Handspun and not enough yarn!

I finished another skein of handspun recently. I wasn't sure what I was going to get from this roving. It was dyed with pastel pink, pastel green, a hint of lavender, and a pop of bright royal blue. Spun up it looks pretty good. Without the pop of royal blue it would be a very pale pastel skein. Double click on the picture for a closer look. 4.0 oz Shetland/559 yards.

I finished a batch of cat toys last week and delivered them to the Cat Care Clinic. My vet has a toy jar I try to keep filled with cat toys. All the proceeds go to Pet Refuge, my local no-kill shelter. I promised them another batch sometime this week. They're knitted but still have to be washed and stuffed. I wash all the toys I knit because they're made from scrap yarn I've gotten from donations or Ebay purchases. Michelle in Pennsylvania is a regular in sending me tiny balls and bits of worsted weight yarn leftover from her group's charity projects. I received a package from her this week along with some cute dog coats she sent for Pet Refuge. I'm going to ask her if I can donate some of the polar fleece I have for her projects.

Also on the needles is a secret project that is a gift for a friend. I can't post about who since I don't want to spoil the surprise. I had initially considered knitting a scarf with some handspun. This would have been a fast and easy project but still special since it would be made with my handspun. The problem being that I couldn't find any handspun in my stash of the correct yardage and the right colorway for this person. So as any knitter would do, I started rummaging in my stash and...wait a minute, that bright red variegated sock yarn would be perfect! (Patons Kroy socks in paintbox) Only two skeins...hmm...do you think I could get a small shawl out of it? I wanted something simple as the yarn is very bright and busy. Settled on the Syrian Shawl in Victorian Lace Today. I didn't like the yarnover edge, so I'm keeping the edge stitch in garter and doing the yarnover after it. I'll add a lace border at the end. I didn't like the edging in the book so I'll look for another one to use. I cast on and knitting along admiring how well this colorway is knitting up. It hits me that if I want a reasonable size shawl with edging that I'm not going to have enough yarn. VLT says 700 yards for this shawl. At this point I have a little less than 400.

Ok, now what do I do? My heart is set on this yarn. No time to order more and still finish the shawl in less than 2 weeks. I check the website of a local craft store and they have some in stock. Drive over and check it out. Oh no, they have 2 dyelots and they are both very different from what I have. Buy 2 skeins anyway and hope I can work it in. Come home, have a brain storm and post on the Knitlist and Ravelry to see if anyone has the dyelot I need.

I checked my email today and one person replied that she doesn't have the same dyelot but would her yarn work? We exchanged pictures and it looks to be a pretty close match. Much better than the two skeins I bought. Sara is going to mail it to me tomorrow from Illinois. Bless her! I have yet to work out payment or a trade. Though she can ask for about anything but my hubby and the kitties for saving me. LOL!