Procrastination Nation

Hi, my name is Velma, and I'm a procrastinator.

And it's bitten me in the ass again. Yesterday was the (postponed, no less) deadline for the felted bag contest at my LYS, Handmade Memories. As you may know, I took off several (ok, five) days to finish my entry, The Big O. I was crankin' along, enjoying the process, watching it take shape, and generally thinking I was gonna kick my competition's ass! It was gonna come down to the wire, but it was gonna be done in time. Then, WHAM!, I hit an insurmountable wall: I. Ran. Out. Of. YARN.

This I was not expecting (obviously). I'd already run out once, which is why I'd stalled the first time, waiting 'til another order of Lamb's Pride came in. But twice? The pattern called for 440 yards of worsted weight wool, and when I ran out Monday I'd already gone through 570 yards. Instead of the 2 skeins I'd initially calculated I'd need, or the 3 skeins I had after purchasing more, I actually needed FOUR FREAKIN' SKEINS of the main color to finish the bag.

Now, it's been suggested that my gauge was off, which is possible, particularly since I didn't knit a gauge swatch for this project (it's felted, after all, which usually hides a world of gauge hurt). But since my secondary color use came in at about the yardage predicted, I can't imagine that's the case. Which means that I have an extra skein of the green, because I assumed I'd need more of that too, but didn't.

You might be asking about now, "Velma, why didn't you just go buy more yarn?", and you'd be right to do so. But all of the local yarn purveyors are closed on Mondays, so there was no hope there. I thought about subbing the black Cascade 220 I had in my stash for the Lamb's Pride, but they are radically different (2ply vs. singles, mohair/wool vs. wool only...), and I didn't want to ruin all my efforts. I posted my woes on the Ravelry Purl 'n Hurl board, hoping someone could bail me out with some scraps, but to no avail. Alas, my bag isn't meant to be in the lineup for the contest. Sigh...

But not to worry, as soon as I get the chance I'm off to buy more yarn and finish this sucker up. It's lookin' real good; that shot above is one side on the ring, unfelted. I think this is gonna be one spiffy bag!

And I hear that there are some fantastic entries in the contest. So if you live around here, get up to Handmade Memories and vote your little hearts out before Saturday. The winner will thank you. And let this be a lesson to you: THIS is what happens when you procrastinate!

Tags: knitting, WIP, procrastination, Handmade Memories, contest, bag