Stuck in a Holding Pattern

You know how it is, end of a long flight, your destination in sight, and air traffic control has you circling the airport... you can almost see the loved ones staring out the window waiting for you....

I am having a knitting holding pattern. Somehow, the Ebay vendor I ordered Rowan Calmer from (she will remain nameless to save her from further embarassment) sent me the right colorway, Sour, but the wrong yarn, Cork, instead. Since Rowan is enjoying putting out yarn with ball bands the color of natural organic cotton teeshirts, and text using the same font, no matter the yarn, I could almost see how she would make this mistake, and I didn't notice myself till I already had about six rows of a generous swatch for CeCe going, when it occurred to me that the texture didn't feel quite right (duh! there's a big difference between merino/nylon in the Cork and cotton/microfiber in the Calmer). Actually, the Cork has a very interesting, springy texture, and I now have 4 balls, since the seller is sending the Calmer to me, and offered the Cork as a gift to make up for my inconvenience. Not bad, I guess, except that I was all ready to start, and am casting about for ways to fill my time....

I could finish up the "sew-off" and fringe on Ruana, and probably will tomorrow evening so I can use it.

I could knit a bit on Mountain Peaks (or a lot, for that matter!), but have been suffering from allergies and lack of concentration abilities the past few days.

I could make a washcloth (bleagh), and actually started on the circular one in Mason-Dixon Knitting.

I could finish the teeny-tiny sleeve for DD's sweater and give it to her this weekend (now, there's a thought!).

I could even sit around watching sock knitting machine video instruction and conquer my fear of making heels with the machine, so that I could turn out some socks for DH - oh, and I could even pull out the boring dark green vest-to-be-felted for him.

But, I was so looking forward to CeCe.

If you haven't already, go and read Spiderwoman's story about Knitting Local and the Possibility of Defiant Sheep... I definitely feel sometimes as if my projects are feeling defiant (or is it me?). She talks about how some projects just match right up, while others fight you the whole way, and muses about whether knitting with yarn sheared off happy sheep makes for better project success than that from mass-market-raised sheep. Food for thought, or needles, as the case may be. I am very happy with my local wool, and looking forward to what I will find from small producers at Estes Park (yes, I did buy my ticket the other day, when the planets were in a more decisive and harmonious alignment). I am not thinking big this year, but "just right", and looking for yarn that calls out loudly what it wants to be and that it wants to come home to my mountains and become something beautiful.

I am also feeling cranky because I had to miss guild night and the terrific, fabulous Tailgate Sale, because my meeting over in the Sierra Valley ran on too long... midway through, since I was serving as Acting Chair, I had to whimper a bit that I hadn't been the one to change our monthly meeting to the 4th Tuesday, and that the person who had wanted this day of the month wasn't even in attendance. I mumbled about having a conflicting engagement each month, but was a bit reluctant to admit that it was my guild meeting, since this is one of my "important professional responsibilities", but I pouted all the way home, especially when I hit Sierraville, and realized that even taking the shorter of the two routes that would get me to Nevada City, 70 miles or so later, would also make me too late to catch any of the bargains. Once a year, everyone brings their spinning, weaving, knitting, fiber stuff in advance of the meeting for a mini-Swap Meet, and I missed out. I am seriously rethinking some of my obligations, while I coast around in the knitting holding pattern.

It is also a good time to ponder what to do for World Wide Knit In Public Day (WWKIPD), on June 10, 2006. Sara has suggested that our guild get together, either in front of the library or at the growers' market (I am voting for the growers' market as the shadier alternative, as the temperature will probably be back up in the high 80s by then) to knit in public. She even found us a source for the necessary t-shirts. Sara also has a fabulous inkle weaving tutorial on her blog, if you want to consider diversifying....

I have succeeded in frittering a good amount of time on the Internet, blogging and reading, instead of taking up a "lesser" knitting project - does this qualify as a funk? I certainly hope to feel more inspired in the morning!