Tuesday 20 November 2012

The Frog Pond

As I did a review yesterday of everything that is currently on my needles, I thought it might be interesting to look back at the projects that never got finished, and try to figure out why...

Unfinished Project the First



Feather and Fan scarf. I cast this on very early in my knitting career, before I knew much about anything *laughs* I cast it on too wide, so each row took forever, the yarn was cotton which I didn't like at all and I kept making mistakes but had no idea how to fix them. As lovely as the colours were, and the pattern, I gave up and moved on.

Oh Look, More Cotton




This was the project that absolutely confirmed that I am not a fan of cotton. I can manage a dishcloth or two, but 4 ply mercerized cotton is hell on my hands. The pattern was also pretty confusing - too many "at the same time" instructions *laughs* At one point I think I was keeping track of 5 different things at once, and it just wasn't fun.

Bad Yarn, Bad Pattern Modifications




Ages and ages ago, a colleague gave me some unwanted yarn belonging to his wife and there was this fabulous red colour with enough to make a vest. So I cast on, and immediately despaired. The yarn was acrylic, which I'm not too much of a snob about generally, but this felt like it was made of plastic bags. Ugh. Plus I was using a pattern for a different yarn weight and my maths was clearly so very wrong in trying to work out what I was doing *laughs*


Good Yarn, Bad Pattern



Well, by "bad pattern" I really mean "not the right pattern". I took ages choosing a pattern for this gorgeous 100% silk yarn and I still love the look of the scroll lace, but together they didn't get very far. Also I made a weird mistake somewhere and couldn't for the life of me work out what had gone wrong! The yarn is still in my stash, waiting for just the right thing.


Nothing Wrong, I Just Wasn't Feeling It





I planned to make a vest out of this gorgeous 100% alpaca yarn, but after a few inches it just wasn't working for me. As someone who doesn't like to rip things out if there's nothing actually wrong with them, it was quite liberating to discard this and move on. Again, yarn is awaiting the right project.

Have You Ever Tried to Frog Mohair?




Final project that went no where - my Wisp. Lovely pattern, and I was using Rowan Kidsilk Haze (often known in blogging circles as Cracksilk Haze due to its addictive properties). I made a mistake somewhere along the line and tried to rip things back. And got in a bit of a tangle *laughs* After 4 repeats of the pattern, and 4 mistakes I got fed up ;)

9 comments:

  1. cotton is evil stuff. really sore on the hands. But have you ever tried Rowan wool cotton? It's a heavenly 50/50 mix which creates the most wonderful drapey finish.

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  2. I have knitted a cardigan for my youngest with cotton this year I think it was alright because it was small, but I hate the way you end up dividing the strands every time you put the needle in. It was very soft so did not bother my hands.

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  3. It's so good of you to be honest with your projects. I'm afraid I spend a lot of time in denial with my failures.

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  4. Sad that you ripped out projects but now you do not have works in progress looming over your head! I have never ever regretted frogging a project once I made the decision.

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  5. I don't dislike cotton but I don't know that I would use it for a garment other than a scarf or hat...or kid items. I do, however, take issue with mohair. I've never been a fan of it, mostly because of it's non-frogging qualities. Perhaps if I were a perfect knitter...

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  6. This looks almost exactly like my UFO pile. All cotton or extra-gross acrylic from when I first started, or laceweight that's too hard to frog. I'd love to just give up on them, but there's too much guilt that I don't even understand.

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  7. Mohair is beautiful but not forgiving as far as mistakes are concerned - a real nightmare!

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  8. Glad to see I'm not the only one who came a cropper with a Kidsilk Haze Wisp early on in their knitting career. I have to confess, I think I threw it away after trying to unravel it and failing miserably. I didn't knit with Kidsilk Haze again for about a year!

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  9. I am not a big fan of cotton either. It's so stiff for me. Ripping back mohair? Oh boy I had wanted to burn that when I made this lacy snood a few years back. I still have a few balls left too. I think for mohair, simplicity is best.
    The frog pond is large and vast for most of us crafters. I'm sure the yarn for the above is destiny for something that will some day be found. Even the acrylic - like for a classroom art project?

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