Syvli Coat DISASTER

If you have been following the Sylvi coat saga, perhaps you even started one yourself in our ambitious year-of-the-Sylvi-coat, you may have wondered what the heck happened to Lacie who was supposed to be leading us?

“Was it the baby?” you may ask. “Or did she just forget?”

Is it her fault?

Worse than both of those excuses, I should say, I made an irredeemable dyelot error. 

You see, I chose the lovely Sheep’s Grey for my coat, a natural fleece color full of the richness of minimally processed sheep’s wool. Its hand and hue are not far off from patting a sheep’s wooly back itself. BUT because of this unique feature, you MUST be sure to set aside enough of the same dyelot to complete your project - which is what I did, until one day when someone asked for some Sheep’s Grey and I said oh, I thought I didn’t have any but look, I have some right here. Not sure why it’s set aside, but you can have it. Sheesh. It occurred to me after I told her she could have it that I had set it aside to finish my Syvli. 

The lovely Sheep’s Grey

Oh well, I said. I’m sure the next lot won’t be far off.

WRONG!

Ever-so-wrong!

The next lot was much browner, being as the next sheep it came off was browner. Can’t blame the sheep for that. 

So now that the truth is out, how exactly do I plan to remedy this? Well, I had completed the sleeves and was just getting into the rhythm of the back, so while I considered fading the color in (knitting one row in one lot and the next in the other lot, a very handy trick) I believe the color difference is too stark, and the shoulders would stand out.

After much soul-searching, I decided to frog and start over, probably in a different color. Most likely instead of dealing with my poor decision right away, I will cram it into a tote and one day in 5 or 10 years I’ll pull it out and laugh at myself (yes, the new Lacie who NEVER starts a project without sufficient yarn in the same lot will laugh at that young, naive, Lacie) and maybe then have the courage to frog it. 

But until that day I will carry on, and keep knitting the coat! I almost made the coat in Fern at first, and I think that’s what I’ll do. It’s a more natural vine color anyway.

I will fulfill my promise to document my coat, and whether you are brave (or foolhardy) enough to follow still, well, that will be entirely up to you!

Please accept my humble apologies,

Lacie

Update: Our friend Jane suggested something that may prove genius if I can pull it off - she suggested finishing the coat in Sheep’s Grey and then overdyeing it. Brilliant!