Sunday, June 29, 2008

It's a Puzzlement

Well before my nephew was born (in February), I began a baby blanket for him: Rambling Rows, in Koigu. I blithely followed the yarn-requirement guidelines posted on the office wall, which represented the accumulated wisdom (or so I thought) of many knitters before me: 1 sk of Color A, the color that only appears in the four large squares near the center; two skeins each of B, C, D, and E; one skein for the border.

Knitting proceeded apace. It was . . . let's say it was intermittent. In my defense, I'd like to point out that, since I began the blanket, I've also cast on and completed a Swallowtail shawl, a cardigan from Rowan Studio, a Manos jacket, a Manos Silk Blend shawl, a Manos afghan, a felted Moebius basket, a pair of felted baby booties, a baby hat with a flower on it, another Manos jacket, plus sundry bits and swatches.

So what with one thing and another, blanket progress was a little slow. But a few weeks ago I got back into it and was making good progress -- once I was past square #40 (out of a total of 55), I really felt like it was the home stretch. Then, this happened:



Near the end of the last big block of Color A, I ran out of yarn.

I went digging in the ol' stash to see if there was another skein of the same stuff, and I found 3 contenders. But when I started to check the tags, I got stuck: the three full skeins in the photo aren't all the same color (let alone the same lot), and none of them matches any of the tags I've got in the bag with the blanket.

Here's what I know: two of the full skeins are P518, and one is 113. My labels are 1030, 3005, 820, 407, and 509. I can eliminate 1030 and 3005 because they're solids (KPM rather than KPPPM), and I know 509 is the bright yellow-green because I've got a skein with a label still on it.

What would you do? Go with one of the new skeins (knowing it's the wrong color, and that the difference will probably be more obvious when it's knit up)? Keep trying to find out whether the original A was 820 or 407, and hunt for more of that? Rip the partial block, so that it's a different color from the other 3 but at least the same color all the way through? Something else?

I'm beginning to feel a sense of pressure about this: that baby isn't getting any smaller. Help!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I would rip most of it out and blend it with the yarn color that is closest?

Sherry W said...

It's koigu, it will look fine if it's not a perfect match.

You went mill end diving, right?

Leslie said...

Have you tried finding someone on Ravelry who might have the other colors in their stash? I was able to get the exact dyelot to a yarn I needed from someone in Japan!

Rob said...

I vote for ripping out that specific square and alternating skeins of what's left and the best match. The mottled nature of KPPPM works in your favor!