So I’ve learned my lesson. Dye lots are of the devil. 👿
You know, Wool-Ease yarn comes in dye lots. I’ve never worked with dye lots before, although I’ve been warned. I even noticed when I picked up my five balls that they had dye lots, and felt an uneasy twinge, as I guessed I would need at least six. Maybe seven. But then, I figured, how far off could they possibly get with such a pale color?
Oh, far enough.
I bought another two balls at Jo-ann’s on Saturday (since Michael’s STILL hadn’t restocked the yarn – oh, shame on them…), innocently assuming it would be ‘close enough.’ Oh, no. The yarn I have is creamy, almost yellowish: the yarn I bought has a decidedly grayish look. I held a ball of it up against my mostly finished sweater, and there is a CLEAR differentiation between the two colors. 
Not good, not good.
So. My plan is this. I’m going to go to Michael’s, sweater in tow, and on the off chance they have restocked the wool-ease, I’m going to hold a ball of it up against the sweater and see how close it is. Well, I also kept the bands around my yarn (see, I’m not totally hopeless) so if, perchance, they have the same dye lot then all of this will be but a happy memory, or maybe I can ask if they can order some from that dye lot. But back to my plan – they have to eventually produce yarn that, even though it’s of a different dye lot, is close enough that I can integrate it into my sweater. There are only so many color variations that can be produced (well, only so many that are discernable to the human eye) of the same COLOR yarn. Even if I never see another ball of the same dye lot, eventually, I’ll find some that’s close enough, right?
Right?
Oh, anyone know a good project for 2 balls of wool-ease?
*UPDATE*
Well, I went to Michael’s again. They’re having a SALE on Wool-Ease (good price, too, at 1.79 a ball). A sale? I thought. Perhaps they’ve restocked for the sale.
But no.
After picking up some nice, Christmasy bows, I went to the checkout, where I brought up the fact that their yarn has remained unstocked for the past two weeks. At first the cashier looked puzzled, but then understanding lit her face and she said, “OH! You know what? Our yarn lady hurt her back.”
Now, I feel bad for the woman who hurt her back so badly she’s been off work for two weeks, but I’m a little confused by the fact that no one in this craft store noticed that the yarn was not being stocked for at least two weeks. Or correlated the fact that Yarn Lady was gone with the idea that someone else might have to do her work for her. I mean, obviously someone went around taping sale-price flyers to the yarn bins. Did they not notice that a third of them were empty? Or do the pricing people and the stocking people work opposite hours, each assuming that problems will be fixed during the other’s shift?
Lest you think that I, too, was guilty of making foolish assumptions to let this go on so long, be assured that I asked questions at each visit. First it was, ‘do you have any more in the back?’ Then, ‘when does your next shipment come in?’ I’ve learned that Michael’s is generally restocked twice a week, but during the Christmas holidays only one of those trucks carries their usual stock, the other being laden, I suppose, with trees and wreaths and garlands and such. I asked about the timing of the various trucks, but since I was never there on the day of restocking, I assumed for a while that someone else using the same color was clearing them out before I got there.
This time, however, I made the situation clear, even displaying my poor, half-finished sweater so she would understand my urgency. I was somewhat placated when she called the back (I guess someone is covering for yarn lady, after all, although I don’t think much of the job they’re doing), then took down the brand, type, color, and lot number of the yarn I needed, had me leave my name and phone number and assured me that they would call around to other Michael’s stores looking for more, and if that failed, attempt to special-order the dye lot I needed.
So perhaps this story will have a happy ending, after all. For now, however, I need to find another project to work on so I don’t just sit out here, staring at my poor Genevieve and wishing that I could work on her again, NOW! *sigh* So close…
Ouch! I’ve never seen dyelot yarn either–at least, not in stores. I hope you find some soon!
I too have a dye lot horror story. My poor celebrity shawl turned out striped. The yarn was on sale (all from the same dye lot, so the labels said), but every skein was a little different color. The worst part is that it was unreturnable since it was on sale.