Red Heart did me dirty.
I had most of a skein left from a previous project and I errantly thought I could crochet an entire blanket from it. I was wrong.
So, I did what I normally do. I ordered another skein.
The dye lots did not match.
My blanket was unsalvageable… I thought.
In the picture above, the square on the left is made from my original yarn. The colors are bold and bright. The yarn in question is Red Heart Super Saver Bitty Stripes in Rainbow. Now to be fair, when you buy yarn, you are supposed to make sure it comes from the same dye lot because they can vary, but this one varied A LOT. The square on the right is the new skein of yarn. Those purples aren’t even close to the same color.
What was I to do?
I considered continuing the pattern (Modern Granny Baby Blanket), but was afraid it would be too obvious in the end that I used the wrong yarn.
Then I came up with a compromise. I added ten rows using the new color on each end of the blanket, then crocheted a border around the entire thing. I think the compromise worked.
The blanket is saved.
Because I had already done two squares in Red Heart Supper Saver Bitty Stripes Ranbow Mist, the change in color doesn’t seem so obvious. I’m even willing to go as far as to say that the different shades almost look intentional in the end.
Sometimes we need to think outside the box (granny square) in order to find a solution.
The moral of the story: check your dye lot, but if you can’t, use your imagination. You might come up with something better.
Keep stitching, Heidi
This happened to me when I needed about one more skein to finish an afghan. I found out that entire color scheme had been discontinued! I found someone on Ravelry who had some and was willing to sell it to me. The dye lots were SO different that the skeins I’d been using had an almost iridescent sheen to them. The ones I bought separately were definitely the same brand and color name, but not iridescent at all. I finished the afghan anyway, which ended up the size of a lap blanket, and kept it for myself to use on my lap in the winter while reading. Lesson learned! Better to buy a little too much yarn than not enough.