Monday, November 06, 2006

Working Out

So my knitting projects don't always work out. Some become unfinished objects, some fail spectacularly, and some, like this cardigan, just never really get there.


It's not that I dislike it. It's too inoffensive to dislike. It's just, well, intangibly unconvincing. I think it's mainly that the edge is a different yarn (wool) to the main part (cotton with a little wool). It just looks wrong. The lovely smooth stitch definition of the cotton fights with the fluffy, almost felted looking edge. Does that sound too pedantic? Am I being obsessive about it?


Thing is I need big (time-consuming, expensive, and/or complex) projects to convince me. I need to believe in the finished product, in this case I need to believe that I would wear this cardigan. But I wouldn't. I know I wouldn't, everytime I look at it I feel a bit of a cringe. So the answer should be self-evident: frog it. But this seems so drastic. Look at how much I've done . And it seems so silly. And I feel guilty.

But this is knitting! It's meant to be fricking relaxing and enjoyable! I shouldn't feel guilty! I should feel calm and creative, dammit! If I'm not going to wear it why should I make it.


So it will be frogged. And I feel like an idiot that there was even a blog post in that little debate. But sometimes things fail. And that's OK. Right?

11 comments:

futuregirl said...

Right. :)

Emma said...

Don't feel like an idiot! It's always interesting to read about the process.

Dharma said...

Right. Blogging about the less successful ventures in knitting are reassuring to those of us in the rank beginner category. So thank you.

melissa said...

i have a sweater in that same situation...15 inches or horrendously boring black stockinette...i know i wouldn't ever wear the finished result (it's really, really bulky!) but still i can't bear the thought of frogging all those hours of work. maybe i could at least take it off the needles to free them up for something else!

anyway, you should never feel bad for blogging about these things...knitting is all about the process, and there are many people, myself included, who are always happy to talk about and hear about all the gory details, no matter how insignificant they may seem. :)

SadieandLance said...

It's all OK BP. I love your vision for this cardy and at the moment it's not quite meeting your vision. So go ahead and frog it - I can't wait to see the refined result.

Oh one more thing...if I hadn't heard your vision this weekend for this project I might have recommended frogging anyway - the pics look like a weird navy and a kind of bright deep pink on my monitor? Lucky I read through your whole post huh.

Shazmina Bendi said...

You have made my day! BP not finishing a project??!! What the?!?
Woooooohoooo! I may be able to keep up with your output yet!! :)
However, all these bloggers are right, dont continue with something you are not going to enjoy kintting or wear. On that note I have decided not to make the bolero out of Bendigo yarn as it doesnt feel nice and is annoying to knit with.

Bells said...

Go the frogging. It's a brave thing to do. It means you are in search of a better way to spend your knitting time! For what it's worth, I can see why you would have wanted to make it - nice pattern, top down, interesting shape etc, but if I may be so bold, I think the colours don't work. But I'm sure the yarn will find a nicer way to be used!

And i agree with the others who said blogging about the do i/don't i process is a good thing. Failures need to be documented too, or else we don't learn!

Anonymous said...

Totally Ok.
I started my daughter a Debbie Bliss sweater I adored, but it was in mercerized cotton..and well it looked like crap. Some of the tension problems would have blocked out but it always would have bothered ME. So I dropped it off the needles, cut off the ends and put it in one of my stash boxes to remind me it's OK to not finish something if it's not making you happy. :) I should dig it out and take a pic of it for my blog...hmm

Leah said...

Amen!! Not everything is perfect all the time!

I agree that there is no shame in blogging about less than perfect knits. We all make mistakes or questionable judgements! I think it's more interesting to read an honest blog about knitting than one that is nothing but perfectly finished knits!

Good luck with the frogging! I hope the yarn finds it way to much better suited projects!

Anonymous said...

Yup, you said it!

PS: Thanks for the good luck wishes - 1 more week to go!! x

Anonymous said...

You'll be happy to know that my sidebar is now on teh right (left) side :-)

Unrelated to frogging, but at least something is working out:-)