life lesson from knitting #2

never assume - always check the dye lot.

i got to the point in my hooded baby blanket last night where i needed to add in a new skein of yarn. i didn't notice until i got about 2 inches in that it was a lighter shade than the first skein i had knit with. my first thought was an incoherent "aaAARrggG!" first i thought about pulling it out. then i thought "eff it, maybe i'll just quit all together," but then as i sat and looked at the perfect line of light violet i realized - life isn't perfect and neither is this stupid blanket. so what if the colors don't perfectly match? i've worked hard on it and i'm not going to quit now. in fact, maybe it'll even look like i did it on purpose! (just humor me.)

when i bought the yarn at joann fabrics - i just assumed that since i was grabbing yarn out of the same bin that it would be from the same dye lot. well i learned my lesson there. i keep all the tags from my yarn so i went back through them last night and sure enough... they are completely different dye lot numbers. cuuuurse youuu joannnn fabricssss!

i'm the type of person that has to learn things the hard way. even though i read the chapter in stitch n bitch about buying yarn and how you should always double check the dye lot - did i listen? of course not. it takes an experience of buying the wrong yarn for the point to really be driven home.

i realize that this little lesson shows itself in my daily life too. along with being a procrastinator i also like to do things the quick and easy way. i wanted to run into joanns, grab my yarn and get the heck home. checking the dye lot would've required too much effort on my part. i just expect people to do their job and to not put different dye lots in the same bin! this is something i need to be aware of. i need to be more thorough and productive. i need to take heed of what people tell me to avoid future bumps in the road. and more importantly, i need to be responsible for myself. i shouldn't always go by what is expected that someone else do.

in the end, i'm actually glad i made the mistake. it has taught me that nothing in life is perfect. oh yeah, and always check the dye lot.