Back in November we took a trip to the Midwest to visit family. I took along the project I was working on at the time—the diagonal stripes for the Lamp Post Cozy called "Don't Hit Me." (Project #8 at http://videoknitter.weebly.com/index.html) The concept for the piece was to make the lamp post base more visible because it had been dinged by several cars in its short life in the Bemis parking lot. It's now covered with orange and yellow diagonal stripes and accented with cables and ruffles.

So during the trip various family members would ask me what I was knitting. "A stripe" was my usual reply. Without fail, every time I said that I had to explain what I meant by my answer and to assure them I wasn't being a trying to fool them.

 
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?