I frogged two projects last weekend. Two completed, lovely projects. Maybe some of you are shocked, wondering if I’m crazy. Or maybe some you (knitters/crocheters) are nodding in commiseration. WHY did I do this, after spending hours carefully making pretty things? I swear it was for a good cause: I was rescuing the yarn. In both cases, the yarn was gorgeous and expensive, and I wanted to be able to wear it and enjoy it.
The first project was my Hill & Dale cowl. It knit up beautifully, showcased the colors nicely–but I could not get it to look or feel right around my neck. One loop was too big. Two loops made a giant mass of fabric that felt suffocating and looked ridiculous. Plus I couldn’t get the ribbed portion to lay neatly like it does in the project photos. I tried to wear it twice and both times took it off before leaving the house. It’s very possible mine came out slightly shorter than theirs; I didn’t measure. So I don’t blame the pattern at all. It’s a beautiful pattern, makes a lovely cowl. Just not right for me. That was two full skeins of Malabrigo, knitters. I did NOT want that to go unworn in a drawer. So, I frogged it and now I have that yummy yarn to play with again!
The other was an older project, a little shawlette I called Chocolate Cherries. The pattern is Find a Penny, and again, the pattern is fine. Well-written, lovely shawl. I’d bought two gorgeous skeins of cherry chocolate yarn that made me think of my dad and his love for chocolate-covered cherries, and this shawl used one. It was beautiful!
Sadly, it was also too short for me, too short to wear around my neck like a scarf. I even blocked it as much as I could and while it helped, it wasn’t enough. I might revisit the pattern and see if I can use both skeins to make a long version, since the reason I chose it was for the round eyelets reminiscent of cherries. Or I might pick something else completely different! Right now the yarn is happily resting in my stash, waiting for its time to come.
Have you ever frogged anything that looks beautiful but isn’t what you expected?
bonnyknits 
Good call. You’ll find a project that is perfect for both yarns that you love and love to wear.
I hope so! 🙂
Good for you! When this happens to me I just put the project in hiding and forget about it for awhile 😞. However, that chocolate and cherry red yarn is divine. In my opinion, you did an awesome thing by saving it.
Thank you! Now I just need to find the perfect pattern for it.
Now that is the hardest part! Hahaha
This has never happened to me, but I totally understand it. I have a love-hate relationship with a cowl, in fact, but I sometimes like wearing it and other times I think it’s a nuisance to wear. In the end, I allow it to adorn me for that week in winter when it’s just right. So, I’ve got myself veerrry close to doing this, but never all the way. If you never wear something you knit for yourself with something as expensive as malabrigo, for example, OMG. YES. Frog the frog out of it.
At least it has the one week to shine, lol!
Last weekend I knit for two days, and frogged for one. Not completely but almost. This week I was knitting a hat, 80% complete. It was looking greyt, but the yarn just did not do the pattern justice. Frogged that, bought a different yarn. Will use the first yarn for another project I will start next week. December I was making a shawl. Close to the finish line, I realized it was not going to work. Frogged it and now have found the perfect pattern, and will bind off in morning. I reknit the December shawl with another yarn and it turned out awesome.
Our projects have to look or feel right or we will not be happy with them and wear them. So it is best to just restart or rethink what we are doing.
Yes, totally agree. It took me a while to get there because I wanted to move on to the next project, and because I didn’t want to “lose” all the time I’d spent. But now I’d rather lose the time than the yarn! Hope all your re-knitting projects turn out well! 🙂