buk buk buk bagok!

This morning I tried explaining to my kids about "yarn chicken." You know what playing chicken is, right? They nodded. Well I'm playing yarn chicken with this sweater. I'm trying to knit faster in the hopes that I won't run out of yarn. They looked at me, confused. How does knitting faster help, mom? 

Knitting faster does not help. It just speeds up the inevitable. In any case, there's no denying it: I am definitely going to run out of yarn before this sweater is done.

I haven't revealed this project on the blog yet because it's a test knit and had to remain Top Secret until the pattern was released a few days ago. Do you recognize it? Plum Wine by Thea Coleman of babycocktails. You can see all of her patterns listed here. She is prolific!

Obviously, I'm not quite done. I did finish all the parts that test knitters needed to check, so I was more or less on time for the pattern release. As you can see, I have the finish the second sleeve and do the button band. As you can also see, I do not have enough yarn!

I used Cascade 220, color 8404 ("light teal" though I wouldn't call it "light"), five skeins from my stash. I think I bought this yarn at Lakeside Fibers (now out of business) at least 6 years ago, maybe longer. I thought five skeins would be plenty, but as I knit down the first sleeve and saw how much yarn it was taking, I started getting nervous, and by the time I started the second sleeve, I knew I wasn't going to make it. 

I went to Wisconsin Craft Market yesterday because they stock most colors of Cascade 220, and I hoped they would have it, even though there was no chance I could find the right dye lot. Nothing came close, however, and when I asked for help, the lovely employees who found the company's color card for me said that color has been discontinued.

Bummer.

In a fit of optimism, I wandered into the Hancock Fabrics next door and bought buttons for the as-yet nonexistent button band.

I know I have enough for the sleeve, so it's just the button band that is the issue. I can live with a different lot for that, but a different color? Not so sure. I searched destash pages on Ravelry, made three inquiries, and haven't heard back. Thea is checking at WEBS (she's got connections, yo) to see if they have any lurking in the basement. After I posted a desperate plea on IG, someone found an online shop that has a few skeins of the LIGHT TEAL 8404 in stock, so I'll order one from them if WEBS doesn't come through by tomorrow. I figure my last option would be to do a subtle stripe in the button band using the last few bits of what I have and another shade of blue/teal that doesn't clash too horribly.

A few yards here, a few yards there...

I thought about leaving the button band off completely, since there is already a nice edging knit into the main part of the sweater, but I really do want to be able to close it, and I want that extra couple inches of ease as well.

One way or another, I will finish this sweater! And it will be so fabulous. I've already tried it on and it's a beautiful fit with some lovely details. Depending on how and when I acquire the yarn to knit the last bit, I will soon have an FO to share.