Lost Knits: Foiling the Fairies

In many ways my life has been rather like a record of the lost and found. Perhaps all lives are like that. ― Lucy Foley, The Book of Lost and Found

I try not to get too attached to my belongings. Perhaps this is because I've misplaced so many things that I know I don't have enough energy to fret over them. Or maybe it's because I keep hoping they'll magically appear again some day, as if the fairies have just borrowed my things for a while.

Hey, fairies: Go get your own stuff.

I had a near-loss the other day as I was running errands in town. It was a chilly day, so I wore my Bubble Wrap Cowl, Cliff Hat, and Cappio Gloves, along with a fleece under my regular "Island winter jacket" (i.e. long, lined rain coat). It was slightly overkill, and I got a little overheated because I was trying as much as possible to walk in the sunshine. I popped off my hat and stuffed it into my handbag as I walked. I made a few stops: the physiotherapist to book an appointment, the bank, the health food shop, and the post office. On the way home, I stopped at the library to use the bathroom, and as I walked out, I was applying some cream to my hands, then suddenly realized I didn't have my gloves anymore.

Losing one of your hand knits is like dropping a $20 bill somewhere: it's not necessarily the end of the world (unless it's your last twenty), but it's really, really annoying. And besides that, you've lost the cost of the yarn and the hours of effort to make them. It's really sad.

I stood there on the sidewalk, wondering what to do. I had a feeling I might have left them at the health food shop, but couldn't be sure. After I rummaged through my handbag, I turned around again to walk back to the library and search the bathroom. No gloves. I walked back to the post office. Nope. At the health food shop, the shopkeeper even helped me look. None, even though I was sure I'd left them there.

I walked all the way home and wondered if I'd left them on the teller counter at the bank. By this point, it was another 15-minute walk to check, and I was wondering how badly I wanted them back.

Does a shepherd forsake her herd? I think not.

I got home, walked straight over to the car, got in, and drove back to the bank. As I walked in, I saw them on the counter, and I said to the teller there, "Oh, there they are. I left my gloves here."

To which she said, rather loudly to the other teller, "Oh, we WONDERED if anyone would come back for those." Which, to me, implied that they were hoping they wouldn't be claimed... and that they'd already started talking about who would get to take them home instead. To which, I nearly replied, "Not a chance, sister."

Gloves: I have saved you.

We're leaving tomorrow morning for a vacation in Malibu. Of course, part of my packing includes a project to work on during the flight. I have decided that I am going to try to knit myself another Straightforward Mitt. I lost one of them a while back, and it was a sad, sad day...

I have hung on to the other one in the vain hope that the fairies may get tired of the missing one and it will sometime reappear. Two years on, and it still hasn't happened. I looked back at my blogposts to find the photo above and discovered that I knitted them during another trip to California a couple of years back. Seems like this is the perfect time to knit a replacement. How lucky that I still have the leftover yarn, and that I have enough of said yarn, and that I actually have the right size needles:

I have these supplies packed safe and sound, ready to go. I guess I better go check to see if I have any of the other important stuff, like a passport, and maybe some underwear...

It would be good if the fairies would do some packing for me. I guess they don't do that sort of thing. Best get on it...