Rip It, Rip It: When to Throw Your Work to the Frogs

frogging

needlework slang for the massive ripping out of a section of--or of each and every lovingly made stitch in--a project.

Repeat after me: Rip it...rip it...rip it...

Earlier in this blog (you know--last February when I last bothered to post more than one day in a row), I made mention of the Afghan From Hell. This was my pet name for the large afghan I was (am) making for my sister's wedding, which was on October 11, 2008. Note that I say "am," because it is still not done.

Now, I've had projects that I haven't finished before that were intended to be gifts. I still feel guilt over them, but the person wasn't expecting a gift from me, specifically, so no harm done, right? (My name is Judy, and I'm a Myers-Brigg P.) This is the first time I've ever failed to finish a gift that had a definite do-or-die due date. Hopefully it won't start a trend. But, I digress...

The afghan is in a classic cream (Plymouth Encore 75/25 Knitting Worsted, Color 0256). I was looking for a classic pattern to go with it, something in a fisherman sweater style. I finally settled on a pattern (Leisure Arts #100318, "Afghans for All Seasons," pg. 72), bought my 20 balls of yarn, and got started.

I was on the second or third row of the pattern when I jokingly dubbed it "The Afghan from Hell" because it was a perfect case of take two steps forward and one step back. Now, don't get me wrong--it's a gorgeous fabric that looks very similar to a knitted design. But, it was all done in single crochet or slip stitches, front loop only or back loop only. To the uninitiated, this means that it was IMPOSSIBLE to do it without paying total attention. The few times I allowed myself to be distracted by, I don't know, trying to talk and crochet at the same time (imagine, wanting to do that!), I messed up the pattern, didn't discover it until halfway through the next row, had to rip it out, and there went an hour's work. Yet, I persevered, until it resembled a wide scarf (I'd done about 35 rows out of 230-something). At which point summer came, and I kept finding other things to do.

Anyway, one of the reasons I haven't been back here since spring is that, when I wasn't working on The Afghan from Hell, I wasn't working on anything else, either. I totally stopped knitting and crocheting, mostly due to the guilt. I knitted a bit on a trip to my hometown because I bought the materials there and couldn't have taken the larger project with me anyway (the bride was there), so the guilt didn't get in the way that weekend.

So, finally, I made the decision. I could not motivate myself to work on The Afghan from Hell. And I still wanted to make an afghan for my sister with that large quantity of yarn I'd purchased for a large quantity of money. So, I spelunked in my books and on the internet, and came up with this. I'm about a third of the way through it, the fall leaves are falling, the wedding trip is behind me, and the costumes have to be done by Saturday. So, after that, it's crisp fall air and afghans for me! I confess that I have NOT frogged the original afghan, yet--if I need the yarn, I will. If I don't, I guess I have a really pretty scarf!

Moral of this story: If you don't like it--if it isn't fun to make--then don't make it. There's too little time, too many patterns, and too much yarn out there for that!

So, sister dear, it's not done, yet. I hope you are enjoying the thread crochet doily I gave you for your bridal shower (I did finish that!). I promise to have your beautiful, cozy afghan finished before the winter winds bring chilly weather to southern California!

Echo...Echo...

OK, yes, I *know. I've been naughty. No blog posts for months and months. Yet another blogger gone bad. Perhaps it's guilt (still haven't finished the Afghan from Hell, which I frogged and started anew). Perhaps it's that I've just been busy actually knitting and crocheting (yeah, that's the ticket!). Perhaps it's that left-handed needlecrafts observations are few and far between. Perhaps it's just that I haven't developed a following and no one cares whether I post or not!

Let's see? What nugget of wisdom can I pass on to get the ball rolling? How can I move into the big picture side of my whole "right brain" concept? OK, here goes...let's try this:

I recently got a Palm Centro. I haven't had a Palm in a while, but I was excited to find that the program Handy Shopper is still available. Handy Shopper is more than just a shopping list. It's a flexible database that allows you to assign a "Store" and a category to each list item. But, hold onto your (knit) hats...a "Store" can be ANYTHING YOU WANT IT TO BE-- from rooms in your house (for cleaning or decorating projects) to people (for gift-giving or family trip-packing) to :::insert drum roll here::: NEEDLE SIZES.


Yes, Virginia, there is a cure for the disorganized needler who likes to buy projects on the spur of the moment and now has a half dozen size H crochet hooks just because she can't ever remember if she already has one!

Oddities

I belong to a community orchestra (I play the flute, right-handed!). I stopped to chat with the mother of one of the other members, who happened to be crocheting. It isn't often that you catch another crocheter in public. We are obviously a stealthy bunch, and it was nice to come across a like-minded soul who is brave enough to admit that she does something other than knit. As I chatted with her, it struck me that something looked wrong. Awkward. Odd in a way I couldn't put my finger on.

Finally, it hit me--she was RIGHT-handed!

So, righties, now I realize why you always think we lefties look odd. Back atcha! :)

(B)logging In

Call me lazy. I've been doing nothing in the needlework department. OK, well, not lazy, so much as outsidewardly-oriented. I've planted a perennial bed of lilac and ornamental grasses; I've walked; and I've started to exercise (a bit). I'm a Renaissance Girl, what can I say?

A friend did tell me about double-sided crochet hooks, and I am hoping to get out and buy them in the near future. I am always game for a new form of torture...er, yarn-based fun. So, I'll post an update when that experiment comes to fruition.

A Back-Handed Explanation

In considering what to include in this journal, I've been thinking back to the times when I learned new needlecraft skills. If you do an internet search, you can find a lot of material out there on learning left-handed. However, while the basics are there for us lefties, there's no information on what to actually do when we progress past our first potholder or scarf. You could take a class, but, unless you luck out, you're going to have a right-handed instructor. I remember trying to learn to crochet from my right-handed grandmother--an experience even more exasperating than teaching my right-handed son how to tie his shoes. In the end, many "How To" books and websites advise you to "simply learn right-handed" if you can't figure out how to do it left-handed. Hmmm...I wonder how those right-handed people would like it if their left-handed instructor told them, "Oh, just learn left-handed. It doesn't really matter anyway"?

So, now that my children are old enough to leave me in peace, and the kitten has learned that messing with yarn in motion is not the way to win my heart, I'm going to start reexploring the art of knitting; venture into some more difficult crochet projects (asymetry, here I come!!); and may even get out those tatting supplies that I just had to have NOW NOT LATER--three years ago. As I do, I'll revisit my own learning process, and discuss problems I run up against.