To those into the world of knitting forums, blogs, and Ravelry, the term “frogging” will be recognizable, but for those who aren’t, let me fill you in – it’s a word used by knitters to describe ripping out knitting (rip it, rip it – get it?).  This is what happens when you make a mistake that can’t be fudged, covered up, or otherwise concealed.  Such as when the mistake relates to size. 

Of vital importance to any knitter who makes wearable items is the concept of stitch and row gauge, which is how many stitches or rows there are to the inch.   Generally stitch and row gauge is measured in 4” increments, such as 24 stitches and 28 rows =  4 inches in stockinette stitch.  Gauge matters – a lot – if you want the clothes to fit.  And when a gauge booboo is made, the results can be extremely sad. 

Lately I’ve been working on a project to give as a gift to someone.  I had the design and the sizing all worked out.  But somehow I miscalculated the gauge.  What I thought was 18 stitches to 4 inches was more like 20 stitches.  I had not cast on enough stitches to account for the real gauge.  Unfortunately I didn’t realize this until the garment was almost finished.  When I tried it on myself, I saw instantly that it would never fit the recipient.  What to do?  Should I carry on with the rest of the work, and keep the nearly-finished sweater for myself?  Should I finish it up and use it to sell on my web site once I get my shop up and running?  Eventually I realized that by the time I ordered more yarn, waited for it to arrive, and started over, it might be another month before the thing was finished.

So, I frogged.  There’s something a bit liberating in unraveling knitting – the yarn takes on a curious kinky quality that it holds for a few minutes, trying to keep the shape of the stitches.  Seamless knitting unravels in no time at all.  Hours and days and weeks of work, all in a pile of crumpled yarn on the floor in less time than it takes to brush one’s teeth.  But mostly ripping out your work is just frustrating, and more than a little stressful when you’re working to a deadline.

Anyway, after some deep breathing and a stiff drink, the frogging was done and the project restarted with the correct number of stitches. 

This time the thing will damn well be perfect.