Chance of exposure

I have a skein of yarn for which I cannot find the ballband or cannot match with the ballband. I bought it several months ago and started using it for something that never came to fruition because I was having problems with it twisting in the round.

Today I decided I would drop by the local yarn shop where I purchased it to see if I could identify what the yarn is. I pulled into the tiny parking lot behind another vehicle. As I parked I noticed that the other car had a current parking sticker from where I'm employed. It's going to sound crazy, but I seriously considered turning the car right back around and leaving.

I was not particularly close to where I work, so I was shocked at how unlikely it was to encounter this situation. I haven't been to this LYS in a long time, possibly since I bought this yarn in the winter, so go figure that on the rare occasion I'm there, this happens.

I decided to take my time getting out of my car and crane my neck to see if I recognized the person who drove the other vehicle. She looked vaguely familiar but was not someone I could place with a name or a department. I have no idea how recognizable I am. (The whole TV thing means I run into people I've never met but who know me from the show.) I chose to risk identification and slunk in.

Fortunately she was not browsing but instead picking up an order at the cash register. This allowed me to slip by and try to become invisible, or as invisible as a guy in a yarn shop can get. I kept my back to the front of the store as much as possible. She soon left and I relaxed a bit.

I know this scenario and my behavior sounds ridiculous, but for those who are unaware, I have made a point of keeping my knitting secret at work. It's probably only a matter of time that I'm found out.

I kept waiting for someone to come by at the knit night I attended on Tuesday and spot me. The location is close enough to campus that it's not out of the realm of possibility that a student or college employee might be there as a patron or worker. A few weeks ago at the knit night I regularly go to on Thursdays I saw an old professor of mine who is retired. I don't know if he saw me, although in that case I wasn't so concerned.

So yeah, I'm probably due to be seen knitting in public or shopping at a yarn store eventually. It doesn't mean I'll be pleased.

As for the yarn mystery, I wrote down the names and numerical colorways of two yarns with similar colors. (It would have made so much more sense to take the yarn with me.) I'll dig through the ballbands I have and see if I come across any with a matching colorway. If not, I can always attempt the burn test since one is an acrylic/wool blend and the other is 100% wool. Or I could bypass playing with fire and take the yarn into the store.