So many of us never thought we would see the day when someone of mixed race would occupy the "White" House. Even more, I feared I'd never see a man or woman of intellect and insight take that role after Cheney/Bush/Rove. May the Bush Team rot in hell. For the first time, I wave an American flag outside my window.
We've turned a big corner. Maybe America has grown up--we'll see. I hope Obama and the Democrats can save our butts from the ruin the Republicans have made of our country. We as a nation let them ruin it and hopefully never will again. If we can get national healthcare--at last--then I think our country will have really evolved in a major way. And America can prosper, economically and culturally.
To the rug:
Last year, I found many rolls of denim cloth cut about 1-1/2 inches wide at my favorite "art shop"--SCRAP on Toland in SF. I'd been wanting to knit a rag rug, but so many rag rugs look, well, raggedy. Not worth all that work.
I got the denim (about $10) and washed the fabric strips first which created huge tangles but fringed and fluffed the edges of the fabric nicely (the cloth was cut on the grain, not the bias). Using huge needles (#15), I knitted this up in a LINEN STICH@ which creates a firm, non-stretchy surface. It took months, but the rug has been a success, keeping my grandbabies warm from the freezing wooden floors in my house. The rug looks handmade and a little funky but not raggedy. Size of the denim rug is about 46" by 42". I handsewed the strips together with denim thread.
I've done a few smaller rugs with stretch polyester and cotton strips for my kitchen and bathroom and they are okay too, though the knit stitch makes the borders a little uneven. These smaller rugs wash perfectly in my machine.
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@LINEN STITCH: CO even number of stitches. Row 1: *K1, slip 1 with yarn in front. Repeat from * across, ending with a K1. Row 2: *P1, slip 1 with yarn in back. Repeat from * across, ending w P1. Repeat these two rows for pattern. When slipping stitches, always slip as if to purl.
The BEST part is that these can all be washed in a machine. For the large denim rug, I'll take it to the laundromat and toss it in the big $5 machine. It will probably take forever to dry, but grow softer with age. Right now I vacuum this rug and it comes up soft and clean.
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My life otherwise in short has been: anxiety; election elation; more bodily maintenance issues; work work work; a few days off here and there; knitting; planning; seeing various doctors for foot, hand, brain; kids on the weekend (the now 3-year old is potty trained at last, the nearly 6-year old lovelier than ever); more anxiety; worry; aging mellowly often: books on tape; day trips inland (I hate to be away from the sea); work work work.
Here's to the future:
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