A Color Story

Once upon a time, there was a bright pink skein of yarn.

Or, at least, it LOOKED like a bright pink skein of yarn.  It looked so bright that a Certain Knitter thought that it was probably TOO bright and TOO pink for her (very particular) tastes.  So it languished in The Stash for several years.

In that same Stash, there lived a prized skein of yarn from the Kingdom of Sundara. 

It was a skein that just looked like a party waiting to happen -- black. . . with pink/purple confetti.  The Certain Knitter was waiting. . . waiting . . . waiting for the perfect opportunity to release the power of the prized skein from The Stash.

And then, in the summer of 2011. . . there came to pass the Through the Loops Summer Shawl KAL.  Cladonia was calling.  Loudly.  And the Certain Knitter heeded the call.

What if. . .

What if. . .

What if. . . the Certain Knitter married the brightness that was the Too-Pink Skein. . . with the beauty that was the Confetti-Black Skein. . . in stripes!  Cladonia stripes!  The Confetti-Black would surely tame the brightness of the Too-Pink skein.

And. . .

What if. . .

They were joined in fun by

Mr. Neon Green.  Leftovers still lurking in The Stash.  Already appearing in Tempest.  And minions.  Wouldn't he make a fine addition to the party?

Absolutely.  Send the invitation.

Let the wild rumpus begin!

But.

Something happened along the way.

The Confetti-Black. . . was a lot more . . . black. . . than expected.

And, when paired with black in a two-stripe pattern, the Too-Bright Pink. . . appeared. . . not-so-bright.  In fact. . . it appeared. . . sort of purple!

The Certain Knitter was slightly flummoxed.  She was planning on a Wild Rumpus.  She was planning on a Party.  This was Not Quite What She Expected.

Never fear, though.  Mr. Neon Green would pull her through!  He would Save the Day and become The Life of the Party.

But no.

That was not the case.

Mr. Neon Green did not Save the Day. Mr. Neon Green gave the Entire Project a witch-y look. . . somewhat reminiscent of the Certain Knitter's favorite musical.  And, while the Certain Knitter does not actually mind a Wicked-themed shawl, it was not the Look She Was Going For.

Serendipitously, a Certain Knitter sat on her needles and pulled out several rows.  Luckily, she discovered a more grievous error in her lace knitting.  Fortunately, a Certain Knitter had to re-think the project.  Just-in-the-nick-of-time, a Certain Knitter faced the facts.

This Color Story did NOT have a happy ending.

So she ripped.  And she pondered.  And she placed every darn stitch back on the needles.

And resigned herself to a slightly more-boring color scheme than she had imagined.  She knit the 16-row lace pattern in one of the main colors (the Not-Too-Bright-But-More-Like-Raspberry-Pink).  She settled on a two-color Cladonia.

But, then. . .

But, then. . .

But, then. . . she listened to the little nagging voice that kept whispering. . . Mr. Neon Green was invited to this party.  Mr. Neon Green Has Potential.  Mr. Neon Green Demands To Be Heard.

And the Certain Knitter decided to Go For It.

She decided to let Mr. Neon Green be In Charge of the Border.  She let him drip from the edge of the shawl.

And THAT. . .

made ALL the difference!

The End.

(Ravelry details here.)