I've Got It Bad, And It Ain't Good

After months of complaining about the lack of available men in the area, I finally embark on an actual date.

A DATE. A bona fide, all-American, go-to-the-movies DATE!

And, what is my main concern about the whole thing? It isn't whether or not he'll like me, or whether or not I'll have anything interesting to say, or even what I'll wear -- instead, my main concern is WHETHER OR NOT. TO BRING. ANY KNITTING.

Yes. It was actually a consideration. Frightening, no?

And, even more frightening, was the fact that, in the end, I wasn't actually able to physically pry myself away from the house without at least a sock project.

So, I tucked these in my bag:

Now, let's examine the culprit:

Look closely, people (go ahead, look). What is it about this ball of interlocking fibers that causes a person to suddenly behave in ways that are pretty embarrassing to the uninitiated? I mean, look at it. It looks so innocent and cheery with it's brightly colored ways and it's sweet tactile offerings. So seemingly harmless in it's motionless, lightweight state.

Yet, as I was about to leave for the aforementioned date, I couldn't take my eyes off of it. It sat there on my desk -- mocking me. As I grabbed it to put it away, it got me -- the colors, the craving for the feeling of this unbelieveably soft cotton under my fingers as it slips through my Addi Turbos...

I caved.

So, after watching a great little film -- The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (run out and see it now...so good) -- and managing to not even think about the sock throughout the entire movie (a testament to how good this charming little movie was), my date made a fatal error and proceeded to inquire about the socks I was wearing. It was pretty much all over from that point on. I not only encouraged him to TOUCH MY FEET so he could feel the Koigu, but I pulled out the socks I had cleverly hidden in my purse so he could marvel at their loverlyness. Once I pulled them out, I couldn't stop thinking about how all I had left was a simple Kitchener -- which should only take a few minutes --and my need for completion totally took over.

I did manage to maintain some composure, and waited until he excused himself to use the restroom at the coffee shop we visitied after the movie to pull out the sock for a quick fix.

I was so engrossed in the Kitchener that I didn't notice him walking back to the table and, as a result, I was caught in the act, and launched into apology mode for being such a freak. He didn't seem to mind, though, and actually asked me about the particulars of the Kitchener and Knitting in general and was quite impressed at my Knitting History and Interesting Facts knowledge.

He actually said that watching someone knit was relaxing. He was most likely just being polite, but I decided to run with his interest and possibly feigned enthusiasm and managed to finish the Kitchener -- satisfying my compulsion. Now, I did put the sock project down and was actually able to resist the urge to cast on for the second sock -- which I think means I'm actually interested in this person -- and we did talk about many things that didn't involve Knitting or socks. But still...

So, let's re-cap: I finished my Mother's Day sock at the coffee shop, on my DATE in between scarfing down a piece of Marble Loaf and listening to him talk about his time in India.

And people wonder why I'm still single.