Almost every set of needles in my collection has something in progress....A swatch here, the beginning of a scarf there, two wave shawls, the always present HAT of the week...it must be NOVEMBER! Yep, without giving away what I'm knitting for whom and why...I woke up this morning in a knitting panic. Last night I was happily humming Christmas carols after having received an invitation to go caroling with a Madrigal group and the Math Goblin showed up....with his evil horde of calendar goblins.
Nasty, slimy lot, these. Persistent.
Saaaaaaay, he sniveled from his perch on the back of the couch....Any idea what Day it is? How many actual knitting days there are left until the Pack and Ship deadline? Oh and lookee here, we have a surgery date in let's see......how many days?
Yeah, yeah, go take a hike. Everybody knows I'm having surgery. If they don't get the usual hand made goody this year, they will understand. They will love me any way....
Note to SELF: DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND.
I happily continued to knit the Koigu square...ok now just ONE more row and then I am really going to sleep. Really I am...REALLY (yawn).
To sleep, perchance to dream....ACK! Wide awake at 2AM with a mouthful of cat hair. Ooooof. Small paws, with claws, kneading the heck out of my flannel Tigger jammies. GET UP! Feed the cats,and then it kicks in. The DREAD. Seeds planted earlier by the Math Goblin begin to expand exponentially.
OMG. I'll never get it all done.
Poisonous weeds of doubt and fear germinate rapidly, spreading like Kudzu...
Right on cue, the hordes are back, clambering over each other to hurl invectives at me...
What a mess in here, why can't you just start one thing and finish it like a GOOD girl? How much have you spent on yarn? You'll never amount to anything sitting here on the couch, knitting!
NOW WAIT JUST A MINUTE!
It is almost 4AM. I am tired. I am going back to sleep now. You guys wanna stay up and do the knitting yourselves? HUH? Cuz I don't see YOU doing anything useful or decorative or even the least bit productive, so do SHUT UP and MAKE something of yourselves or you will have to wear little pink hats with matching booties..in squinchy CHEAP acrylic. Here, let me turn on the light and take your measurements....
POOF! gone.
Another hour and a half of fitful sleep, not the restful dreamy slumber I am after....might as well just get UP. The Panic comes back. In waves.
YOGA. Morning Pages. Brainstorm. List. There that's better.
Here's the PLAN: If you are on my List, and I do not finish your gift before my surgery, you WILL in all likelihood, receive a lovely gift card from Heifer International with a donation made on your behalf.
Please be patient with me.
I'm in the trenches,
Fighting the Goblin Wars.
NOW. Where IS that Lute?
Okay I had to stop reading and comment at the mouth full of cat hair part. I was thinking, overnight, while trying to pet the kitten on my head enough to get her to settle down and go back to sleep instead of trying to find a comfortable position on top of my face, that Jerry at Manly Art wrote about his cats realizeing when he's awake and coming to see him. What's up with mine deciding to wake me? It's nice to be loved by the cat, but I'd rather it was when I was awake, rather than when she wakes up in the dark! And this morning I had to walk down the stairs distracting her with one foot while going down a step with the other. Sigh. I'm mixing up her name and my daughters when I try to reach past her to type something. :-) And she's supposed to feel like just resting after having been spayed yesterday. Evidently no one told her!
Posted by: stonering | November 21, 2003 at 10:04 AM
Good answer to the goblins too. I keep counting my knitting days, and somehow then starting another project. I'm past half way on one of them! Whoo hoo. Of course I've also started one that isn't even for the holidays although it will be a gift for my favorate cousin (mother of the other Greta who I know) eventually. I'm torn between finishing things while working dilligently and doing stuff with some of my luxury yarns. I started an acutal gift last night with some Cascade Indulgence -- oh the feel of it!
Posted by: stonering | November 21, 2003 at 10:10 AM
You tell them nasty gremlins! At least your's talk to you. Mine just mostly jump up and down on my stomach and tie my guts in knots! And then I had to rip out ALL of the prayer shawl I was doing for SIL, so I won't get that done either. And new projects keep calling my name and waving yarn in my face. Keep up the good fight!
Posted by: Sue | November 21, 2003 at 12:58 PM
I loved this post, doll. You put them right in line, didn'tcha? I'm proud of you. And know what? The people who love you, LOVE you. No matter what. It's definitely not about what you buy or what you make, it's how you make our hearts sing.
all love,
Rachael.
Posted by: Rachael | November 21, 2003 at 02:33 PM