Waiting to Exhale

The post from Newfoundland has been very slow this summer. I have had more than one anxious yarn buyer contact me about yarn that hasn't arrived in what one might consider a generous amount of time. The yarn always does arrive, but usually it is a good three to four weeks after shipping. It is frustrating not just because I have to try to placate the understandably anxious buyer but because it means they will likely never buy any more yarn since, as much as they might love it, the whole transaction has became too much trouble. I will likely have to refund money to one buyer this weekend for this very reason and I know the yarn will appear at some point, but the damage is done. Then I have to hope she will be honest if the yarn does arrive. The cost of doing business, I guess.

These experiences made shipping my fleece to NYC from Newfoundland a slightly nerve-wracking proposition. I spent the extra money to insure it since it was hundreds of dollars worth of materials and equipment. The days passed but I expected at least 7 - 10 days. Picture, if you will, the pages of a calendar whipping off in the wind like they sometimes show in old movies...still no fleece. Now I am not only anxious but jonesing for my fleece! You can't spin air, my friends!

Finally, in digging through my stash as part of my destash sale, I found some undyed fleece. I ignored the heat and humidity (what's up with that? I thought fall was already here...) and desperately dyed with kool aid just so I could have something, sweet jesus, anything, to spin.

The good part about hot weather: fleece dries fast.

While we watched John McCain's speech, I carded and spun and felt a little better. Let those Republican chant "drill, baby, drill". Let Sarah Palin charm the hapless. Let the St. Paul police pre-emptively arrest potential protesters. Let the lies and hypocrisy flow over me and rinse away like so much dirty dish water....I am spinning again.

And then, joy of joys, this morning Smokey arrived with pure wooly goodness with my name on it:



Now I can exhale.