What WAS I thinking??

Yet another unfinished project from the past.

When looking backwards in time I have often wondered, "What on earth was I thinking?" when trying to figure out why I did what I did--or didn't--do.  My vow to complete all of my unfinished knitting projects has prompted me to wonder this many times.

Recently I've been trying to finish a lovely lavender lace cardigan, made out of a cotton/viscose/silk yarn.  I found this poor abandoned item at the bottom of a knitting bag for another project.  Turns out that I began this project in 2011. I love the lace cardigan pattern, the color of the yarn, everything.  Why on earth did I stop working on it?  What WAS I thinking??
 
I had completed the body of the sweater, one complete sleeve and one half of the other sleeve.  I was almost finished.  And I left it, abandoned, in the bottom of a knitting project buried under a larger project, never to see the light of day again until recently.

Maybe I just didn't want to sew the darn thing together.  Maybe the season changed and I didn't want to wear a cotton cardigan in the fall, and started a warm wool project. Maybe Christmas present knitting took over.  Maybe I got all the entertainment value out of the project and was seduced by a new, more interesting project.  I can't possibly get into my state of mind back in 2011. 

But, it turns out that my failure to complete on time was serendipitous. 

Look closely at the top third of the photo on the left.  The top third of the front of the cardigan.  It's subtle.  I didn't see it at first either.

And, look closely at the top third of the photo on the right.  Can you see anything that looks odd??    I didn't until I took the project to my favorite yarn shop cum coffee shop, The Sow's Ear.  There, under better lighting, I noticed that the yarn had changed color!!!  No, this wasn't magic.  The color changed when I started a new skein of yarn, having run out of the previous skein.

I diligently checked the ball band for the yarn.  All the ball bands indicated the same dye lot. 

Conclusion, one skein of yarn obviously was a different color, even though the company sold it as the same color. 

So, the question is, was this the reason for abandoning the project?  Did I throw it into the bottom of the project bag in disgust?  Sometimes having to rip out hard work is annoying, to say the least.  Luckily I have other skeins of the yarn that match the color of the rest of the cardigan. So, why didn't I just rip and re-knit the sections back in 2011??  I'll never know. 

So, the past week I've been ripping out the aberrant color and re-knitting--in between working on the cute, fun red and white baby sweater.  Today I finished the second sleeve and after careful study determined where I was in the complicated cable in the front of the sweater when the color changed.  I'm now on the path to completion.

New vow--no more work on the cute, darling, fun-to-knit baby sweater until I fully complete this troublesome summer lace cardigan.  Tomorrow I hope to finish re-knitting the front, sew the thing together and shop for the pretty little buttons.  Then the neck band, the button band and FREEDOM!!! 

p.s.  In case you want to know, the pattern is Jamaica, from Dale of Norway.  The yarn is Svale, now discontinued.