Bye-bye to the Blue Tank...
I was very amused by your suggestions of cross-stitch pictures and tee-shirts with "The Swatch is Good. The Swatch is Wise. Listen to the Swatch."
emblazoned across them. Personally, I think I need this message
engraved on the inside of my eyeglasses so I cannot possibly forget it.
I would just like to know why it is so darned hard to LISTEN TO THE
SWATCH? What happens between the time we swatch and the time we are
needle-deep into a project, blithely knitting something that appears to
pretend that the Swatch never existed?
Not listening to the Swatch (or not swatching in the first place)
can cause Knitted Objects to behave badly, and in some cases, turn into
long-standing denizens of the Land of UnFinished Objects. If a
particular piece of knitting spends too much time off in UFO Land, then
perhaps it is time to re-evaluate one's commitment to that particular
long-distance relationship. Painful though it may be, sometimes it is
time to ask the Final Questions: "Am I really going to finish this? Do
I really WANT to finish this?"
It's tough to make that Final Decision To Frog, after you have put
time, energy, and thousands of knitted stitches into a project. But a
knitter's gotta do what a knitter's gotta do, even if it means letting
go, turning over a new leaf, and ripping out a bunch of knitting.
I reached that point this past week, as I looked over the remaining
17 UFOs in my possession. I evaluated, and came up with three projects
that I no longer felt committed to: a pair of green socks, a woolly
cardigan, and a blue tank top.
So long, Green Socks...
The
green socks were the first to go, as they were an impulse cast-on, one
of those ill-conceived projects where you just simply MUST cast on
something, but you don't really have a plan, nay, not even a pattern in
mind. (Am I the only one who does this? Please say I am not.)
Next to go to the Frog Pond was the partially-knit woolly cardigan,
lacking one front and the sleeves. Well... OK. Also lacking were my
entire set of NOTES on the pattern, which was a Sandi original and is
now lost in the mists of time due to an unfortunate misunderstanding
between myself and my cat Sparrow over the finer points of distinction
between a scratching post and my knitting notebook. (Dear Sparrow. He
really does love so much to be involved in my crafts, but he's a weensy
bit over-enthusiastic at times.) I could count stitches on the
remaining pieces and re-create the pattern, but it wasn't an
earth-shaking design anyway. So: Off to the Frog Pond with the Partial
Cardi, and my UFO count is down by two.
Farewell, Woolly Cardi!
Finally,
The Blue Tank Top. This one actually made it all the way to the seaming
stage, but when I tried it on, it was way too big. I think this is the
piece of knitting that caused the LightBulb of Negative Ease to go off
in my head, pre-Hot Tomato.
I made the Blue Tank a bit larger than my actual measurements, and it
just kind of hung on me, instead of looking fitted and svelte. Alas, in
this case, the Swatch was once again Wise and Good and it told me that
there was no way to make the tank fit, short of cutting it to size. So
it, too, has visited the Frog Pond.
I am now down to 14 UnFinished Objects. I feel strangely light and
free. Plus: Now I have more yarn to knit other things with! Whoo!
Are there any projects lurking in your UFO pile which you can let go of? How
do you make that Final Decision to Frog or Not To Frog? A bona-fide
Work-In-Progress is one thing, even multiple Works-In-Progress, but
what about some of those projects you all wrote about which have been
sitting in your closets for YEARS? Maybe it's time to set all that yarn
free so it can be used for a new project, one you'll love—and maybe
even actually finish!
Next time: Ways to tame all the curly yarn that is the end result of a Frogging Session.
Happy Halloween! In honor of this holiday when dressing up as
something from the Land Of Make-Believe is something even grownups do,
our featured pattern of the week is the Make-Believe Crowns.
I promise not to tell if the person you knit one of these for is
yourself. Try wearing a crown whilst doing the dishes or vacuuming and
see if that doesn't put a smile on your face!
Sandi Wiseheart is the editor of Knitting Daily.
What's on Sandi's needles? Mwhaaaaa...FOURTEEN UFOS! The
pullover for my husband is nearing the armholes, and I am considering
the best way to proceed with a certain pair of lace socks.