I don’t know about you, but I have a revolving door of works-in-progress.  Sometimes I get very excited about a project and finish it right away.  Other times I put it down to work on another project and will finish it later.  Other times I will get halfway through a project, set it down, and never pick it up again (I’m looking at you, cross-stitched wedding gift for my friend’s sister whose wedding was TWO YEARS AGO.  I HAVE SO MUCH SHAME).

Back in April I purchased Lion Brand Homespun yarn for one of their free patterns, a simple crochet shrug.  I picked up my crochet needle, tried working with the yarn and thought, “WAH THIS YARN IS HARD TO WORK WITH.”  Then I set it down and never picked it up again for five months.

Two weeks ago, I stared at my basket of overflowing basket of yarn and thought, ok.  I need to do something about this before Boyfriend puts me on Hoarders.  So I dug through my pattern file, pulled out the crochet shrug pattern, and collected the balls of yarn I’d need.  This time I didn’t have an issue with the Homespun yarn’s texture and was able to work with it easily.  I got halfway through the project when I realized I had several problems:

1. I get really cheap when I purchase yarn for a project, so I usually don’t buy all the yarn I need for a project all at once.  Ergo, now I was out of yarn.
2. The pattern stated that the piece would be worked up as an open fabric, but my project instead was turning out to be really bulky and thick.
3. My dog decided that my project was really his blanket and invited himself to snuggle in it whenever he wanted.

When I went to the craft store to purchase more yarn, I couldn’t find any of the dye lot that I had used to begin the project.  Which is to be expected when you initially shop for yarn five months before. Crossing my fingers, I brought the yarn home and started working on my project. I immediately realized I had another problem besides the different dye lot- the new yarn I’d bought seemed to be a lot thinner than what I initially used.  Sighing, I bound off the little project and handed it to my dog.

“Here you go,” I said.  I don’t think he was upset that I had messed up my project as he snuggled in the blanket and fell asleep.

It wasn’t until I was examining the yarn labels that I realized my real error. I had bought Homespun Thick and Quick back in April, and that is what I’d used to start my project. The yarn I brought recently was just Homespun, which is what I originally should have bought in the first place.  No wonder the project was working up to be so bulky.

So lesson learned.  Not only should I purchase all the yarn I need for a project at one time since different dye lots CAN make a difference with a project, I should actually, you know, purchase the correct type of yarn for the project.

Not that Apollo is complaining!