Cinderella Skein

There is a warning passed down from crafter to crafter about yarn:

Always buy more than you think you will need.

Because if you err on the side of caution, you tend to be alright, but if you convince yourself that you can "make it work" you will be just short enough that you can’t make it work, but just close enough that you didn’t see it it coming until it was too late, and then you go through the heart-wrenching discovery that dye lots are VERY different and availability is as moody as the winter ocean.

Can you see where I'm going with this?

This lovely yarn was something I came across during the yarn crawl, and much to my lament it was the last one of its kind at the shop.  

At first I tried to convince myself that I wouldn't need another skein (which is why I bought it) but as I drew up patterns and fantasized what it would be, I came to the conclusion that I would need more.  

My first mistake: I ordered a skein online that was supposed to be the exact same colour as my lonely little ball.  As you can see from the yarn on the left, I was woefully misled.  

I began to recount every store my yarn crawl companion and I visited, desperately trying to remember if any stores also sold this line of yarn.

I backtracked feverishly, and attempted to find a match.

It was in Starlight Knitting Society, of course, that I found something that spoke a little too fondly to my solitary skein.  It was a goldenrod yellow that, while not capturing the colours I treasure so dearly in the first skein, complemented them and made the orangey undertones pop in a way I hadn't seen fully before.  The goldenrod fiber was purchased -- for science.

Next I found that Knitting Bee did carry the same line of yarn as my lonesome fiber, but simply didn't have the exact colour.  Yet a sweet and strong purple called out to my forsaken skein, and made a connection with the moody and mysterious purples lurking within.

This too was purchased (for science).

I settled all of these strange darlings together and looked at them with an intensity that I can only manifest for my crafting, and realised that these sweet lovelies were all meant to be together.

Even though I thought I wanted a certain thing for my lone skein, I realised that (like with much of life) my idea of perfection was getting in the way of something potentially greater.  Obviously time will tell if this is wonderful or monstrous, but in the off chance you ever come across a sad and lonely skein that must be made into something beautiful, know that there is hope.

And so they will happily ever after together, just as soon as I make them into a shawl.  So, as always,

Stay sweet, stay crafty, and stay tuned.