I was talking to my friend Valerie and telling her that I had to frog a project I was working on FOUR times last weekend. Granted, I only got a few inches into it each time, but it was far enough to know that I wasn’t happy with it and needed to re-jigger the pattern. She related that she had spent last weekend working on a vest and then noticed a cable-gone-wrong near the bottom, so she frogged it. That got me to thinking – do you typically frog things when you see a mistake, or do you call it a “creative design” or “happy spontaneity” and move on? I had one of those in the cables of my Mr. Greenjeans sweater, and I was just fine with leaving it there, missing one crossed row. But this scarf that I was knitting this weekend – I couldn’t leave it. It would bug me the entire time I was knitting. So I’m curious – do you ever frog? Or not frog? And if you do, how do you decide what gets frogged and what is ok to leave?
Thank you for your extremely enthusiastic response to the Malabrigo Sock that we put up last evening! It’s beautiful yarn and I know you’ll be happy with all of the skeins you ordered. You’ll be glad to know that more is already on the way, and a third order is in the queue as well. We will keep you well-stocked with it. I stayed up watching election coverage last night so that I could finish my Malabrigo Sock to show you. I really liked knitting with this yarn and am anxious to pick a color to make for myself! (This one is destined for gift-socks, if I can knit the mate without too much delay.) I used the pattern called “Go With the Flow” from Nancy Bush’s Favorite Socks book. (Note – as with almost all of my socks, I knit it toe up and did a short row toe and heel – so the rest of the sock construction doesn’t follow that pattern.) The stitch pattern is easy and stretchy – perfect for this yarn. I’m already looking forward to seeing more Malabrigo Socks turning up on Ravelry, so that I can decide what pattern I want to use on my next pair. (See? I said “pair”. I have high hopes.)
Sock Clubbers – the November invoices will go out tonight or tomorrow morning, so watch for those in your in-boxes. This is our last shipment for 2008 and I hope you love it! We’ll do signups for our 2009 Sock Club in mid-January, with the first shipment going out in March. Watch the blog in early January for details, and we’ll also be putting that notice in the January Monthly Email Newsletter.
Spring Flingers – we’ll open up signups sometime in early December (with the Fling being the last weekend in April, 2009). Again, watch the blog and the December Monthly Email Newsletter for sign-up dates!
Sheri sobacktotheoriginalquestioninthispost-Frogornofrog?
Frog? Oh, yes. If it’s visible to me — even if not to others — and if I keep thinking about it, and looking at it, and wondering whether I should frog back and fix … then yeah, I frog, because if I don’t, it will bother me every single time I wear the item. I recently let go a problem I saw on the sole of a sock, but it was HARD to let it go 🙂
It totally depends on the mistake, for me. For overall issues like gauge/size, I frog (even though I swatch I sometimes end up with a different gauge when I start actually knitting the piece). For a couple of stitches where the tension is out of whack, I leave it. If I screw up in a lace pattern and don’t notice it until several rows later, I frog back to my lifeline, assuming I wasn’t too lazy to put one in, but if I catch it on the next row I can usually fix it before moving on. For a knit where there should be a purl, or a miscrossed cable, I will drop down just the affected stitch column(s), fix the mistake with DPNs or a crochet hook, and hope the resulting tension issues will come out in blocking.
it really depends on how bad the “mistake” is and how much it bothers me. I’ve learned to listen to my knitting gut and if I think something is going horribly wrong, it is, and its time to frog.
i guess i agree with amanda above. even teeny errors bother me–and i always remember them–so i rarely wear anything i’ve knit anyway, for that very reason.
I usually frog because I have come across something that I just can’t fix. Usually this is a dropped stitch in a complicated pattern, but sometimes is just because I’m not happy with the project. I frogged a sock I was working on a few times in the toe, because it just wasn’t looking right. That wasn’t so bad, because at least the socks started toe up so I hadn’t gotten very far.
I always frog mistakes, or at least fix them…I usually try to drop back into the pattern/project to fix a mistake, but this isn’t always possible….It doesn’t matter if it’s a big mistake or a little one. Every mistake is a big one to me. I know that I’m neurotic enough that it would bother me forever if I didn’t fix it. Plus, I like to knit, so if I enjoy knitting something once, why not knit it three or four times!?!?!
it depends-
if it is unwearable, I frog it (socks that are just too wide, for example).
Some mistakes drive me crazy because I know I could have done it right. they get frogged
Others- if you can’t see it, it’s not there. And I will plug my ears up and sing Mary Had a Little Lamb really loudly if you try to tell me differently.
Other ones I go with the Quaker (or is it Amish?)- I put it there on purpose because only God is perfect. hee hee hee.
I am working on a sweater surprise for Dh for Christmas, I noticed two sts reversed 70-75 rows back in a section, I frigged 29 sts for the entire thing all the way down to fix it. I generally frog the area in question only. There are 320 sts in the sweater, I would have left the rror if I wasn’t comfortable with section frogging. I can’t believe the Sock Club is closing for the year. AND the Spring Fling is coming up again!!! WOW, how time flies!!!
I don’t usually frog because I made a mistake, I usually frog because I don’t like what I’m knitting and want to do something else with the yarn. However, if I’m knitting something where the mistake would be obvious, I’ll rip back.
I typically do not frog, most often I tink. My goal usually is to keep moving onward to project completion unless there’s a glaring mistake. I have a friend who is the total opposite. She frogs almost everything a few times. I don’t really understand why, but to each his own.
The Malabrigo sock yarn looks great. I didn’t indulge because I indulged big time in Noro Silk Garden sale. My Noro came today. It’s destined to become a Lady Eleanor … thank you very much!
Oh, I frog all right. I frogged the entire back of an Aran cardigan I knit for my sweetie after realizing I’d knit the whole thing with one size 8 and needle and one size 7 (I thought it looked a little small…). I frogged an entire lacy sock because it was too big. It’s like the 3 bears with my knitting sometimes – I want it to be just right! 🙂
If it is noticeable then i frog, if it is a gift I definately frog. Love the malabirgo sock it looks beautiful. I can just imagine how it is as i knit a scarf with the malabrigo lace. Yumm!
Sabrina
Frog, knit, frog, start over. The story of my (knitting) life. I’d have a lot more projects finished if I only had to do each one once.
I usually frog or it will bother me BUT I have just left it (the current Mystic Earth shawl has a YO error on the very beginning of the edge and I just finished clue 1 – so I am not frogging, it is Malabrigo lace and sooo soft) I just love your sock. What is the color? I hope it’s cota.. because I have some of that on order (as well as a few other colors) If the lace is any indication of Malabrigo then, this will be some awesome yarn
I always frog when it is going to someone else and is obvious. If its for me, it really has to be a glaring error for me to fix it.
I’ll try fixing it first – dropping down and re-knitting or whatever and if that doesn’t work then I”ll let ‘er ripppppppppppppppppp but I like the challenge of trying to fix it so I do try that first.
Frogging? Depends on the project. I have a shawlette that’s in the que for frogging because I’ve decided I don’t like the design but love the colorway. If I find a mistake, my first choice is to drop stitches down to it, fix it, and pick up the sts again. Crochet hook comes in handy. If it’s lace and I can’t drop down, I’ll tink to the spot. If it’s really bad, it gets frogged to the spot. (Frogging lace without a lifeline — now there’s an extreme sport!) Most of my frogging happens when I’m starting a project — if I don’t like how it’s looking or can’t get the instructions right, it gets frogged to start over. It sometimes takes 3 times or more before I’ll continue a project past the initial stages. I figure I’m taking the time to knit it, so I want it to be to my satisfaction.
My mom taught me every single knitted item must have 1 mistake – and she believes if you don’t do it naturally you need to PUT a mistake in someplace. So if I make it early, I might frog…but if I’m most of the way through a project before I see a mistake..then I leave it and am just extra careful not to make a NEW mistake. (I have one mr. greenjeans cable that missed a cross too…thats what I get for knitting at knit night at the LYS!).
If it’s a way-down error, I’m more likely to cut the piece apart, fix the error, and graft back together than frog. It’s a pain, but it’s less work in the end than frogging!
I call it a creative interpretation! I dont frog unless it is the wrong size, or something critical like that!
Spring Fling 2009! I cant wait! I just counted it out and of course that is my weekend on. But for the Fling, I will get someone to switch with me or whatever else i need to do! Last year was a blast and I hope I get to go this year too!
I frog or fix every error — I can *buy* poorly-made stuff at a store, I don’t need to knit it myself!
So, I’m more of a TINK-er than a frogger. I will unknit up to 2 rows if I notice a mistake. I will unknit even more if it’s fair isle and the pattern is disrupted a lot! But I have frogged two projects over guage. Lion’s Suede yarn is a pain in the butt to get to guage consistently. I have no clue how I’m going to finish that project.
But I make a point of not having to re-do as much as I can. I like to knit, but I also like not to have to re-do what I’ve done. I will tend to rush and may make more mistakes.
Whether I frog or not depends on how much the error bothers me. If it’s one that’s going to screw up the next few rows, I frog it. If it looks really wonky and I know for sure I can do better, I frog it.
On the other hand, if I’ve frogged it and reknit it 6-8 times and it still didn’t look good, I figure I’ve pressured myself enough and that’s how it’s going to stay.. For instance, I was knitting a sock that had short row heels and a short row toe. I frogged it so much I wound up putting in a lifeline, and still had to frog it an additional 3 times. After that, I still had holes, but I’d had enough.