Two things ... and then something else ...

1. Clapotis yarn

I am usually not a last-minute person. As a matter of fact, I get really aggravated when I am working on something that has a deadline with someone else, and they procrastinate. So when I decided that I was going to knit a Clapotis, and ended up starting a separate blog, because so many other people were interested as well, I immediately started to look for yarn. I found plenty of possibilities, but for the most part, financial considerations made nearly all of them impossibilities.

I was getting pretty discouraged, when something floated into my brain one night, right before I fell asleep:

Last year, at Stitches East, I bought this skein of yarn at the Dancing Leaf Farms booth. It's their "Salsa" yarn, a wool/mohair blend, and this is the Pansy colorway. So the next morning, I pulled it out, and thought how perfect it would be ... except that I would need another skein. So I contacted Dalis, and she said that she could dye more if I wanted it. Originally, I was going to order two more skeins, so they would be from the same dye lot.

But the more I thought about it, the more I thought that since it was hand-dyed anyway, and I was making a Clapotis (as opposed to a sweater, for example, where dye lot is crucial), that I would only order another skein, and see what happened. So earlier this week, I finally got around to ordering the other skein. In the meantime, I can start out with this one, so it all worked out in the end!

(Note to Carol - before you get all hot and bothered, because I didn't get yarn from you, let me say that I decided on this because it was already here. This is not to say that a) I won't still buy some yarn from you, or b) I will only ever make one Clapotis. I would still like to try the yarns you were telling me about. There. OK???? See, I still love you and your yarns, honest!)

The "official" start date for the KAL is tomorrow, the first day of autumn. Having said that, I may not even get close to getting cast on tomorrow, as I have various necessary chores to do around here, and I'm taking a class tomorrow afternoon on finishing techniques at Rosie's. But if I don't have a chance to start knitting tomorrow, I'll at least wind the yarn ...

2. A package in the mail!

I came home Friday evening, and there was a package for me in the mail - hooray! I opened it, and these were inside:

My Sockapalooza 4 socks from my sock pal! Her name is Andrea, and she is in North Carolina, though in a note she sent along, she mentioned that she used to live in Philadelphia, and it turns out where she lived is about 2 1/2 blocks away! This picture makes the colors look brighter than they are, the socks are really more fall-ish looking, and they have baby cables - I do love cables. I tried them on, and they fit perfectly (please note that I refrained from saying "like they were made for me" ...)

I had received a note from Andrea, when the deadline for mailing socks had just barely passed, and she said she was behind on her knitting, but she would send me socks nonetheless. Last weekend, I got a note saying that they were finally finished and she was mailing them this week. Strangely enough, on Tuesday, I got a note from my "Sock Saviour" saying that she would make me a pair of socks since I never received mine (the coordinator had a database to keep track of such things)! I wrote back and told her that I appreciated it, but that my sock pal was sending my socks this week.

(And, to be honest - I'd completely lost track of all this, and forgot anyway. I'd like to say it's because I have been so very busy with extremely important things. But I have to admit to myself that I forgot because my brain resembles a sieve.)

Thank you Andrea, for a beautiful pair of socks! I can't wait to wear them, and will do so as soon as the weather cools down again.

PVSD (Post-Vacation Stress Disorder)

Though it does not appear in the latest edition of DSM, this is a legitimate threat to an individual's mental health. It occurs when you have been on vacation from your job - whether you have traveled, or simply stayed home and relaxed - and then the vacation is over and you must return to your regular routine. The worst part, work-wise, is that they expect you to come back and actually start working right away - what's that about??

On top of which, you have a ton of laundry to do, and bills that didn't get paid while you were away. Geez.

But possibly worst of all, the reaction of other family members goes from one end of the spectrum to the other:

Garden Kitty made sure that we spent as much time together as possible ...

Whereas, whenever I would go near Tess, or talk to her, she would turn her back on me and completely ignore me (after cuddling and purring for Tim).

(I feel fairly certain that Jetsam didn't even notice we were gone ...)