yarn fail - saved!

"Yarn fails" come in two main categories for me. Either I've used the wrong yarn for a project (whether wrong handle, weight or look) or I've run out of yarn before I finish. While the former I can view as a learning experience (especially as I use a lot of vintage patterns which don't have a gauge listed), the latter make me embarrassed and defensive. It seems like such a silly mistake!

My last yarn fail happened when I found a scarf pattern in a crochet magazine that I thought would suit a friend of mine, so I dug out a lovely variegated yarn with a light sheen out of stash and started it... only to run out of yarn about 2/3 of the way through.

The design consists of triangles - I was supposed to end up with 16 and I only had 10. Attempts to match the yarn failed, as not only did I buy it four years ago, so the store no longer stocked it, but I'd lost the wrapper of the skein so didn't know brand or anything.  I could have left it as a short scarf, but that seemed terribly poor form for something that was going to be a present. Annoyed with myself, I gave myself a stern lecture on how I should plan projects more carefully. Weeks later, I went and bought some new yarn, still variagated but with a stronger colour palette, to use for the scarf, and I started again. The unfinished scarf got shoved into a small bag and left under my craft desk.

Today when I was clearing up said desk, I came across it and thought that there had to be something I could do. In line with the interest in ethical fashion and moving towards more ethical crafting, I couldn't just throw it out and waste the yarn and my time, but I didn't want to unravel it all either.

It was then I had a lightbulb moment! I undid the half-triangle at the working end, until only one row remained, and then I looped it around and joined it to the starting end, forming a cowl scarf. It will go around my neck looped twice. A perfect addition to my scarf drawer.