Devastated...

You all heard me rave last week about my latest WIP, the Baby Chalice Blanket.  I was zipping right along, enjoying knitting row by row, watching the lace pattern develop.  (Lace is really such a magical thing.  These designs that are put into strands of yarn, and how they transform with a little blocking…  anyway, I digress.)

I had started the 2^nd skein of my Madelinetosh Tosh DK and was 10 rows into the skein.  I look down, while watching some evening television with the family only to discover that my skeins do not match!!!  Oh my goodness, the horror!!  “Okay,” I thought, “maybe it’s just my imagination and the difference isn’t so bad.”  Not my luck that night.  Mr. Man spotted the exact place the color changed (and in poor lighting I might add).   My beautiful, perfect purple was considerably lighter and the color not as deep.

My next step was to wander (okay, run if it’s possible to do so via the internet) my way over to Ravelry to ask my trusted friends on the Itty Bitty forums.  They steered me right and after a very devastating evening I had a new plan. 

Originally, I was planning to rip out to the end of the first skein and continue on with skein 3 still in my stash.  But…I would still need an additional skein in the right color.  And without dyelots for this particular yarn, there was no way to guarantee that I’d get something that would match.

I put it away for the night.  Not a timeout, just…away.   The next morning I pulled out my cable and needs and riiiiiiipped it all the way back to the beginning to start over.

I compared skeins and I have 3 different shades.  If I do it right, by alternating skeins, I should be able to get a gradient effect by the time I’m finished.  I started with the lightest (and in a way, most disappointing of the 3 skeins…although disappointing isn’t really the right adjective because the color is still beautiful and the yarn is still lovely and squishy…).  I figure by the time I get to my last skein, I shall be basking in wonderful purple again and will encourage me to finish this little blanket with gusto.

It was sad to see all that work vanish.  But it’s also an important reminder to myself that it’s worth the time to correct mistakes and do things right.  This isn’t like leaving a purl in the middle of stockinette.  This was much bigger than that.  I know I’ll be happier with the blanket now that I’ve started over.  Some things just take more time.  

It did make me consider picking up Lego Man and putting some time into that project!