Love animals? Believe whole heartedly in animal rights? Of course you do, you're a knitting liberal. Still have an irrepressible hankerin' to have an animal head on your wall?

Check out Girl Savage's Feltidermy

John Edwards is officially dropping out. Looks like the so-called moderates will be representing the Democratic Party in the general election yet again. Will this formerly losing tactic work in November?

Oh yeah, Guliani is dropping out too. Ho hum.

I just received a newsflash from Garden State Equality pointing me to Current, where Al Gore has posted a short video unequivocally supporting gay rights.

According to Garden State Equality, with this statement, the "Former Vice President,...became the highest-ranking public figure in the United States to endorse marriage equality for same-sex couples."

Someone give this man a(nother) Nobel Prize, please.

I know I just joined this blog and now I'm posting two days in a row, but I just got this e-mail and I can't keep it to myself:

WAM! (Women, Action & the Media) Conference
March 28 - 30 at MIT in Cambridge, MA

Some of the panel sessions include:

• Can Blogging Help End Racism? 
• Beating the Old Boys’ Club
• Cleavage, Cackles and Cookies: Analyzing News Coverage of Hillary Clinton and the 2008 Presidential Election
• Conscious Women Rock the Page: Using Hip Hop Fiction to Incite Feminist Action
• Do It Yourself New Media: Creating and Maintaining a Viable Internet Presence
• Immigration in the U.S.: The Women’s Rights Crisis Feminists Aren’t Talking About

... and soooo many more.  Honestly, I don't know how I'll be able to choose between them all.  As you can see, there is also a strong blogger & internet presence throughout the sessions.  It costs $145 to register ($45 for students), which is on the low end as far as conference fees go.  But if you volunteer for the event, doing 4-5 hours of work a day, you can attend for free.  I think that's what I may have to do.  Plus, it's sponsored by some names that make me giddy - Dollars & Sense, Bitch Magazine, Feministing.  I hope to see some of you there!

The presidential primary elections are all the buzz these days! I vote, but I admit I've never voted in a presidential primary (though I have voted in state primaries). I was never sure when it was and or didn't make plans to get to a polling place. Why vote in a primary election? In short, the primaries determine who a political party will put forward as their Official Candidate at the real election. So if you want your presidential candidate to make it to the end, it's really important that you go out and vote months before. Plus, you can feel like you're in on what everyone is talking about.

To make it easy, I put together these links that will make it easy for you to vote. In order to vote in a primary, you must register 20 business days before the primary election date. Some of them have already passed, so get started on these 4 easy steps right away:

1. Find out when your primary election is (or was) using this handy chart.
2. If you aren't registered to vote or aren't sure, fill out a voter registration form. You can go to your local Registry of Motor Vehicles office or use this online form. You can type your information on the online form, but you must print it out and mail it to the appropriate office.
3. Find out where to vote. Google your state + "polling place" to find a location.
4. Write a note, set a reminder on your iPod, cell phone, Outlook Calendar, etc. and remember to vote on that day!

But, check out this Cute Overload Post. I couldn't resist.  

At least it is fiber-related.

Proof that anger and frustration can affect your knitting gauge: 

A couple of Januarys ago, I made a pair of mittens. I showed them to a friend and she pointed out that one of them was significantly tighter than the other. "Oh yeah," I said, "I made that one during the State of the Union Address."

Tonight I will not be knitting while Bush (can we now begin to refer to him as 'Outgoing President Bush'?) is speaking. Instead I will be quietly chanting, "365 days, 365 days, 365 days...."

If you will be in the New York area next weekend, head over to the New School for a panel discussion on linking "handmaking in the public realm to ideological issues..."

Panelists will include Liz Collins, Sabrina Gschwandtner, Allison Smith, and Cat Mazza - creator of the amazing microRevolt and knitPro.

While at Cat Mazza's site, be sure to also look at the Stitch for Senate project and the Knit for Defense animation.

Stephen Colbert appreciates a good, patriotic knitted item!

Click here to watch the clip of Mr. Colbert in wristwarmers. Stay with the clip to hear some awful reflections by The McLaughlin Group panel on Hillary Clinton's win in New Hampshire.

Seriously?! "Tribal impulses"?! I know I shouldn't react this way, but it strikes me as slightly more apalling to hear that type of rhetoric from a woman.

A big thanks to Editorgrrl (on Ravelry) for pointing us to the link!

Go make your own threat here. It has been amusing me to no end this evening.

 DUE DATE: MARCH 18, 2008

Knitting Liberally is doing a knitting project to benefit the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition (NELCWIT), a wonderful organization that helps women and children who have survived domestic violence or sexual abuse. We are knitting toys for the children NELCWIT serves and Webs is generously donating the yarn for the Knitting Liberally Northampton group's toys.

We invite everyone to join us in knitting toys for NELCWIT. Please email us at knittingliberally@gmail.com for information on where to send your toys. The due date for the toys is March 18.

Here are some free patterns I have gathered, but there is a world of adorable toy patterns. Knit whatever pattern you find and love and the child who receives it will love it too.

Bubby Bear                             Garter Stitch Bear                     Any Yarn Teddy Bear

Laura Jane Bear                      Kate the Cat                            Fortune Cat                      

Dragon                                   Pasha the Penguin                   Sheldon the Turtle

Finger Puppets                         Duck                                      Pig                                  

 Lamb                                     Bunny                                     Doll                

 Caterpillar                               Knitted Cuddlies

...but these are just fabulous:

http://www.babypolitico.com/product_detail_obama.html

the whole site is pretty cool, actually.

We had a great time last night at the Brewery. Even though we are just the Ladies Auxilliary.

The knitter who got this whole Knitting Liberally thing started got a chance to talk about the group, our upcoming charity knitting project, and our community blog on Ready, Set, Knit!. It was broadcast locally on WHMP AM 1400 on Saturday, January 5th.

Listen to the show here:

If you enjoy Ready, Set, Knit! click here and subscibe to the podcast and listen to archived shows.

Spotted in the audience at a John Edwards campaign stop in First in the Nation New Hampshire:

You didn't need to plant a knitter for me to see to win me over, John. You had me at "No Child Left Behind is a nightmare."

According to Politico.com, the Clinton camp and EMILY's List are spending a lot of time and money specifically courting the votes of Iowa women who have never caucused.

During one recent targeted ad, Clinton's campaign effectively makes the point that caucusing is easy. However, at the same time the ad perpetuates the myth that knitting is a difficult activity. I spend half the day, in my role as a local yarn store clerk, telling people not to be afaid of knitting! Thanks, Hillary.

Watch the whole ad for caucus info and a small giggle or skip ahead to 2:13 to hear the quote.

One critical question remains unanswered: Can I bring my knitting to the caucus?

Here is the excerpt about Knitting Liberally from the Daily Hampshire Gazette article that spoons posted about previously.

From the Daily Hampshire Gazette,
January 2, 2008
BY SUZANNE WILSON STAFF WRITER

Knitters united

Though Gina-Louise Sciarra ends her Tuesday nights with her husband at the Brewery, she starts her evenings a couple of blocks away at the Yellow Sofa, a cafe and card shop at 24 Main St.. There, she meets up with about a dozen women who share her interest in politics - and her passion for knitting.

This group is called - what else? - Knitting Liberally and its slogan is "Speak Loudly and Carry Two Pointy Sticks!" Sciarra, who is currently directing the First Churches capital campaign in Northampton to restore the church sanctuary, started the knitting group last October.

"Most knitters are obsessed with knitting," she said at a recent gathering, as the nine other women who had come that night talked and worked on their knitting projects. And so, she explained, it had dawned on her, and her husband, that the Drinking Liberally model might be adaptable to politically interested knitters. To get the word out, she posted an online notice at www.ravelry.com, where knitters from all over exchange patterns, advice and news of knitting groups.

"It's grown in a nice way," Sciarra said, adding that most of the knitters did not know each other before showing up with their needles and yarn.

Though there's never a formal agenda, sometimes one knitter or another will bring in an article to pass around. On this night, Sciarra had brought a piece by David Corn in the Dec. 17 Mother Jones magazine about a 1998 book co-written by Mike Huckabee. Using plentiful quotes, Corn makes the case that - despite the nice-guy demeanor that has enchanted the mainstream media - Huckabee's past statements are "full of unforgiving rhetoric" in which he has lumped liberals with just about everything that's bad, from school shootings to pedophilia.

In between the conversation and the hats and gloves and shawls and scarves that are taking shape, Knitting Liberally looks well on its way to becoming a group of friends.

"Our personalities seem to mix well," said Tina McElmoyl, 31, of Northampton. Though everyone in the group falls under the liberal umbrella, McElmoyl says "all shades of gray" are represented and the back and forth has covered everything from the Electoral College to foreign policy to local elections and local issues.

After the knitters have spent a couple of hours at the Yellow Sofa, the time comes to pack up and go home - or continue the conversation with the crowd over at the Brewery.

 

A headline about something other than Iowa caught my eye today in the local newspaper. It read:

Knitting and Drinking and Talking Politics: In Northampton, Social Gatherings Focus on the Liberal Point of View

That's right! It's an article about us!

Unfortunately, on the web version of the article, you can't see the photo of our knitting group that was featured on the front page of the section. But if you are local, go seek out a paper copy.

If you do get to see the great group photo, you might notice all of the knitted toy pattern books spread on the table. That night we were working on choosing some patterns for our upcoming project to benefit the New England Learning Center for Women in Transition. We'll be making toys for the children who come to the center.

If you would like to participate in Knitting Liberally's first group knitting project for charity by knitting a small toy, please contact us or leave a comment on this post.

Happy New Year!

Clearly this is going to be an interesting year...Stay tuned...