Has anyone else had the unpleasant and slightly exciting experience of playing Yarn Chicken recently? I have. What is Yarn Chicken? It is a tension filled game that knitters and crocheters play as they pray their skein wont end before their pattern does.
My most recent project left me playing Yarn Chicken. The closer I came to the end of my pattern the smaller and more inadequate my yarn ball seemed. My shawl grew a few stitches wider with every row and my ball kept shrinking to the point that I feared I would have to do some math to modify the pattern. As I knit and prayed that I would have enough yarn. I was also mentally trying to do the math for the lace repeats and trying to figure out a way to make the lacy pattern work.
As I stressed I also consulted the ladies I knit with on Saturdays. I checked to see if the yarn shop had another skein in the same color and dye-lot (of course they didn’t). I fretted over the possibility of having to order another skein, the dye-lots not matching, and having to purchase another skein when I would only need a few yards. My knitting friends all agreed that I would have enough but that it would be a nail-biter.
Those wise ladies were correct. I did ultimately have enough, but was left with less than a few yards. As a tight knitter I almost never have to worry about playing Yarn Chicken because the way I knit naturally leaves more yarn on the skein. Luckily, this time I had enough. I can only hope that I don’t have to sweat it so much with my next project.
May you always win your games of Yarn Chicken.
Dove Call Knits 