Hilde's Corner - Embrace the frogs

🐸Embrace The Frogs!🐸

What if I told you I had a secret to becoming a great knitter/crocheter? I have one bit of advice, just one little thing, that will improve your craft - learn to love frogs. Or at least, “frogging” as it’s known in our hobby corner of the world. (In case you do not know, frogging is the act of taking out your work, since you rip it out - “rip it, rip it”. Sounds like a frog, get it?)

Here in the shop we hear countless times how people can’t wait until they don’t make mistakes anymore. As crafters we sometimes fear making a mistake and having to *gasp* rip it out. We get it - we do! But even pro knitters and crocheters still make mistakes. Here’s the thing - what makes them pros, is knowing how to fix or avoid mistakes. How did they learn it? By making mistakes! More often than not, ripping it out shows us what we need to know to move forward.

This is Miss Polli Wogg, and she’s here to remind us to Befriend the Frogs! Embrace the Frogs! Because making mistakes means we are learning.

I am currently working on a challenging hat, Chattahoochee Hat by Shuyi Wu selling for about $5.30, using Katia Symmetric Socks & More Illusion. I have already taken parts of it out 5 times. 

Five. 

But each time I have learned something else about the pattern that I was not aware of before. Just starting it had me frozen as I was trying to understand it before I began. I realized I needed to just dive in and see what was going on before I could even begin to imagine it. Sure enough, once I started, I saw where the pattern was going and I had to reknit it. Twice. The other three times was just me not reading the pattern fully, so it was totally on me not paying attention. But by then I knew what to look for as I knit it up - I knew how to read my knitting as I went, whereas when I started I had no idea what signs to look for in my project as I went along. Frogging my project allowed me to really study how a stitch was made or where the stitch needed to line up. Understanding these small events truly help you become a much better knitter/crocheter. (And when I do get this done, I will be that much prouder of it because I know it was challenging to do! I will insist that Jen displays it in the shop with a full-on spotlight and dramatic music. Perhaps a rotating display table)😁

I’ve been doing a lot of learning recently, apparently, since I also just finished knitting a sleeping kitty called The Fireplace Cat by Sara Elizabeth Kellner in her Victorian Housecats to Knit book. I learned a very valuable lesson - pay attention. (Apparently it’s one I need to learn over and over again.🙄) It was a simple mistake, but it cost me dearly. I had to take out, or “frog”, the entire body of the cat and reknit it. All because of a simple mistake that could have been avoided if I had just paid attention. I knit Fireplace Cat in Cascade Yarns Cantata, but Yarnalia Cloud is another perfect yarn for any cats you might want to knit. My next cat, The Library Cat from the same book,  will be made using Cloud.

Recently my co-worker, Kris, knit up a beautiful vest, and had most of the body done when she realized it was coming out way too large. So she frogged the entire thing. She has a better understanding of how the vest is intended to fit, and can adjust it accordingly. Her second time around, she will have a beautiful end product! When Jen designs her patterns, you can bet she has taken it out more than a few times to get it right! With all these mistakes, er… I mean… educational opportunities, all of us here at ALK are doing a lot of learning! We have learned to love frogs. Next time you have to rip something out, remind yourself to Embrace the Frog!

And you know what they say - you have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find that handsome finished project!😚🐸

If you’d like to knit or crochet a frog of your own like Polli, check out the knitted version of Frog and Toad

by Claire Garland that sells for about $5 on Ravelry, or the crochet version, Crocheted Toad

by Claire Garland that sells for about $2.83 on Ravelry. 

Ms. Polli was made with Rainier Roses DK weight yarn.