I have two I want to talk about today: firstly, I'm devising a new scarf pattern, as I couldn't find one that I liked for DH's middle brother's birthday present. I spoke about the yarn (Sublime Baby Cashmere Merino Silk DK) already .... I love this stuff: it is soft, smooth, stretchy, and this 'Button' colorway is one my mother would have labelled as classy, and I would have labelled boring. I am older now and can begin to explore the concept that maybe bright is not always best, although I hasten to add that I am still a long way from being able to appreciate shrubs: I do not care about 8 million different shades of green, I want real color.
Inky thinks that this should be a Seekret Projeckt; but I am 90% sure that this BIL does not surf the interwebz. Certainly not this blog.
So watch this space for a new free pattern release when I've all finished and done ....
The other WIP has really been hibernating, and now I need some help deciding what to do. It is the Willow Leaf Stole (Rav link) by Linda Choo. I'm using 1150 yards of 4ply silk 8/60NM from Colourmart - and I still don't really get what that means - on 3.25mm needles. I like the pattern, although the repeats are large enough to be unwieldy; I like the yarn. I'm just not liking them in combination. But. I have got quite some way, even though, with the best will in the world and some anticipated severe blocking, mine will be a scarf, not a stole ....
So, here's the dilemma of the title: do I
a) frog it and find something else (that will be a proper stole size) to knit with this yarn ? If so, what ?
b) continue on because I will love the feeling of pious righteousness when I've completed it ?
c) some other really logical option, so obvious that I haven't thought of it yet ?
Don't forget to hop on over to Tami's Amis for other mainly fibre-related blog posts as part of Work-in-Progress Wednesday ...
Well, I believe that life is too short to read books that don't grip you so, by the same token, I would advise against ploughing through a project that you're not going to be happy with at the end.
ReplyDeleteFind something else to do with the beautiful wool.
I am starting to appreciate shrubs *worried face*
Ali x
I am opting for the "b" option as it is lovely and what frog it? You could always add a crocheted edging on both sides to make it wider, but I'm betting after it is blocked it will be much larger than you think! Very pretty!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with Alison - I just frogged something that I wasn't loving so that I can use the yarn for something I will love.
ReplyDelete(I don't get shrubs though!!!!)
Sarah
x
I'd finish it and add it to the Christmas pressie stash - someone you know is bound to need a scarf/stole :)
ReplyDeleteI just frogged a Cable Project Bag I really wasn't enjoying, and now I'm using it for a scarf which I really like knitting. So I would frog it (although it does look gorgeous) and use the beautiful yarn that you are going to enjoy knitting. Thats why we knit anyway, isn't it?
ReplyDeleteWow, that scarf is yummy. Looks very intricate. I have to ask, he is a person who appreciates hand made? So few men do, and that looks like lots of work to me. I love the blue but would be shooing the kitty away so as not to have cat hairs on my hard work.
ReplyDeleteOption B. It looks so lovely don't frog it. The birthday present looks amazing too. Cats always seem to lay on what you want to work on, don't they?
ReplyDeletePersonally I think it may block out big enough to be a stole, if not, you can always knit on side panels. However if you are NOT enjoying knitting it, and you think it won't ruin the yarn, frog it and knit something you enjoy knitting.
ReplyDelete(from the ex-CraftyCripple)
Why don't you take a pause from the main project and knit and block a swatch to see how much it grows?
ReplyDeletemmmm Frogging all that beautiful knitting would break my heart. Can you slog on through and gift it to someone very special? (My Mom and sister acquire some pretty things that way) :-)
ReplyDeleteI think that pious righteousness is almost always overrated. Though, on the other hand, a shawl I hated making (it was tedious and I didn't care enough to fix mistakes and so cheated) surprised me completely by turning out to be beautiful. I find scarves more useful than stoles, but if it is making you sigh dramatically every time you work on it, it's okay to let it go. (I'm no help at all, am I? I think I argued in favor of all three options.)
ReplyDeleteMy opinion on the stole goes like this: is it for someone else? If so, I'd say finish it. If it's for you, I say frog it.
ReplyDeleteI plugged through something for myself I ultimately didn't like with a yarn I loved. It took several months before I realized I was doing it a disservice by NOT frogging it. I love the yarn so much I wanted to show it off but I was never going to wear that shawl.
I put a lot of time and work into that stupid shawl, which I thought a lot about while I was tearing it back. However, the finished product ball-of-yarn-with-a-new-future made it all worthwhile and felt very liberating.
Your knitting on that stole is beautiful but if you don't like it and never use it. . . what's the point? I agree with Marushka C: pious righteousness is overrated.
Life is too short (and yarn too beautiful) to work on something you feel ambivalent about.
I don't know, you may not want to listen to me: I just frogged several old projects, myself. :p
PS: The pattern on the gift scarf shows up beautifully against the yarn you're using. :)
Always go for your gut feeling. Why spend so much time on a project you don't like? You might not like it any more when it's done as you do now, then you'll be sorry you didn't frog it earlier. So if your gut says bleh, frog.
ReplyDeleteRip it. Rip it good. I think life is to short to live for the moments of pious righteousness.
ReplyDeleteI've bene through this to many times... Not liking how you project is turning out... I finished some of those projects, and I never wear them. So now, I rip things I don't like and use the yarn for something else ;)
ReplyDelete