Knitting in Public

I finished the second cotton "farmer's market" shawl on Friday night (and didn't photograph it, because you've seen enough of them by now to get the idea). But Saturday was not only Farmer's Market day, but annual World Wide Knitting In Public Day. Even if I hadn't been sitting at the market tending to my knitting (as it were), I needed something on my needles which would be interesting and appropriate, but which wouldn't demand more attention than I could spare. Solution: a baby surprise sweater in cotton. Besides, what would WWKIP day be without Elizabeth Zimmerman?

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I actually had one customer come up to me at the farmer's market, recognize the pattern, and then recall that it was WWKIP day. I even got to do my knitterly duty by her, since she was working on the same pattern and was confused by the amoeba-like appearance of the work in progress. (I am personally forever amazed that EZ came up with this pattern in the first place. Most human minds just don't work that way.) But I was using up scraps and started with the tan, progressing to the ombre and finally the chocolate brown. I should have had plenty of the chocolate, since I started with a full skein and also should have had a separate ball representing the leftovers from my own cotton shawl. I am now 8 rows from the end - 8 stinkin' rows - and can't find the stupid ball of chocolate. I must have given it to one of the new knitters I was helping at the Winter Weekend retreat. Michaels is sold out of the ombre, which would have been my next choice, and Wally World doesn't have the chocolate or the tan in stock. So I had to put the whole thing on hold until I can get to a more well-stocked vendor. Did I mention I only have 8 stupid rows to go?

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Meanwhile, we've completed our shake-down period at the farmer's market and are starting to feel organized. I'm now in my "permanent position," stall 15 - and lucky to have it, since it's one of the few where you can sell your goods from two sides. I wasn't intimidated by the elderly ladies katty-corner from me, who are selling crocheted afghans and washcloths. Their products are a completely different style, and have that distinct "grandma's house" tone about them. I have noticed, however, that two stalls east of me are some older ladies selling fabulous cabled wool sweaters. The term which immediately sprung to mind was "serf's work" - an old Russian expression for something so labor-intensive that it wouldn't be practical to produce if you had to pay a living wage to the craftsperson. I'm charging $75 for a shawl that takes me about 12 hours and about $15 in materials to produce. I justify my $5 per hour wage by saying it's fill-in work performed while I'm riding or watching TV or whatever. I just don't have the heart to see what they're charging for those beautiful sweaters, but I'll bet it's not nearly enough. Oh, and there's a photographer around the corner, selling prints and cards and such; but she seems to specialize in close-ups of flowers, so my barns and farm gear and cows and landscape stuff shouldn't be too much of a conflict.

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But the real surprise was to discover the lady from Hares to Ewe has a regular stall there - kind of like discovering that your favorite bakery just opened a branch outside your kitchen window. This time I was good - just bought a couple of grab bags of odds & ends which will be useful for colorwork. But I'm going to have to be on my guard.

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That's about it. Father's day - Rick got the Garmin he's been hinting about, and when I chatted with Dad about 8:00 in the evening he was sounding a little put out that I was the first of the children to actually get in touch with him. And today I'm doing my Erin Brockovich thing again - I love it when I get paid to drive around in the sunshine and chat with people.

Onward and upward!