Accidentals, Inc coming soon to a blog near you

My next door office neighbor has a very calm nature and a pleasantly dry wit. I enjoy working with her and it is nice to have someone to call out to during the day.
"Hey, did you hear that?"
" Yes, did YOU?" ..
" Wadda ya doin for lunch? Want to split somethin?"
" No thanks, I'm going to eat all the candy and nuts out of the jar today, but thanks for thinking of me" ... and so on and so on. She was the first one to add wit to the mix when I was relearning crocheting and trying to knit. It may sound silly, but I found comfort and encouragement in the fact that someone else deems it perfectly acceptable to create only ONE slipper-like object or sock when those items typically come in pairs. These many months later,she still seems pleasantly surprised when I complete another. ....another anything.
It was she who created business cards that say:
Accidentals,Inc-specializing in Melanizing so we could put a tag on the two felted purses I made for the silent auction last fall. The name suits my style with this yarnart business.

Another friend/work pal gave me the confidence to donate those purses by telling me that she saw similar products in a real live store. Still, another work friend, (my York Peppermint Patty pal,) validated the mistakenly shrunken purse experiments with tasteful comments. She has a flair for fashion and style, and she convinced me they were worthy of induction into the mass of donated gifts and services for the annual silent auction. In discussing the purse projects, she suggested I take orders, and that is how the name Accidentals , was born.

Truth be, I have learned that my brain appears to translate directions with a perpetual slant. This has been proven time and time again. Ex. I made a collection of 20 or more slipper-like objects, and the only real common thread was the heel "pen"( abbreviated here for the sake of tact. If you are a chronicle reader, you are by now, well aware that pen refers to a part of the male anatomy) that sticks out of the heels on all pairs when not on the feet. I used the same directions for all of them.

My boss today fessed up that the pair I made him to take to Zambia were unique in that his left foot slipper is snug and his right foot loose; he continued on to say my slipper-like-objects are alot like God's children. ....They are all different... and somehow, maybe it was the way he shared that news, but somehow it felt right. I mean it feels true and right that I create yarnwork with the same spontaneity that I write, speak, or cook. I'm accidental inside and out and it seems that part of me has been readily accepted by my boss and workmates. Now, if that's not Grace, I don't know what is.

So I finally decided to move from crochet to knitting. I hung up my hook and pulled out the needles. My first socking was a caveman sock. I assembled, Frankenstein style, all parts of the sock and the completed project looked prehistoric.It may have fit Barney Rubble or Bam Bam. Next try, I got it looking a little more modernman-footlike, but as I was working on sockling #2 while waiting for my daughter in the outpatient waiting room, I was distracted by the conversation of those around me and ended up taking it apart.

" What is this thing they gave you, Ronnie? "
"It's a pager, Shelly."
From across the room, in shaded tones, " They give you those things at the Texas Rancher "
" No, that's a pager you're speakin of, and this is the thing that tells you your patient is up"
" Yeah, and it's just like the one they give you at the Texas Ranger. It beeps and has those same red lights. I think it's called a patient-er or somethin"
another voice joins in....
" Have you ever been to that OrienTALL place across from the Ranger?"
"Nah, I don't eat in places where I can't pronounce the menu."
"Yeah, well they have that soosie, there. Brenda likes that soosie."
" Ooh, I don't like no raw fish,no sir."
Back to Shelly and Ronnie.....
"Why do they want to go on and give you a pager? They said they'd come tell you when she's done under the knife."
It was about this time that my own pager began to blink and beep. It looked like my own order was up.

It took a while for me to sock-up the nerve to use the magic self-striping yarn again, and when I did, things moved along with fewer knit knots. I managed to complete a protrusionless heel!! woo hoo!!!! By the time I got to the toe, I was purled with anticipation- and so was born the elfin hat toe. It is an original design, one you won't find in most sock patterns. The design is versatile in that you can wear the sock for work or casual play, AND you can accessorize the elfin hat toe with a mini pom pom and wear it with open toed shoes for a fanciful evening out. This item is available exclusively through Accidentals, inc.

I hope to have a picture soon.

I have dragged nearly every staff member into the construction of this project and when I finally finished it, I excitedly presented the sockling to any and every free foot that crossed my threshold.The funniest part for me has been watching friends look for the heelpen. I refuse to let the heelpen be my trademark. I admit I am wondering why this body part has affixed itself to some of my yarn projects. When I worked on the heel flap on the knitted sockling, I thought for a minute, " Oh, great. Crocheted slipperlike objects with heelpens, and now this-uncircumcised knitted socklings. Swell. There's the simple diff between using a hook or two needles, folks. The heel lost its flap in the gusset, and I breathed a sigh of relief until my best bud, the girl who first showed me how to cast on, brought to my attention that in some circles, the elfin hat toe could be viewed as an elfin-pen. NO!! NO I say. Enough is enough!!

Gosh, I find I have traveled all over the map in this entry. All I really wanted to say is that it sure is a lucky penny when you get to work with people who support your efforts to try new things.