6: Knitting dangerously

My WIP basket is looking like this at the moment:



Two almost, oh-so very close to finished garments, that only have four or five cms left of the hem to go. But unfinished.

All because I knit dangerously. *scoff scoff* *ho ho*
And I NEVER learn from my near disasters not to.

How does one knit dangerously?
Well, I engage in a little game that my fellow designer and friend, Shannon, has termed, playing yardage chicken. I like that.

So what is yardage chicken?
It's pushing your yardage to the limit, flirting with danger and seeing just how far that ball of yarn will go. so why do it? Is it the tightarse in me, not wanting to see yarn go to waste? Possibly.
But you know, there's this awesome little rush of adrenalin you get when you finish a garment and you've won that yardage game and have a couple of metres left. It's a strange sort of kick I'm sure only knitters understand.

I've always played this game. Original rainbow dress, yardage left over mmm, maybe 30cm. Same with the Oriental Lily, and to be honest most rainbow dresses I've ever knit. I've even had to find some matching yarn scraps because I've lost the game and run out on the cast off.

Lately I've had a few near disasters with yardage chicken. At one stage, it seemed every test knit was becoming a flirtation with danger.

the dolly cassia: lost
tobias: lost
acacia singlet: should have lost but cast off a little shorter than it should be (shh)
darwinia baby doll: lost
darwinia sundress: lost

hmm, so with so many losses going on, why don't I learn? Because in every one of these situations, disaster has been diverted.

Dolly cassia and tobias, both knit in WOOLganics, ordered more yarn.
Darwinia baby doll: the dyer is dyeing me some more yarn. She's even had me send her a metre or so of the stuff I have so she can match it better.
Darwinia sundress: Now this could have been a total disaster, BWM have discontinued the colour I'm knitting this in. But you know what, I put a call out on Ravelry, a desperate one albeit, and a yarn fairy is coming to my rescue, so this little baby will be finished.




Lucky? Flukey? Assy?
Who knows.
But you know, until I experience complete and unretrievable yardage disasters, I'm probably still going to flirt with it dangerously. It's just too tempting.

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