Detour

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

I knew what I was going to do today; I had a plan.

I was going to work through the morning hours, then head up to the audiologist's office to throw myself on her mercy and offer my unborn grandchildren for the on the off chance that she could fix my hearing aids, which have been on the fritz since last week.

I am tired of missing the normal sounds of life.

But somewhere around 11, the day took an unexpected hard right turn and veered completely off track.

The only problem with following your muse is sometimes she gets confused, often she takes you down the less traveled path, and occasionally she has no idea where the heck she's going.

I needed to finalize an order with the Websters and was trying to decide whether to include a skein of Mountain Colors Winter Lace in Sierra. My dad wanted to know when I was going to design an Afterglow shawl, (Good idea, Dad!) and I thought this yarn might be right for it.

But I've never worked with this yarn, so I hauled out the skein of Red Tail Hawk I had in my stash and wound a bit to try it out and determine if I liked it.

Short story: I did. And I ordered the Sierra, along with two skeins of Isager Alpaca 2 that I am using to make beaded fingerless gloves for Christmas.

Long story: Hmmm...this color reminds me of wood. Ooh, remember that lace pattern I did last year in Alchemy Silken Straw? The one that looked just like shagbark? The one I loved the look of, but couldn't stand the yarn? Where was that pattern? Wouldn't it be cool in this yarn? think I'll cast on and try it out. Nice! Now what could I put on the bottom edge? How about Arbor lace? That would be topical. I'll just knit a couple rows....and a couple more. Might as well finish the full ten row repeat. No, that doesn't work - too regimented for the organic feel of the main pattern. Oh, that one would be good. I'll just chart it out. That way I can take it with me to the waiting room at the Audiologist's. And what would happen if I added a line of windblown leaves between the edging and the main pattern. I bet charting that one up wouldn't take any time at all. Hmmm...23 rows...oh well, it won't take that long. Oh crud! It's one of those patterns that the stitch count increases and decreases. That means I have to figure out where the increased stitches go on the chart. It's still only 3:00. I can still make it if I hurry...this isn't going very well, the chart looks massively uneven. What happens if I line this part of the pattern up, instead of that one? That's better. Now I'll just print this out and...

It's 5:00 and I never made it out of my studio. Buggers!!!

Oh well, I guess I don't need good hearing to know what the muse is whispering to me.

She's coming through loud and clear.