Do Over!

Remind me that knitting and car maintenance do not always go hand in hand. This is the current state of the lap robe, my current item destined for a worthy senior.


I want a do over! A mulligan.

The skein was collapsing in on itself; the robe was growing toward success. Practically one-third completed.

And then nothing. A twenty stitch section became only eighteen stitches. A yarn over became wrapped three times. Garter somehow transformed into reverse stockinette.

Total stoppage.


How does one go from almost ten inches to the above in only thirty minutes? Rude behavior. That's how.

I was calmly sitting in the waiting room of the auto repair shop and knitting in public on the lap robe for seniors. Several other trapped souls were also calmly waiting. You should know that the other calm souls were engaged in the following totally appropriate public behaviors: reading a newspaper, managing children while patting the babe in arms and updating family on the medical condition of "mom" (ok, perhaps I did listen in on that one sided phone call).

And then she stormed in. Rudeness in motion. Taking out her anger on the repair shop by looking up at the service manager and declaring, "I am through - no more. Someone will come to get me!!" Actually, the tone of her voice should be emphasized by more than two exclamation points. But I do not want to offend you.

Everyone overheard her next phone call. Clearly a family member who is comfortable with an aggressive conversational style was making utterances on the other end of the conversations but not able to neutralize the situation. Seems she had simply been driving along when the scary red warning light flashed on in her car. And it did not go off. So, she did one thing right, and stopped in to have it checked. From her side of the conversation we all, those of us doing perfectly acceptable public activity, know that:

• the light came on
• she came to this shop because she rarely bothers them with car trouble
• she so rarely bothers them with her car that she had not taken it in for any service in the last year
• they should take care of the people who are not a constant bother first
• they must be stupid because they can't even fix her perfectly fine car
  
• it had been 'hours' and now 'some stupid test drive' and she still did not have the car back
• all she wanted was for the engine light to go off because now she would be late for the party and probably have to change on the way there and the make-up is at home and what about her hair...
  

So, when the above referenced service manager attempted to calm her down and tell her the car was ready and they felt it now safe for her to be driving, she blew up and that is when she announced (see above) that someone would come get her. And, further more, she would have to come back in the morning to get the car - if she had time.

Any wonder that the lap robe is now totally frogged.