Always be prepared to loose a needle

While I was stitching the third section onto the Lace Sampler yarn bomb my needle flew off the floss and into the creek below the bridge. Happily I had prepared for such an event by packing two needles. I'll need to remember to restock a second needle before going on my next bombing raid or installation.
 
Three weeks ago I got the OK to put together a large installation for a one-day festival in my town. That meant three weeks of frenzied activity, laced with a few days of belligerent anti-activity because of breakdowns in communication.

After calling to confirm that, even thought the publicized end date for submissions was mid-July, they were continuing to take applications. So I applied with my generic idea of an area of trees that was decorated with knitted vines/flowers. They apparently liked it because I got an email from the director of the hosting organization a couple days later saying they loved it and I should be getting an official OK soon. So I started work.

I continued working after I got the official OK. The acceptance email was all boiler-plate and vague, promising further confirmation of space that didn't come until I asked for it. I had suggested the trees I wanted in my application and was working on the assumption that I had that space. Eventually I had to stop work because I was to a point where I needed that conformation. So I waited patiently for the event map to be released on the date promised by the website. It came and went so I wrote to them and eventually got it. I had the space I had asked for and photographed.

So I could finally do a detailed design plot so I would know how many flowers and how many yards of vine I would need. And I got back to knitting.

I've worked with this organization before and every time I do there's frustration and confusion. Each time I remind myself that this is the way they work and swear I won't work with them again. Then they announce some really incredible event they're hosting and I can't resist. This weekend's event is no different. It's not the way I like to work when I have a choice, but it seems to be their preferred modus operandi. So what is one to do but jump in and paddle (or knit) like crazy?