A Knitter's Nightmare

A couple weeks ago, I briefly mentioned that I had started knitting a 3/4-sleeved cardigan. I fell for the thing when I saw it in a magazine, but I couldn't get to it right away due to my scarf project.

Things were going along swimmingly, and then I ran into a bit of a snag. I ran out of yarn.

When I started the sweater, I thought I had two skeins of the yarn. It was a dark green color called forest floor. As I came upon the end of skein one, I went looking for skein two, and I couldn't find it. Somehow I had miscalculated. I think I bought two skeins (or maybe three), and used all but one on another project.

Remember the sweater I made for my nephew?

Anyway, I wasn't terribly worried. I'd just go out and buy enough yarn to finish my sweater. (The yarn was of the "no dye lot" variety, so I didn't have that worry plaguing me.) I went out to the yarn store to find that they were sold out of only one color--forest floor.

As I was out and about (and it was a nice, sunny day), I figured I could drive to another yarn store. There, I found the same situation--plenty of the yarn, none of it forest floor. Luckily, a lady was working in the yarn section, so I asked about it.

Turns out that color is in a strange sort of limbo. The stores are only getting it in small quantities if at all. The other colors, they get dozens of skeins at a time. Forest floor--maybe four skeins at a time. Disaster!

I tried one more store before giving up and going home. Then, I had a decision to make. Option 1: Find a color that's actually in stock and start anew. Option 2: Wait until the yarn store gets it back in stock. Option 3: Internet!

I seriously considered option 1. I kind of enjoy ripping out knitting, and maybe another color would work better. As for option 2, the lady at the yarn store said they were due to get a couple skeins the next week. However, I've worked in retail, and I know that just because it's supposed to be on the truck doesn't mean it will be on the truck, and the likelihood that a mistake is made is in direct proportion to how badly you need that item.

Well, there was an option 3.

I found it on the Internet. I put in my order. Now it was time to wait and wonder. Would the yarn be the right yarn? Would the colors match?

I love Internet tracking of purchases. I got to follow the progress of my yarn. Unfortunately, it got stuck in Carson on the 17th, and it didn't move most of the week. I got to the point where I couldn't work on my sweater any longer as I was within a row of being out of yarn.

Oh, by the way, I was about to here...

Then Friday, it arrived. I checked the yarn against my sweater, and it seemed to be a match. Whew!

There's a moral to my story. I should check these things before I start the project. However, I don't usually jump in like this, and I did find the yarn, so will I keep this in mind before I start my next project? Probably not.