Allow Me to Introduce... the Deco Sock(s)

I know there are a lot of pictures, but Mr. T isn't here to take pictures for me, so I put in as many of my bad ones as I could to help you see the sock better. The motif runs up the outside of the foot and leg. Each side mirrors each other, as does each sock. Pictures do not do this sock justice at all. I finally broke down and invested in Knit Visualizer, which was great fun to use. I've used other design software in the past, including Sweater Wizard and Stitch and Motif Maker, but Knit Visualizer definitely has S&MM beat. I entered one side of the pattern, copied, pasted, hit "mirror horizontal," and I was done! It was easy to use, and I like how it includes a stitch legend with each pattern. Now that it has color, it's going to be a real staple of mine. I'm incredibly pleased with how the pattern turned out. It was fun to knit, too. When Mr. T is around for more than 5 minutes, I'll have him take better pictures, so you can see the stitch detail more clearly.

Just What is an I Master, Anyway?

There are three boys named Will on our street -- big Will, who's in 7th grade, Will (formerly little Will), who's in first grade with Jr. Jr., and little Will, who's about 3. Big Will told Sr. Jr. a joke yesterday, which Sr. Jr. decided to repeat at the dinner table. The aim of the joke is to get the jokee to say, "I master bait." Given Sr. Jr.'s disgust at some of the "boy talk" he's been hearing from his friends, I was surprised that he would repeat this joke 1) at the dinner table; and b) in front of his younger brother. I told him that the joke was not appropriate, and he looked at me and said, "What's an I Master? Why is it inappropriate?" Now, Sr. Jr. is 10 1/2 and in 5th grade. We've had "the talk" with him and he's had Family Life at school. I looked at him really closely to see if he was just yanking my chain, but he really didn't seem to get why the joke was inappropriate dinner table conversation. Later, I asked him if he knew what masturbation was, and he said he didn't! (How did we miss that in our talks?) I explained it to him, briefly, and his response was "Eeeeeeew, yuck."

I told him that I fully expected that I'd have to knock on his bedroom door every time it was closed when he was a teenager :)

Hillary Clinton Needs To STHU

I've been watching as Hillary Clinton really ratchets up her attacks on Barack Obama. All she's doing is repelling this voter. How about you? She seems desperate, calculating, and clinical. And Obama's refusal to get down to her level makes him seem more gentlemanly and statesman-like, in my opinion. Obama's criticisms of her health care plan are nothing new. In fact, I asked the very same question in this here little ole blog, long ago. How do you mandate health care coverage without providing for some sort of penalty for people who fail to comply? How can you justify penalizing people who are forced to choose between food and rent and health insurance?Unless you're doing an outright national health care plan, in which every American citizen is automatically enrolled, you're going to run into trouble. If there's no penalty for not complying with something, it's no longer mandatory. It's a question I have yet to hear her answer, even when asked about it directly in a debate. For her to come out crying "Shame" right before primaries she's got to win to stay in the race just makes me roll my eyes. I don't know what effect it's having on voters in Ohio and Texas, but polls have her once-formidable lead in those states shrinking fast.

I talked to my neighbor the Hillary campaign worker yesterday morning. She had lots of stories to tell, which I will not repeat because I didn't ask her permission. However, she was dead certain that Hillary would end up with the nomination. "Oh, she'll win it," she said, "but it will be bloody."

There really seems to be a disconnect between Hillary's campaign and reality right now. Do they honestly think they have a chance of winning the nomination? Obviously, they do. Is it really a possibility? Of course it is, but the question is how likely a possibility? What would have to be done to achieve that goal? Can she win the nomination, but only by hurting herself and the Democratic party? Does she want to win the nomination so badly that she'd sacrifice the general election?

There was an article mirroring my thoughts this morning in the Washington Post. Two of Clinton's high level campaign staffers, including Ickes, met with reporters at the Post to discuss the issues. The reporter noted that either the campaign was in deep denial, or was disastrously, and dangerously attempting to win at all costs.

Personally, I don't know how much of a chance Hillary has to pull this out. I never thought I'd have anything much nice to say about Mitt Romney, but his recognition that it was time to pull out of the race with honor, to elevate party over person, was the right thing to do for the Republicans, even if many of them did not agree at the time.

I know there are people out there reading this from Texas (in addition to Kippi) and Ohio. I'd love to hear what you have to say. What are you and the people around you feeling about the Clinton/Obama race at this point?