Extremely unnatural fibers

This is turning out to be one of my Greatest Hits of Needlework:

So you are probably thinking: "What the hell is that?" Well, it's a shopping bag crocheted out of recycled grocery bags, duh! We use it as a swim bag when we go to the pool, and I sometimes take it to the Farmer's Market or Sun Harvest. It holds a ton of stuff. Believe it or not, people keep trying to buy it from us. It's so ugly people just assume it must have a Higher Purpose, which it sort of does, in that it uses up all those plastic bags I never get around to recycling.

I'm thinking I might sell a few as a fundraiser for Sun Dragon. Austin is such a great town--people like the weirdest stuff.

The gods are smiling

Yes, friends, not only did this week mark the end of a freelance project that has eaten my life--we also have the following:

1) Karl Rove testifies for the fifth time. Apparently his defense is "I wouldn't have knowingly lied to you, because I was sure to get caught if I did." The problem with this (aside from the fact that it's a circular argument) is that when Karl first testified (i.e., perjured himself), he was pretty sure he'd get away with it. Why? Because John Ashcroft was still leading the investigation at that point:

All throughout late-2003 (when Ashcroft was still heading the investigation), the White House had reason to believe that the Plame investigation was not going to seek the testimony of reporters. Recall, special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald was not even appointed until the beginning of 2004. The Philadelphia Inquirer reported it wasn’t until 2004 that journalists were contacted to testify.

The evidence suggests that when Rove testified in October 2003, he did not believe Matt Cooper would be ultimately be forced to testify against him in July 2005.

It wasn't until Fitzgerald came in, and called Cooper to testify, that Rove suddenly had his memory restored.

2) Neil Young releases his anti-war album (be patient--free downloading started today), and Merle Haggard (Merle Haggard!) releases an anti-war single.

3) The WSJ adds hookers to the Duke Cunningham scandal, and Harper's sees their hookers and raises them one Porter Goss:

The Wall Street Journal reported today that indicted former California Congressman Randall "Duke" Cunningham may not have limited his good times to partying on a rented yacht. It turns out the FBI is currently investigating two defense contractors who allegedly provided Cunningham with free limousine service, free stays at hotel suites at the Watergate and the Westin Grand, and free prostitutes.

The two defense contractors who allegedly paid most of the bills, said the Journal, were Brent Wilkes, the founder of ADCS Inc., and Mitchell Wade, the founder of MZM Inc.; both firms profited greatly from their connections with Cunningham. The Journal also suggested that other lawmakers might be implicated. I've learned from a well-connected source that those under intense scrutiny by the FBI are current and former lawmakers on Defense and Intelligence comittees—including one person who now holds a powerful intelligence post.

4) And there are fewer than 1000 days left in the bush presidency! Start planning your parties now.

Unnatural fibers

Remember this pattern, which I was foolishly attempting to re-create in non-eye-searing colors?

Here's how that worked out:

It's two sizes too big, because kids grow. It's even a little less bright than the flash would suggest in this photo, so all in all I'm satisfied. The neck doesn't fit quite like I'd want it to, but hey, it's crochet, it doesn't take kindly to the human form. I actually scaled down the ribbing a bit, since the pattern called for two full inches and that was way too much. I mean, ribbing is fun to do in crochet (this was the first time I'd done it) but that doesn't mean people want to look at yards and yards of it. Also, I had to do the buttonholes twice, and they still don't work quite right--I don't know if this is my fault or something inherent to crochet and acrylic--the buttonhole band seems to pucker a bit no matter what I do.

I made the cloche because I had yarn left over, and my daughter looks nice in in a cloche.

After the cotton yarn I just used in the bright sweater, the acrylic was . . . different. You do feel like you can haul away on it and nothing bad will happen to it. Single crochet is already pretty dense though, so this project feels more like a jacket than a sweater.

Verdict: I may do another sewater in acrylic sometime, if I find a pattern that intrigues me, or some yarn I like. But it will probably not be a pullover; acrylic is so damn hot my theory is you're going to need some air in there.