My hubris has come back to haunt me. I said I laugh in their smug faces — what a mistake. I take it all back, honest! I didn’t really mean it!
Last night I rushed home to my mail box.  I threw it open and there was the envelope I have been waiting for: it was a special USPS shipping envelope, the right size, it obviously held two balls of yarn, it had the right amount of squishiness. I was ebullient!Â
I tore open the envelope and for a moment could not comprehend what I was looking at — it was not peacock blue, and it was not yarn. Slowly the realization came over me: it was a rejected design submission. My knitting design had been rejected and returned. Snap! Talk about adding insult to injury!
Later I checked my email and found out the peacock yarn is on back order — probably thanks to Surly, who spawned such a resurgence of interest in the Peacock Shawl that now the Zephyr yarn is sold out throughout the entire knitting world!
The knitting gods do not have a sense of humor, do they?
Aw. I’m sorry about the rejected design and the back-ordered yarn. I’ve been recently recruited to the world of lace/shawl knitting by your lovely sister and was going to order yarn myself today. Hmmm… no sense of humor at all.
Will you consider self-publishing the design? (Especially if it’s the one I’m thinking it might be.)
Comment by Wendy O'C — April 13, 2007 @ 8:14 am
The knitting gods enjoy black humor.
Comment by LaurieM — April 13, 2007 @ 8:23 am
Ouch! I feel your pain 🙁
I can’t imagine anyone rejecting any of your designs. Unfortunately some people don’t know a good thing unless it smacks em’ in the head…. hmmm not a bad idea?!
Comment by Michelle — April 13, 2007 @ 8:33 am
From Susan to WendyO — I will post the design on our site for free. It is the Wedding Purse that I made last year for a friend’s wedding. I don’t feel terribly awful about it, but it was more of an ouch because of the timing.
Comment by lv2knit — April 13, 2007 @ 9:22 am
Susan- The Knitting Gods will bite you in the bum every time.
It’s their loss- your design was lovely. Perhaps the timing was off all around.
Crossing my fingers for an iminent yarn delivery.
Comment by Lorraine — April 13, 2007 @ 11:37 am
Their loss is our gain!
Comment by AuntieAnn — April 13, 2007 @ 12:00 pm
Don’t tempt the Fates – they can be downright brutal. But on the other hand now you know and won’t be going to the box expectantly each day.
Next project??????
Comment by Denise~ — April 13, 2007 @ 12:25 pm
Sorry about the design rejection. Try it again somewhere else. As for the peacock Zephyr, did you try Sarahsyarns.com? She has Zephyr and maybe she has it in that color. I just bought some generic Kid Silk Haze for dyeing last week, and dealing with her was a pleasant and very speedy experience – the yarn is soaking right now and awaiting its second dye bath. On the other hand, it’s also true that her store is no more than two miles from my apartment…
Comment by Valerie — April 13, 2007 @ 12:30 pm
D’oh! Double d’oh!!!
Sucks about the rejection, but maybe it comforts you to know that every great author (knit pattern or otherwise) has a filing cabinet full of ’em. 🙁
Now, about the yarn – if you knew how to spin, you could just make your own shawl yarn… No need to wait for backordered millspun stuff! 😉
Comment by June — April 13, 2007 @ 12:31 pm
The yarn gods have spoken to me: you must finish Eris and then build an alter of knitting needles. At midnight, you must sacrifice fun fur. Repeat until your yarn comes (or until the smell of burnt fun fur overwhelms you and you see visions).
My favorite quote regarding the other situation: “Rejection only matters in organ transplants.” It sucks though. :/
Comment by Romi — April 13, 2007 @ 2:35 pm
I’m sorry about the rejection. That is always unpleasant. I hope you get your Zephyr yarn soon! I have an 1100 yd cake of admiral blue that is dying to get on my needles. It is great yarn.
Comment by Brenda — April 13, 2007 @ 2:53 pm
Cousin!
Aww, that hurts! And what kind of idjits are they to reject your gorgeous work?
Comment by Carrie K — April 13, 2007 @ 4:56 pm
Don’t lose that design proposal–I’ve heard of rejected designs getting accepted elsewhere often-and sometimes resubmitted and accepted later at the same publisher! Hope you get your yarn soon!
Comment by Amy — April 14, 2007 @ 7:29 pm