The Raging Grannies
After the signing of the executive order for the Red Flag bill in the last post, a hearing was held at the RI State House. I kept checking on its progress online while waiting for the utility company to come repair the phone line that had been knocked out in the previous storm. Reports were that hundreds of yellow-shirted pro-gun/NRA supporters had descended on the State House, outnumbering red-shirted Moms Demand Action members and gun-sense supporters hundreds of times over. Lines to get in and pass through the security check were around the block. Friends posted reports of intimidation and verbal abuse from the Yellow Shirts and some some audio- and video-recorded the harassment. Disgusting. The upside of the huge anti-gun sense turnout: It's a sign that the NRA is scared by the backlash it is finally and deservedly experiencing following the Parkland shootings.
I arrived after 6 PM and the crowds had thinned, and I experienced no negative interactions. The hearings went on into the wee hours ( I was long gone before they ended) and the bill should be coming up for a vote before long.
I'm one of the RI Moms members on its Social Media Team, who rotate duty posting pertinent articles to our chapter's public page. Following the hearings, there was a deluge of troll activity and comments on our page of a negative and often downright vile nature. These are the kind of people I feel totally comfortable around knowing they are armed, NOT. Fortunately we are able to hide their comments and ban them. Yeah.
Moms with Sen. Algiere, Rep. Azzinaro, and Rep. Fogarty
After the unpleasantness, it was a pleasure to get together with the RI Moms Leadership team the following Saturday for some training, sharing on self-care, and then lunch at the beautiful Coast Guard House. And that was followed the next day by our first Moms Demand Action South County Politics and Brews, held at Amigos in Westerly.
Amigos owner Wendy had invited the local Huddle members to join us, so we ended up with 40 people in attendance! I was nervous for weeks ahead because I'd only gotten two responses from the 15 local senators and reps we'd invited, and they were both regrets, so I was very happy that 4 legislators showed up to engage with their constituents on the topic of gun violence prevention. There was also entertainment and food for thought provided by social justice singers, The Raging Grannies.
I am on a roll finishing up knitting WIPs. First the Shellseeker, now the Open Front Cardigan. I bought the yarn, Casade Venezia Worsted, in 2010 at Stitches. It was intended for the Diamond Cable Tunic but duh, when I went to knit the tunic I found it called for Venezia Bulky. (Which I did later find at Webs, deeply discounted.) So I searched my magazines for a pattern that used the Venezia Worsted and chose the cardi. Yikes, I started it in October 2015. It's an easy knit but was boring, which is why I worked on it in fits and starts. It looked like it was going to turn out too small, but I am really happy with the fit.
Another small FO- the Knit Night Hat, a cute little slouchy made with Berroco Boboli from Kathy W's destash.
Speaking of Berroco yarns, we had a Berroco trunk show at this month's guild meeting. We each got a 'yarn tasting'- small samples of new yarns to swatch- and were able to view and try on sample garments.
That open front cardigan is beautiful. Looking forward to getting my stash out of storage to see if I have something that might work for one.
Posted by: Lifesastitch | March 22, 2018 at 04:35 PM