Strangest, most wonderful day.

Today has been, by far, the most surprising and fantastic day I've had in a long time.

First, the day started with a job interview at my all time favorite yarn shop. I don't want to say which shop because I don't want to jinx it, but I can tell you that the selection, staff, and owner are all top notch. It's the kind of small business I'd like to run someday.

After my fantastic interview (I'm still waiting to hear if I'll be offered a job or not, so good thoughts my way, people) I decided to stay where I was (boy, being this vague is hard) and knit at a beautiful, sunny park. I figured I was already most of the way there, and I did have that cowl to finish up.

Little did I know that apparently knitting in public translates to "Please bug me and tell me your life story". First, at the park, some mid-thirties guy sitting next to me on a bench went on at length about his troubled relationship with his girlfriend and his role as absentee father to his 19-month-old daughter. The weirdest part is he was totally unprovoked-- it's like my knitting subliminally broadcast a message that I was a good listener, and that he should go ahead and entertain me while I did whatever boring, methodical, old-ladyish activity it was I was engaging in (he went so far as to tell me he would never imagine me as a knitter. Ouch.).

After about fifteen minutes, and in mid bind-off no less, I made an excuse that I had to catch a bus and hurried off. I remembered that I was just a couple of blocks away from a very famous bakery/cafe, and headed there. I figured I could have a nice cup of tea, sit at a sidewalk table, observe life, and finish the cowl. Unfortunately, this time my knitting invited the attention of a middle aged physician turned glass blower. He figured we had the arts in common, and so he talked and talked about his existential mid-life crisis and how he blows mainly, but still "does some physician stuff occasionally". This is still confusing to me; does that mean he's like, an on call physician? Does he go to the hospital in between glass blowing sessions and do a couple of exams?

Anyway, the guy was nice, but he crossed the line when he offered to take photos of me wearing the finished cowl. I guess I started it (before he began talking to me) by taking a couple of photos of the cowl laying on the table. He saw my camera on the table, and after about ten minutes of chit chat offered to take a picture of me wearing it. He wouldn't let me protest (having my picture taken by strangers is up there on my list of uncomfortable moments) and took my camera, stood up, and then began to tell me how to model. I was expecting a quick "point, click", but instead the guy kept saying stuff like "Now look up like there's a bird in the sky, a very interesting, mysterious bird..." or "Look coy, like you're shooting someone an evil glare". All of this resulted in my nervous laughter, and a few comments like "No, seriously, I don't do that face."

Shortly after the world's most uncomfortable impromptu photo shoot I made yet another empty excuse, downed my remaining tea, and left with one of his business cards, "In case you ever need any blown glass." The thing is, as weird as those guys were today, they meant well and were actually pretty nice.

Speaking of niceness, the cap on my lovely day (which, if I haven't made it clear, has been lovely because the cowl is beautiful and the job interview was great) is FREE YARN. Remember how a few weeks ago I became smitten with Twinkle's Big City Knits? Well, I finally decided which piece to make: The Karate Sweater. I figure big holes and slouchy styling are a good way to avoid looking like a stuffed sausage in a bulky knit. Anyway, I had been looking for some Lion Brand Wool Ease Thick & Quick (cheap, yes. In my book bulky doesn't deserve a big investment.) in a particularly hard-to-find color. I found some in a Raveler's stash, and to my surprise she offered to GIVE me the yarn. How unexpected! Thank you, Tamara! What a great gal, and a CAL alum, too! Any idea what little item I should knit her as a thank-you?

So here I am, on the other side of my job funk (for now), with a beautiful finished object, some free yarn, and a potential new Ravelry buddy. What a great day. And for fun, here's a relatively good photo that came out of the world's weirdest photo shoot. I think he caught me by surprise in this one, because in every other one I look kind of wild-eyed and uncomfortable. Cowl needs a button, I think, and once that's done I'll get the pattern compiled.