toys are good food

Rrrrripppp!

A couple of my projects just aren't cutting it. Frogging these WIPs is a step in owning my knitting, showing it who's boss, and being The Knitter. (Like the Decider, but less... stupid.)

This post is a continuation of my WIP and SIP articles, where I'm regaining control over my knitting.

So, the frogging. Some knitters fear or hate the idea of frogging a knitted project, while others find it freeing and exhilerating. I guess I'm in that second camp, but it wasn't always so easy.

It's not that I want to rip out all those wonderful stitches that I so lovingly made, but that it's necessary. And it's hella theraputic!

There are different reasons to frog a project: mistakes, wrong yarn, crappy pattern, change of heart, and many more. But at some point, hopefully before the project is completed, you'll come to the realization that this just ain't gonna be.

Of my 11 WIPs, I have decided that 2 must go. (Yeah, not a huge number. But still a loss.) My 2 Rips are.... [drumroll please]
Baby Kimono and the Jitterbug State Fair socks

Baby Kimono Sweater - I've seen this knit around and lovelovelove it. (Another great Mason-Dixon pattern!) I think it may be the sweetest thing for little baby girls. And it was easy as fabreezy to knit up.

I've had this natural-dyed, super soft cotton bouclé in the perfect shade of lavender since our Thanksgiving trip to Baltimore in 2005. It's Sugar Knits pima cotton, and it's good.

So what's the problem? This completed (seamed and all) baby sweater is too small. I didn't pay any attention to the yarn weight or gauge when I grabbed the pattern, needles, and the yarn and tucked them in my travel knitting for New Hampshire. (It amazes me that we've not blogged about this vacation.)

So, although I am sad to see it go; go it must. Perhaps I'll try again with the yarn doubled or recalculated stitches. Both the yarn and the pattern are too nice to give up on (and really, they were great together other than the size issue).

Rrrrrrrrrippppppp

Jitterbug State Fair socks - The sad tale is posted here. Basically, I'm not in love with this sock yarn + pattern combination. And I'm so ready to move on.

Rrrrrrrrrippppppp

So what's next for my WIPs? Some of these projects only needed a swift kick and a bit of finishing to call them done. Get out your dancing shoes, it's time to celebrate.

SIPs

Yeah, that's right. SIPs - Socks In Progress! Makes sense, no?

You read the first part of my WIP story here. Now you can read about that special category which becomes an obsession with most knitters - Socks!

The socks:

• Anastasia - Part of our Second Sock Syndrome Swap from October LAST YEAR! How hard could this be? I started out with one sock ready and only needed to knit the second sock. Yet it still waits.
• Mom's First Socks - For one reason or another, I paused before the heel of the second (third) sock. Time to get a move on! (Read about it.)
• Jitterbug plain - Okay, so Jitterbug could never be plain, but these were simple, short socks with a contrasting cast-off frill. One done, the other... ?
• Regia Canadian Color socks - Took on NH vacation as a simple sock to work on, yet never made it too far in (cuff + leg of one). Too nice to let lay, eh?
• Jitterbug Life Savor/State Fair socks - This one is embarrassing. And no fault lies with the Jitterbug yarn, which is nice and sproingy and the colors are shocking wonderful. (What can I say, I loves me some bright colors.) Here’s my story:
  I promised a sock pattern in this yarn to a friend of mine for her LYS’ sock club. (No, she doesn’t own the LYS, but she worked there at the time. No longer. But that’s not here nor there.) And then I did what I do best… procrastinate. The tide came in, the cows came home, and the sun went down, yet I still procrastinated. And then? Injured my wrist. ('Member?)
  I had the beginning of the pattern written. The toe was knit in my new & special toe-up way. But therein lies the end of that tale. She has since found a different pattern and continued on her merry way without too mean of a look towards me. I have knit this pattern up the foot a bit and, although it’s not horrible, it just doesn’t do “it” for me.

The socks may take a bit longer to show progress on (more than just seaming or sewing on buttons), but I want to get these done as well. I think the secret to completing a pair of socks is sock monogamy. Not project monogamy, mind you. No, just one sock at a time.

Next up, the first steps in attacking this WIP pile. What goes and what stays?

When a problem comes a long

You must WIP it!

Yes, I am mis-using and abusing this wonderful song so that I can tell you about my WIPs (works in progress). Learn how I will whip them into shape, shape 'em up, knit straight, go forward, move ahead, try to detect it (dropped stitches?), it's not too late, to whip my WIPs!

Whip it good.

Sorry 'bout that, but I have a bit of a problem here with my WIPs, and music soothes that savage beast. I've been lax in my knitterly pursuits lately and this has left me with a mess of partially knitted items. Some of these WIPs are nearly done, while others have creatively shriveled on the vine, but all must be accounted for.

To make matters worse (or normal), I’m starting to feel the pull of the strings (literally) for some new knitting projects.

My WIP pile:

• Matt's vest - simple, V-neck vest knit with yummy Brooks Farm Duet in fabulous colors (first spotted here). The front and back pieces (all there is of a vest, really) are done, but I got stuck with the V-neck edging. Sad to leave it in this state.
• Mitered Squares Blanket - I started out making mitered squares for the fun of it, and then decided to do the whole blanket thing. Now I have 10+ squares. How many more do I need? (j/k)
• Claptopis - yep, #2 in amazing Sea Silk. This is one that I'll just keep working and working on, as it's a pleasure to knit with this yarn. (See #1 here.)
• Baby Kimono - I grabbed the pattern (Mason-Dixon), the yarn, and some needles and threw 'em in my bag for our NH vacation. Only I didn't swatch or even consider yarn weight/gauge. Completed and seamed, but it is way too small.
• EZ Baby Surprise Jacket - Noro Silk Garden + Elizabeth Zimmerman = omg, so cute! Procrastination, however, is a trouble maker.
• Burp cloth - I made the garter stitch bib from M-D and decided to try the burp cloth, too. The bib has been gifted, and I'm finishing up the burp cloth.

Tomorrow, the sock WIPs!

In the next few weeks, I'm challenging myself to whittle down some of these WIPs to either FOs (finished objects) or rip 'em! Let's see what I can get accomplished, and perhaps, if I'm good... I can start something new. Please?

Um, and wow. I went back to find starter posts about most of these and came up with a lot of nadda. What have I been doing that I haven't posted about all these projects before now? Yikes