that terrible LMFAO song stuck in my head, only I'm pretty sure it would appeal to more people if it were actually about knitting.  Because I'm making....

Socks, socks, sock-socks, sock-socks...EVERY BODY!!

I've never made socks before.  Can you tell I'm excited?  And this yarn is super amusing.  See how the stripes just grow on their own accord?

Magic!

FO: An Annoying Hat

You should not take the following as complaint.  The pattern was easy enough (TBL's Lotus Hat: clear instructions, nice charts), I like the color of the yarn, Cascade 220 is nice to knit with.  Should have been a snap.

But no matter how closely I followed the pattern, I kept ending up with the wrong number of stitches.  No matter how many times I counted my stitches, I kept ending up with two or three extra little buggers at the end of every row (not that I let that stop me....I just fudged it and pretended like the pattern covered my laziness).  Not only that, I did an extra repeat of the pattern and it STILL ended up looking like an itty-bitty elf hat.

So instead of trekking to the North Pole to find a potential wearer, I ripped it back and tried again.

Success!

A hat.  This is right when I finished, before blocking.

This is after I gave it a bath.  Isn't it cool how different it looks?  How much prettier and well-organized?

Sent it off to its new owner last week.  Hopefully she likes the color blue...

Happy Anniversary

Taking a break from knitting for a moment.  Today I am blogging in support of NARAL's Blog For Choice Day, answering the question:

What will you do to help elect pro-choice candidates in 2012?

Today is the 39th Anniversary of the Supreme Court's decision in Roe v. Wade that affirmed women's right to have an abortion.  As a doula, it means more to me than just that.  It's the anniversary of the affirmation that women can be trusted to make decisions about their own reproductive health, including when, how, and if they have kids.

In 2008, I worked for EMILY's List helping to elect pro-choice, Democratic women in Iowa.  I was on the ground talking to voters and other candidates and supporting EMILY's List candidates and President Obama.  I learned that electing pro-choice candidates is one of the best ways to ensure our right to make the reproductive health decisions that are right for us.  Elected officials are the people who introduce and enact legislation that make it so rape victims don't have to pay for their own rape kits (that law JUST passed in GA this year....jeesh), who ensure insurance coverage for women for contraception and maternity care, who grant federal funds to clinics that provide family planning services to low income women, and who stop the violence against health care providers who provide services that women and their families want and need.

This year it is just as important to me to elect pro-choice candidates.  More and more states are considering "personhood amendments" which would give rights to a fetus at conception.  That would put certain birth control options that stop implantation but not fertilization (like the IUD or emergency contraception), as well as in vitro fertilization, at risk and make it difficult for women who are trying to prevent pregnancy as well as those who really want kids to access health care.  "Conscience clauses" allow providers to refuse routine medical services to women because they have moral objections to the choices made by women, their families and their physicians.  My clients are facing C-sections and inductions they don't want because of policies that are outdated and not based on science.

This stuff makes me mad and sad and sick and makes me want to do something about it.

So, I am working at the Feminist Women's Health Center and participating in their Voice Beyond Choice Advocacy Days at the GA State Capital.  I will get to learn about what my Reps think about pro-choice legislation and to let them know that I will not vote for someone who doesn't care about the rights of the 1 in 3 US women who will seek an abortion in their lifetimes.

I will be making donations to the candidates that do support reproductive rights and speaking out against those that do not.

And I will be talking to my friends and family about what being pro-choice and electing pro-choice candidates means to me.

If you want more information, I encourage you to check out these organizations and to get involved in the 2012 election cycle:

EMILY's List
NARAL Pro-Choice America
Planned Parenthood Action Center

Sq*****l Appreciation Day

Today is the Appreciation Day for those evil creatures who shall not be named.  Need to know how to celebrate?




From the Washington Post.

Tips on how to celebrate from the National Wildlife Federation.

A photoshop competition from the Huff Post.

And some helpful factoids from Mother Nature Network.

Weekend Update: Back in the ATL

I survived the first week back to school.  But first, my bestie came for a visit.  We went to the CNN Center:

This is the news room.  There are several hundred researchers who focus on different topic or areas of the world.  They discover news and then send it over to that big red desk in the background where it is edited and sent to the news casters.  The average turn-around time is in minutes, not hours.

Jha met Anderson Cooper.

I added to my collection of JoAnna Hugging Statutes of Older White Men (seriously, I have a reputation).  This is  Baron Pierre De Coubertin, considered the father of the modern Olympics, in the Olympic Centennial Park.

This is John Pemberton.  He founded Coca-Cola.  He's in front of the Coke Museum (World of Coca-Cola).

 The rest of my week was WAY less exciting.

Back to School

I head back to Atlanta tomorrow for round 2 of Law School Kicking My Butt.  On tap for this semester:  Constitutional Law, Property, Administrative Law, Criminal and more Legal Writing, Research, and Advocacy. 

My bestie is meeting me at the airport and keep me from panicking about having to go back to doing homework after three glorious weeks of food, napping, and pleasure-reading.  We will probably be doing some cooking, a visit to the puppetry museum and a tour of CNN. 

And then....some reading in preparation for Monday.  Sigh....

Holiday Recap: Part 2

Almost everyone got knitted items for their gifts this year.  Mostly hats.

My mom, her friend, my sister, and Nate.

Nate's and my mom's friend's were my own basic hat pattern.  Nate's is from the same wool as My First Sweater.  My sister's hat was the best, I think.

The hat is Simpatico! by Grace Mrowicki...nice cables.  Cascade EcoWool in Black.  I added the tassels without knowing how so they are my own design

Janey is nuts.  My understanding is that this look (as well as words like "wicked" and "sick") means she likes the hat.

My mom has big hair, so I gave her a big hat to fit on top.

It's a Shroom hat like the other million I've made this year.

My mom's birthday is on the 25th, too.  I gave her My First Sweater.  She looks a heck of a lot better in it than I did.  I'm glad she will wear it more often than I would have.  The weather in Atlanta wasn't quite cold enough.

I was wearing my Never-Ending Sweater.  All kinds of wool happening this holiday.

Happy New Year!