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Waah! After 4 months, like the arc of involvement in an average theater piece, my socks are finally finished.
Our quarterly MBSI (Musical Box Society International) Golden Gate Chapter meeting was yesterday & since I can’t drive more than 75 mile RT with an EV, I most always get a ride from D, who has a new Subaru, & we can chat along the way to & from, plus I can knit, which I did.
One of the Potentials to our chapter sat at lunch with me & C, who loves to talk Giants Baseball & music theory, but Potential had heaved a big sigh, on top of a full stomach, & remarked that she was searching for *something*—she didn’t know what—all her occupations were becoming stale: cooking, painting, sewing, crocheting, knitting… Whoa, I expostulated! Got up & retrieved my purse, wherein lay my second & as yet uncompleted sock.
 Poor C. For the next fifteen minutes, Potential & I discussed DPN sizes & circular top-up knitting techniques, while I inched closer to cast-off. She was anxious to tackle two-on socks, but fearful of the heel-turn. I shyly admitted that I was a first-timer & the double cast-on had been a complete bitch, while she opined that circular needles drive her crazy.
Lucky for C. the Meeting part of the gathering had to take precedence; I kept knitting while our new Chair droned on about technical claptrap, by-law voting & such. I realized how glad I am that I hold absolutely NO offices of any sort in any organizations, (unless you count Food Sub-Committee in the Middle East Peace Committee at Kehilla Synagogue—that’s just fun) & I have no guilt whatsoever about this.
The first hour of the meeting had been actually kinda sweet: I’ve got this Buddy who often misses meetings for one reason or another & this time he & his twin brother both showed up. There’s always a mischigas about our chats—both of them know 100% more about the mechanics of Musical Boxes than 99% of the world’s population has forgotten, & my particular Buddy also makes discs for many of the styles. He gets a dreamy look when you ask a question & his fingers begin forming shapes in the air along with the arcane explanation he is conjuring.
This time, I had been pigeon-holed by another Potential, who was lightening his collection at our Mart in the garage. He had a really nice little bird box…nah, I got two of those already. Cylinder boxes…eh, got enough of those. No, I was unfortunately smitten by his Polyphon 15 ½” Upright, but I needed my Buddy to guide me.
In one of those odd moments that can never be explained, I hooked up both these old guys & stood there listening to them trade bits of Knowledge, & lo & behold, it turned out that the self-same giant MIRA floor model I acquired last summer from an ailing Chapter Member who must sadly let go of his treasures, had in fact been obtained from Mr. Potential some 20 years ago & Buddy was the one that had helped me decide that it was going to be a welcome addition to my collection—ailing member being one of his dearest Buddies.
Well, much amusement & general hilarity notwithstanding, I couldn’t make up my mind, so Mr. Potential wandered off in search of lunch, Buddy & I ultimately deciding out his earshot that the Polyphon was not a good match. I didn’t want to hurt the guy’s feelings, so I did drink some of his German wine brought for the occasion, & he did tell me he was definitely going to join our Chapter.
It was a lovely, warm day & I could have dozed in the car on the way home. Instead, I finished my socks.
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