Mission Failed

Operation Talisman was a raving ... failure. The time I needed in order to feel confident going into my final exams was, well, quite a lot. By the time I finished the last test my brain was fried, my eyes hurt (no glasses), and the thought of putting on PJs, lying in bed, ruffling the pillow, adjusting the comforter, making "spooning" space for the puppy, and falling asleep to the sound of his little breaths was one that I could not pass up.

I woke up late on Wednesday, giving myself about 12 hours to be able to finish the purse. No way, Jose. It simply could not get finished in time. So, I figured I could cheat. I grabbed a scarf I had OTN for my mother, and figured I could finish it and give it to Katie well before I'd ever be able to finish the purse. I knitted at my typical pace (fairly slow) for a few hours.

I took a break by going to the mall and buying other little odds and ends to complete my new "winter-themed" present. It started with a coffee mug I found that was so perfect for her, I yelled, "YES!" quite loudly in the store. I never find good gifts like that; I may have lost face with my untamed exclamation, but I found a good gift nonetheless. I then bought a bag of ground coffee and a French vanilla scented candle to go with it. After I left the mall, I realized that I kind of went overboard on the "coffee" idea after I found the mug. Great; how is the scarf going to look stuffed in a gift bag with those things? Whatever.

I came home and showed my roommate what I had gotten for her (he is a coworker of ours as well). He smirked and asked how the purse was coming along, I'm assuming because I would not have needed all of this stuff to go with it (essentially revealing the truth that Operation Talisman had indeed failed). I scolded him and deemed him a "non-knitter" by saying things like, "well, why don't you pick up some freaking needles and make her a purse? Oh, wait, you don't know how!"

Immediately I ran upstairs, even more determined to finish the damned scarf. My roommate did not know that I'd been working on it, so I still had a chance to get the last laugh by waving the finished project in his face and bragging about how it was "just a little something I whipped up for her real quick." I began knitting, a little faster than usual. When I looked at the clock, I decided that I should have a beer in order to get me through this stressful time crunch. Just a nice, carbonated muscle relaxer. So, I grabbed a beer and told myself that I could take a sip after every five rows I finished. The task of knitting and sipping continued for a good while. In fact, it was working so nicely that I decided to have a second beer. Then a third. I maintained my 5 knit per 1 sip rule, obviously putting a decent amount of length onto the scarf.

I woke up to the sound of my roommate knocking on my bedroom door. It was 11:00 P.M; time to go to the party. He opened the door to see me, nuzzled in bed, tangled in purple yarn and surrounded by empty beer bottles. I don't remember when I fell asleep. I don't remember telling myself that it would be ok to shut my eyes for "just one minute". I don't remember why I rationalized to myself that I could knit a scarf, take a shower, get ready, and arrive at a party after having three beers. All I knew was that I had failed both plan A and plan B of Operation Talisman. I was so mad at myself; the amount of time I'd collectively worked to knit for Katie would mean NOTHING that night. I bit the bullet, went to the party, and gave Katie her coffee, mug, and candle (real original, buddy). She absolutely loved the mug (yes, the gift that was already MADE and took a total of about 5 minutes of my time to purchase).

Operation Talisman II is now underway. Katie is getting a knitted gift from me, even if I have to trade my sanity for the success of this mission.