Project Frog

Every one of the bags of yarn I bought contained at least one UFO, some still on the needles. I can relate.

Last week I took a few of these out and gave them a closer look. While we watched the dire financial news and the debates, Ricardo and I have been unraveling them and looking at the fiber to see what's there. One--a baby sweater--was almost done, but there was no more yarn to match. I finished the sleeves and button bands off with white, and it turned out pretty good. It's for the shelter. The object on the right is unidentifiable. It's very loosely knit with two strands of a nice colorway, but I can see why it's abandoned. Whatever it was meant to be, it's totally shapeless and very stretchy. There's a lot of fiber there, though. Full of possibilities.

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The next post will show something I'm making from another abandoned project. It looked to be the start of a sweater, but, again, was knit on very large needles. It wasn't until I began to pull at the yarn that I realized it was doubled, and was made of a very nice, thin yarn that looks to be a mohair blend of some type. It's pink, which explains why I hadn't looked at it before now.

I think people get seduced by those patterns that are so popular out there on the yarn company websites--those that promise a four-hour afghan or a six-hour sweater, and use multiple strands of yarn and big needles. I don't see the allure of that type of knitting. Yes, you get instant gratification, I suppose. But, to me, knitting isn't a speed contest. I don't even own any needles larger than a 10 (which I rarely use). I can imagine those who started these projects looking down at their work to realize it was not looking good, sticking it in a bag, and never going back to it. It's a chore to frog something made with multiple strands, as you all well know. We had to sit with cable needles and gently push and pull on the mohair to loosen it, then wind it on two balls. Yuck. But I did get one nice gift out of it. Stay tuned for the pattern.