Unfaithful

I have strayed. But I can explain - really, I can.

Mr Hoppo Bumpo, if you are reading this (hmmm ... like that's ever going to happen), keep your wool on - I'm talking crochet here.

A couple of weeks ago I started crocheting granny squares in earnest. A somewhat slow process, but an enjoyable one. I adore the yarn I am using. Its called Wendy Pearl Luxury Cotton and is 75% cotton. The remainder of the composition is viscose, which I assume produces the pretty little glints twisted into the fibre. Its so soft and beautiful, that I think I might be more in love with just holding the work, than the crochet process itself.

By this weekend past, I had completed 6 largish squares. Granted, not many. So at this point I either had a graceful exit (a set of coasters) or a lot of work ahead of me (an Afghan rug). I decided to press on with the rug. That said, I realised that I didn't have enough yarn.

If you read my earlier post about this particular yarn, you may know that I picked up 9 balls in an end-of-line special. Being as I'm not a crocheter, I guessed at the amount of yarn required.

Estimating the number of balls needed by weight was clearly a misguided strategy. Usually I am prone to under-estimates (e.g. Was that really a kilo of chocolate I ate? It seemed like so much less), but in this case, I think I went the other way. I've discovered that each ball will produce only three and a bit squares, which means that at around 30 squares, my sumptuous Afghan would be little more than a knee rug.

Sadly by now, I had it in my head that my future rug would be so beautiful, that it would be heirloom stuff. Clearly I am not talking from a technical point of view (all of the squares are wonky and no two appear to be exactly the same size). No, I was envisaging future generations running their hands over the rug, as they admired the soft cottony loveliness and the glint in the sunlight.

I needed more yarn.

So armed with product numbers and dye lots I started looking for additional supplies. It appeared that there is indeed a little of the West Yorkshire Wendy Pearl about. Some in Australia; more in the UK. And different colours too. Sadly none of it quite as cheap as my original purchase (especially if you factor in a £30 freight charge quoted by one online store in England). I was doing the sums and mulling over the next step, when we decided to take our road trip.

And that's when it happened. I have to blame it all on Trev.

I was visiting Hamilton in country Victoria and popped into my favourite shop Trev's Bargain Emporium. Rummaging in the back of the store with no particular purpose in mind, I spied it. The bargain yarn: generic yellow label; 62% cotton, 38% nylon. It was a funny crinkly texture and in a multi-colour palette that seemed awfully close to my Wendy Pearl. It was a bit shiny. And just $1.

I was seduced in a moment. Without hesitation, I piled the balls into my arms and hot-footed it to the counter to pay. I never considered whether I could possibly crochet this yarn up into similar sized squares. Or whether its just plain wrong to mix yarns of different compositions in one rug. I went home and started a new batch of granny squares. For two days, I loved the novelty.

But now a week on, I've realised, I don't love this new yarn like the old. I don't think its going to stand the test of time. I don't think its going to be there for me - or future generations - later. I don't want caress it and hold it up in the sunshine. And I rather have my doubts that its really who it said it was: 62% cotton? I don't think so.

Oh, I feel so cheap.