Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Cranking

It's the day after (U.S.) tax day and there's not much to say. In between working on taxes I've been cranking out scarves of Red Heart for my church project. I've forced myself managed to finish two so far. shudder

Prayer shawl scarf   Openwork scarf

Corazon Rojo has proved to be surprisingly full of knots, a minimum of one a skein. I woulda thunk yarn shot from spinnerets would be immune to the problem. The knots do not disrupt the color runs, unlike knots in Noro, which often do. I suppose that means Corazon Rojo is spun, then dyed while Noro is dyed, then spun.

Knot

I've also been cranking out granny squares to use as hotpads, vaguely inspired by Granny Circle Placemats and using the Adjustable Loop start. They're strangely compelling – can't make just one.

Granny square hotpads

To do my bit for informed citizenship, I crunched the numbers and calculated my nominal and effective federal income tax rates. It's not difficult. To find your nominal rate, look up your adjusted gross income (Form 1040, Line 37) in a rate chart or plug it into an online tax calculator.Occupy the Polls To figure your effective tax rate, divide your total tax (Form 1040, Line 61) by your adjusted gross income (Form 1040, Line 37) and multiply by 100.

No surprise, my nominal rate is much higher than Mitt Romney's effective rate on much less income. I get a deduction for state and local taxes paid, so my effective rate is lower than my nominal rate. But if Mr. Romney were to have his way, his federal income tax bill would decrease further and mine will more than double. He's OK with that. I'm not. Like I said, no surprise.

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