It’s Furious Balancing

FO as in “Finished Object.”  This is one truly finished object.

Way, way back in October, I was contemplating what to knit during the Vice Presidential debate.  A lot of of the Knitters for Obama would watch the debates on streaming online video, knit, and keep a running commentary in a forum thread on Ravelry. Well, I could do two activities at the same time, but not all three.  Multi-tasking is not my forte.

This question of “what to knit?” was an important topic.  I knew I would be frothing at the mouth at the insipid and pathetic attempts of That Woman trying to sound even remotely intelligent for one millisecond distracted, so I didn’t want to work on a complicated pattern.  I knew I would be stressed and angry, and didn’t want to channel my bile into a sweet little catnip mouse project — sort of the flip side to the knitted Prayer Shawl concept.  So, I decided to knit a political effigy of Sarah Palin and burn it on Election Night.

Before you all start whining about how evil I am to do this to poor Sarah,¹ I’m going to refer you to the centuries-old tradition of Guy Fawkes Night.  Bonfires.  Effigies of politicians and Popes.  Do some reading, please Sweet Jesus and All That is Holy, DO SOME #*%#&^  READING!

Ahem.

The choice of yarn for this was easy.  I’d inherited a ton of old acrylic yarn from my Gramma Fran’s knitting supplies/stash.  This yarn was at least 15 years old – minimum.  Old scratchy Kmart yarn.  My Gramma, a devout FDR Democrat  who once told me “Democrats care about people; Republicans care about rich people,” would not have been in the least bit offended.²

So I cast on at the start of the debate, played Sarah Palin bingo, and made some progress:

This photo was picked up by The Huffington Post in an article showcasing Flickr photos from the campaign.  It’s about 40 pictures into the slideshow if you’re interested.

I worked on the Sarah Palin Political Effigy (SPPE) off and on leading up to the election. I finished her the day before.  Kissy isn’t too interested in her.

Project Notes:  Sarah Palin Political Effigy

Pattern: Bad Juju, by Zabet Stewart; The AntiCraft, Samhain 2005

Size: Bigger than Gov. Palin’s brain, which isn’t saying much.

Yarn: Very, very old 100% Acrylic Yarn of Unknown Origin – Ivory

Needles: U.S. Size 5

Mods/Notes: No mods, but I didn’t do all the embroidery called for in the pattern.  My embroidery skillz are not that great, and this Witch was Made for Burning, after all.

A group of us got together to drink, watch the Electoral College numbers come in and set the SPPE on fire.  I don’t think they use this old grill in their backyard anymore, so it was a perfect place to do the deed.

Photos by HunterXan’s Husband, maker of awesome frozen margaritas³ and professional journalist.  There’s no way I could take a picture this good.

This was sometime between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., before the election was undisputedly in the bag for Sen. Obama.   Sometime soon afterwards, the neighbors started setting off fireworks, which gave the green light for our Husbands to start setting off fireworks and scare the Tibetan Mastiff under the porch.  In the word’s of HunterXan — “The neighbors totally started it.”

Let’s just say that acrylic yarn and polyester fiberfill burn quickly.  It was like watching the Wicked West of the West melt into a puddle at the end of The Wizard of Oz. Think on this whenever you feel the urge to knit with plastic yarn.

Rock on, cats and kittens.  Inauguaration Day is coming.

* * * * *

1. In fact, there are some Obama supporters who are Unclear on the Concept. Whatever happened to “I disapprove of what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it“? Oh, and if the blogger I’m linking to comes on over here, make a note — It’s “beyond the pale” not “beyond the pail.” [↩]
2. Fran passed away in the early 1990′s. [↩]
3. Even before he got the Margaritaville Machine [↩]

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