SP10 Contest #2

This contest is to tell of the craziest fiber-related quest I've ever been on, going out of my way and spending months searching for a yarn.

It happens that I have the perfect story. While visiting my college during the first spring after I graduated, a friend and I went to check out the LYS that was right down the street. What timing! The woman running the store decided she had had enough but couldn't find a buyer, so she was closing the store and having a sale. My friend and I took this opportunity to buy a few yarns that we otherwise would not buy at full price. Remember, at the time I was only a year out of college and well into year 1 of 15 of being in debt to student loans, so anything over $7 a skein was more than I'd usually pay. I found 5 lovely balls of karabella Breeze, and decided they were destined to come home with me to become something great. Of course, I didn't have a pattern already picked out, so when it came time to actually try to knit with them, I found for almost every pattern I was 1 or 2 skeins short. Drat! I chose the near impossible task of searching high and low for 2 more skeins of this stuff, and hoping that maybe the lots (since I knew I'd never be so lucky to get the same one) wouldn't be too noticably off. Remember, I bought these skeins 3000 miles from home, and only realized I was short after getting home,a dn after the other shop closed.

Ever since April 2006, every yarn store I would go into, the first question would be "do you carry Karabella Breeze?" My LYS conveniently carries every Karrabella yarn out there... except for Breeze. I searched another shop close to me. A shop in Berkeley; no luck there either. One in San Carlos? Nope. How about on vacation in other states? Nope, not there either. One weekend Mr Kiwi and I drove up to Davis to hit up two yarn stores, one of which was established and the other which had just opened. I was hopeful. The new one did not have Karabella (although they had lovely yarns and a beautiful set up) and the established shop had a total of 2 Margarite Bulky, and a Boulce yarn. No Breeze. I was beginning to feel like I was out of luck and may have to figure out some creative way of using my skeins that did not involve a cute top, which I was so hoping for. I had about given up when Christmas time came. The friend I had initially gone with to get the skeins had sent me a gift certificate to an online knitting shop which it turns out she loves. I think it was for $25. I cruise around the online store, and think "I wonder....." I searched, and ho, ho! They carried Karabella Breeze! In my color! No way! My gift certificate was enough to buy the two skeins that I had been searching 8 months for. Rock on! At this point, I didn't even care what the dye lots were. It had been too long searching, and what were the chances that an on line store and an out of business brick adn mortar store would carry the same lot? How big are dye lots anyway? It didn't matter. About a week later, I received my long awaited package. After opening it, I dug out one of the original skeins to see how badly the colors looked and how I was going to alternate skeins to make them blend in and not look too bad. They actually didn't look too bad. Actually, they looked pretty damned exact. I checked their tags, and wouldn't you know it. Both said color 28 (of course) and to my surprise, they were both also Lot 3692.

I like to believe it was luck and that there isn't really no dye lot for this yarn. It's just too cool. And I have plans for those puppies. Oh yes I do. ;o)