Oy The Pain

There's something about a Persian rug that sort of settles my soul right about now.

I went to my friend Wilma's house awhile back and she showed me her favorite rug. I said, "Wow, look at how perfect it is! It is gorgeous!"

Her chin snapped up, she gave me a look, and she said, "NO! This rug isn't perfect! It can't be!"

After a few minutes of a rundown on the Persian rug thing, I discovered that the rug designers/makers put in a flaw on purpose. Because, after all, there is nothing that can be made perfectly, at least by us mortals. Only the highest of all highest beings can create something perfect.

Heh heh.

I think you know where I'm going with this one. Well, the time has come for me to put up an update sidebar. Oy. And the day I have had. You would cry, knowing the day I have had.

First I had to plan for Bobby, "The Inspector," to come this a.m. This means I spent half of last night hastily eating hard-boiled eggs and pre-cleaning and disposing of potentially embarrassing items. Then, since it isn't a school day for Girlfriend, I had to come up with child friendly activities that will keep us out of the house until at least 2 p.m. today.

This, of course, included a gym visit (in which I spent an hour and a half on the recumbent bike with a calculator, a pen and a copy of one of my multi-page patterns...have you tried to use a circa 1989 calculator on a recumbent bike lately?...On a recumbent bike with some lady leaning on it and kvetching like all get out to the person next to you...while waving her towel in the air and practically knocking your glasses off?) Then, I spent another half-hour laying all over the settee next to the fountain, the one with all the fancy rocks in it, doing some more calculations. Yeah, it was pretty cool doing more calculations on that black leather settee just on the other side of that huge window overlooking the pool with the ladies bobbing up and down, but when I got up to go get Girlfriend out of the Gym Kid's Club, I discovered my sweat shirt, the one I needed to put back on when I went out in public, was floating there, in the fountain.

So we killed time at Target buying self-tanner and diapers and drove the long way home to kill a little bit more time. (The self-tanner part wasn't so bad.)

We arrived home, and discovered The Inspector didn't come after all. *He came last Monday.* I got my days screwed up.

Hours and hours of frantic work and worry later--and about 20 too many interruptions by Girlfriend during nap time--I have come up with a Fad-Classic update. I'll call it an update because, let's face it, only The Perfect comes from the highest of all highest beings. And I am not the highest of all highest beings. This is the one thing I know for sure. Especially today.

(Thank you to my gal at Aloha & Oreos who pointed out an incorrect number or two. I'm thinking it's time for me to get a professional editor. Then, at least, if there's something wrong, I can write a post about how someone else isn't perfect.)

Check out the sidebar, to the left, "Pattern Updates" for an update.

But I did get a shipment from kpixie.com today. You'd think, the way they send me yarns, that I'm knitting for about a hundred people rather than for me, myself and I.

I'm thinking the Allhemp3 in Sprout and Sapphire will be for Girlfriend--a funky hippie halter top. The All Things Heather hand painted super wash merino will be something fabulous, maybe by Thanksgiving (and I tell you what, this stuff reminds me of Ko---I---Gu..

 

Comments

[heather]

LOVE your new yarns. I've been wanting to try that Allhemp3.
Sorry about your day! Wow. How you managed to tell about it without slipping one curse word in, I'll never know. You DESERVE the new yarns! :)

[Kaity]

I'm gonna get my hands on some of that "All Things Heather" Sock yarn soon.

[Lauren]

This is why I design in Excel spreadsheets. You make everything a function of something else so the numbers are always internally consistent.

[Wendy]

Hey Lauren, I do that, too, but in this case, I picked up the wrong row and pasted it in my Word document!!!!

After that, I had to re-check everything by hand to make sure it was correct!

[Monica]

I've heard lots of versions of same story...if your pattern were PERFECT you must think yourself god-like and definitely asking for visit by horrible scourge. Or...how else would you know if it was yours if you hadn't left some little mistake (er...detail) that only you would recognize?? You should use same philosophy when preparing house for "the Inspector".
PS I think managing to work out while "working out" a pattern with a calculator is pretty close to perfect!

[Wendy]

Monica, you make me feel so much better...

[Shelagh]

Ah, but you lead all of us to near perfection, and that matters. That and self-tanner, princess pull-ups, smokin' eyeglasses, and eggs. Yarn too, of course. That was a given.

Thanks for the updated pattern. Glad that 1989 beauty is still working its magic.

[Lynae]

I have one of those soul soothing rugs in my living room...even after 12 years I still love it. I have never found the flaw though. I did try and count the stitches- there are about 200 per square inch...think I will find it?

I agree about the Excel spreadsheet. Of course I make my living working on spreadsheets - LOL!

The yarn is lovely. I'd get some, but I am on a buying moratorium....at least until I go to Greece in June. They must have fab yarn stores there.

[gay schiff]

what a day i had, i cast on your swc so i would have some mindless knitting to do while waiting in the surgical family waiting room for a total of 16 hours today and i was the mindless one since i increased 1 stitch before and after all but one of the markers and that one i increased only before the marker for about an inch and had to rip it out and...well the rest is knitting history and has been told before... but it was a welcome release to be occupied with a knitting project that will turn into a beautiful sweater! and thanks for the help with the fad classic...i was too chicken to go the distance til i made sure i was doing it right and now i love love love the stitch but i'll do that one when i'm not in the family waiting room for 16 hours....thanks for the beautiful pattterns to occupy my mind with and thanks for your attention to detail and for your willingness to help! keep up the good work!

[gay]

oh and i did i say that my new glasses are so out of adjustment that they were sliding down my nose big time all day long...love your new glasses by the way.

[Wendy]

Gay...I hope that whatever is going on in your life that causes you to spend so many hours in the hospital will go away soon.

[Cheri]

Your yarn is beautiful. I've spent the past 4 days crying, so you can cry with me.

And I'm with you I hope that whatever is going on in Gay's life will be better soon.

[Lori]

Just wanted you to know I ordered some yarn from kpixie just because I keep reading about them on your blog. It came so fast, I'm hooked.

[Gaile]

Nobody has mentioned the look on your face in that photo, but it's just priceless! I love it! (and the yarn colours are pretty nice too)

As for perfection in anything, I think it's vastly over-rated (and I've heard of quilters and cross-stitchers leaving a "unique flaw" in their work, kind of like a signature. Perfection leaves nothing to aspire to, right?

[Carie Morrison]

Wendy, I have made two of your patterns (with a third waiting in the wings), and I have found them both to be concise and very well thought out. I just finished Something Red (but in pink) and put photos on my blog. Several people complimented me on it on Easter. You do a wonderful job with your patterns, in my opinion.

[Laura]

I would argue that if you intend to have a flaw and plan for it *in advance* and there are no other errors, well, that's still perfect.

[keohinani]

wow, i didn't know you had a day like that! at least at the end of the day, you got some yarn mail. i don't think you're alone in your kpixie shopping sprees. i spend no less than $60 every time i shop online there....they must have my address memorized by now.

[jillian]

When I come home from work or errands and there is yarn waiting for me, sometimes I hug it all up to me like that. It's medicine in fiber form. Hope you're day is better today!

[Heather]

Honestly, perfection is slightly overrated, seeking out ways to improve is what keeps us on our toes. BUT, with that said, it would be nice to have a pattern or knit come out perfect everytime, or even a perfect day now or then. Anyway, your patterns are well written and don't be hard on yourself. If you are really concerned about it, just solicit for some test knitters/readers/editors/number crunchers to review future patterns, I'm certain you would get TONs of volunteers and it would ease your mind a little.

AND thanks for the shout out about my yarn. Your compliments mean a lot, especially since your the knit blog BOMB! :)

[Jeri]

you know, a lot of sock yarns are reminding me of Ko---I---Gu. I guess its a good thing.

[lisaz]

I heard that story about Persian rugs years ago and when i started knitting I clung to that thought like a lifeline. I've always wondered though - isn't it better to make the mistake honestly and be truly human than to make it on purpose and think we are just avoiding being Godlike? I love that you are truly human - it's what makes for all your great stories.

[john]

Yeah, I heard the same thing - that they make a mistake on purpose. I had this brief moment when I thought I should do the same thing - you know - make a mistake on purpose. But then I remembered...."john, you make enough mistakes. you don't need to make another one on purpose"