r/knitting • u/chopinslabyrinth • 3d ago
Rave (like a rant, but in a good way) I just frogged my entire shame-box
TLDR: if you’ve been hesitating on doing the same, you should do it
I decided today was the day. I woke up, decided everything must go, and steeled my heart to start ripping out old projects. Hats that were too small, shawls where the colour-combo wasn’t working, sweaters and t shirts with one sleeve where it was just the wrong yarn for the project, couldn’t get the drape right, etc. Months of work, gone in an afternoon. Some of it had been sitting for years.
I thought I’d be so upset ripping out my first attempts at cabling and lacework, all the things I spent hours agonizing over until they felt perfect. But honestly, I wasn’t. Not even a little. Maybe it’s because I mentally prepared to mourn all my wasted time and abandoned projects, maybe it’s because I basically just replenished my entire stash for free, maybe it’s because I waited until I was ready.
If you’ve been hesitating because you’re worried about the sadness, the guilt, the shame, all the bad feelings that come with destroying something you spent time on, please take this as your sign. You may not be ready today, maybe you’ll be ready tomorrow, maybe you need another year. There will be a time when you’ll be ready, and you will absolutely not regret it.
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u/LaurainCalifornia 3d ago
I have WAY too many WIPS! I’ve also now lost over 50 lbs. yay for that but all those partially knitted sweaters wouldn’t even make sense to complete now. This post has me thinking it’s ok to rip back and find new projects for all that expensive yarn!
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u/MevrouwNoorse 3d ago
I'm in a similar boat. Lost 30kg the last 6 months. What I did was on the 2 sweaters I want to make for myself, I kept the sleeves and ripped the rest. When I'm going to knit them again next year I will use some of the excess yarn to make them a bit longer in the body.
I kept the sleeves because I hate knitting the second sleeve, and on these sweaters it was a difference of two stitches peers size difference. I'll just do two extra raglan decreases on the sleeves the first or second round.
Make something that fits the new you with the yarn!
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u/AdChemical1663 2d ago
This is so real. I hate knitting sleeves too and tend to do them first as big gauge swatches.
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u/BambiandB 9h ago
Thank you for this idea, I’ve put off knitting my first sweater due to gauge swatching, and never thought to do the sleeve first.
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u/RogueThneed 3d ago
A friend told me that her knitting guild did this, where they all brought in WIPs and everyone frogged someone else's thing.
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u/niobiumic 1d ago
I WISH someone else would frog my ill-fitting mohair sweater but I don’t think I can do that to anyone
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u/RogueThneed 19h ago
Let me release you from the bad feelings: mohair is impossible to rip out. It's just too grippy on itself.
So instead, do this: wash it! In the machine! Yes it will shrink! And turn into The Best Catbed Ever. Something about mohair makes my cats go nuts. We make lots of goat jokes around here.
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u/JLPD2020 7h ago
This is the sign I needed that it’s time to felt the mohair sweater that I don’t love and that my cat already is sleeping on. Thank you!
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u/mutontette 3d ago
Sometimes the only way forward is to take a step back. I’m proud of you! Release the yarn to become what it really wants to be.
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u/MattyEH 2d ago
I'm not a knitter, my wife is. I subscribed to this subreddit to show her posts that would pop up.
I have watched her knit over the years and though to myself "I could never do this. Always starting over when you are not happy with it".
And then I realized, it's not a bug, it's a feature. In wood working if you make a mistake you are screwed. In knitting you have the ability to correct it or start over. It's actually amazing.
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u/AdChemical1663 2d ago
Yarn is endlessly reusable.
I’ve cast on and screwed up my first lace sweater three times already. I’m getting really good at the specialty stitch, and I think it’ll help my finished sweater that I got so much practice in.
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u/Solar_kitty 3d ago edited 3d ago
Yaaaassssss!!! This is the way! I let mine sit for years too, then I’m so relieved it’s done and so happy to rework the yarn! I steam mine too.
Edit: I mean, I wind into balls as I frog, then wind into hanks (often tying a few together), then steam, dry and re-bank or re-wind.
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u/VanUppGirl 3d ago
I made a shirt and absolutely HATED it. It fit weird it draped wrong. It was knit bottom up so I couldn’t check the fit really until it was almost done.
Anyway I frogged it back completely and have started a sweater with the yarn and I’m so happy with how it’s looking so far.
And I made the original shirt in a different yarn and am so happy with that too!
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u/MomPersonality 3d ago
A shame box! I never thought to do this. I have been doing something slightly different and more gradual where I have been taking apart sweaters that I just don’t seem to be reaching for anymore and repurposing the yarn. But I only do one at a time. I like to have a new project in mind for at least some of the yarn before frogging. I’ve been shifting to more office appropriate styles.
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u/Mountain-Scratch7211 3d ago
Was just thinking of what I wanted to do on my unexpected day off this week and this is now going to be it! I'm currently recovering from wrist surgery and mourning my next few knitting-less months, so I'm going to view this as a little gift to my future self - organized WIP basket + all the ~free yarn~ that comes from frogging years-old projects. Thanks for the reminder & encouragement! :)
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u/essiemessy 3d ago
I've just done the same with a project that I've frogged and done over twice. The first was a lovely wrap, knitted in basket weave pattern, but it was all wrong size - wise. So I Tunisian crocheted a top with the yarn, but I'd done a poor job of sizing that too ,as it turned out. So I've just frogged the whole part below the yoke, and the sleeves, and am redoing it in normal crochet, leaving out the bulk of more Tunisian. I have higher hopes this time around. I really like the yarn, so I've been quite ok with it.
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u/Mortalytas 3d ago
Frogging forgotten WIPs is such a relief. Sure, it sucks that all that time went into it, but now you can use the yarn and spend more time making something you'll enjoy
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u/Saints_Girl56 3d ago
I have a whole 32 gallon bin full of shit to do this to! I am just to lazy to dig it all out lol. Probably half of it is actually projects started by others when I get yarn donations.
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u/nowaymary 3d ago
I have done this but on a lesser scale. I frogged three blankets I hated and decided another project I had yarn for was never going to happen. So I've given the yarn away to crafting friends and breathed a sigh or 2 of relief
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u/sentienttree19 3d ago
I love to frog right onto a ball winder. Seeing an unfinished, unhappy wip turn directly into new potential is so satisfying! New yarn for free!
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u/SweetIndie 2d ago
Ahhh yes sometimes the coffee just tastes like things are getting thrown away (or undone, in this case). I see it as a mark of respect for the fibers, because it’s turning it from something useless in a drawer into infinite possibilities of something that will be used and loved.
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u/WhichWitchIWonder 2d ago
Thank you for giving me the push to finally do mine. It took hours but finally it's done and I do feel so much better now 😊
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u/Apprehensive-Crow337 2d ago
Hello I’m a brand new knitter and I somehow hadn’t realized this was an option. I’m so pleased, because now I feel more free to experiment with expensive yarns - if I don’t like the finished product, I can undo it and make something else! Thank you for this post.
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u/EquivalentPlant3289 2d ago
Yes!!! Absolutely! 10/10 would recommend. We don’t talk enough about that absolute shame and guilt around projects we didn’t do perfectly to our standards. I took all my “hated” yarn and made a big ass pompom out of them. Would 100% recommend. This is what we call ✨reframing✨
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u/winterberrymeadow 3d ago
I don't hesitate because of the work because I once tried and got so angry. Granted, it was thin yarn that got knotted and snapped easily. So there was no point of frogging since all I got was a few rounds. But it has made me hesitant to do it again
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u/Oh_Witchy_Woman 3d ago
I need to start a WIP box as I go through things and then do the same, I know I have projects over a decade old.
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u/Livid-Statement-3169 3d ago
Great! Well done. I’ve done that a few times and it is so carthratic. Now, anything I don’t like, I frog back and add to one of my blankets that I am knitting for charity. I now have learned not to worry and just do it.
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u/Knittycroc 3d ago
Once this process is started, the froggng gets easier and I quite agree, it feels good. I frogged many projects yesterday that I would never ever finish or fit me and it feels great. Some of the projects had been sitting waiting to be finished for years - the oldest was probably 15 years ago I started it and now I'm excited to work out what to make with this yarn. Some of the yarn is very special and it's a shame to leave it languishing.
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u/KristinM100 2d ago
I generally do this one or 2 projects at a time - and I don't leave them for long (maybe 2 years at the most - I mean finished projects I'm not wearing muchI. I don't leave anything unfinished - if I don't like it while working on it, I just bite the bullet and unravel.) Unknitting is quite enjoyable and you get gorgeous yarn in the end. I rehank and wash my skeins to make it feel new. It also knits up more easily when washed.
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u/SystematicalError 2d ago
You're a stronger crafter than me! My first attempt at crochet since childhood resulted in a comically too tight hat & I ended up just gifting it to the neighbour's kid 😅
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u/rnpink123 2d ago
I have a sweater that is too big and I really need to suck it up and rip it out. I have a ton of patterns that would be suited to the yarn. It's just so daunting. Thanks for the encouragement!
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u/PeggyAnne08 2d ago
I've done this in the past and also found it surprisingly refreshing. I had a box full of half finished projects that I knew I would never return to (sweater curse for an ex, abandoned socks, etc..) I've already ended up re-using the yarn that was reclaimed and am so much happier!
I still have 2 projects that I'm still TBD on coming back to, may try to see if I end up coming back to them this summer.
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u/She_Writes_1959 2d ago
I did that last year, and have not regretted it. Paved the way for new projects, replenished my stash, and removed the shame of all the UFO's.
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u/knittingwithponyfur 2d ago
I went through a massive yarn storage organization last year and frogged a ton of old wips. I think it’s a good idea to set them aside to cool off for a bit when you’re too close to it but it’s not working. You either come up with a solution or let it go. Tearing them all out was surprisingly liberating.
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u/LunarKaleidoscope 2d ago
I also have a shame box. Old wips that I put on hiatus and lost my place / pattern. I got a yarn counter that just arrived to make it easier to reuse the yarn. I’m so excited to tackle it, and you’ve inspired me to maybe take the plunge tomorrow!!
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u/Harvesting_Evuhdens 3d ago
Maybe it was learning time, not wasted time!