Tag Archives: frogging

Oops I did it again

Posted on January 23, 2026 | 2 comments

Peekaboo shawlette featuring brioche and assigned pooling

I should have knit the Peekaboo Shawlette on a smaller needle. I did correct that in the pattern, but the looseness bothered me in person. It made the motifs not quite close at the top.

I have a pretty good idea of what I want to do with this. I’ve charted it out and I just have to wait until the yarn is dry so I can wind it back up.

The lovely yarn is from A Chick That Knitz in the Singles Fingering in Forget Me Not and Glenhaven (green).

Stop me before I frog again!

I don’t have any further frogging plans, so I think we’re safe. For now.

2 Comments

Posted in Knit, yarn

Tagged A Chick That Knitz, frogging, frogging brioche, reclaiming yarn, recycling yarn

Wear it or Frog it!

Posted on January 22, 2026 | 3 comments

I have a shawl that I don’t wear, and I decided to frog it (rip-it! rip-it!) to give the yarn another chance to shine.

a purple brioche shawl with orange stars

I didn’t publish this design; I didn’t like the edge (this was my first attempt at putting brioche and assigned pooling together). And I decided (much later) that I didn’t love the high tonal contrast of this dark purple with the pooling yarn.

knitters by the ICE facility in Portland Oregon

I decided to frog it with the ICE knitters today. It was 31 degrees F when I left the house, and I knew my current tiny needle entrelac project would be too fussy for cold fingers. Ripping is much easier.

I got most of it done, but had to finish at home. Too cold!

Balls of yarn and a green Portland Frog Hat

Why yes, I was wearing my Portland Frog Hat while frogging!

It didn’t look too bad in the ball, but you can see how kinky the yarn is when it’s no longer under tension. I wound the purple yarn on my 2 yard niddy-noddy, and the pooling yarn on my swift. The swift is easier; I’m not sure if I put a twist in with the niddy-noddy.

The yarn has been soaked, and it’s now hanging to dry. I may use a lighter purple, or what if I went all the way wacky and used magenta? Too much? I have some velvety deep blue in the same base, and that could be nice, too. This is MadelineTosh Twist Light.

I need to get something on my needles before I leave for New York next week! I’ve packed my teaching suitcase with class supplies and tech, so I’m almost ready.

What are you dreaming of knitting this year?

3 Comments

Posted in classes, Knit, pattern design, yarn

Tagged Brioche knitting, frogging, frogging brioche, knitting, MadelineTosh, portland frog hat

Frogging brioche tutorial

Posted on September 25, 2020 | 1 comment

Is it possible? Can you frog brioche? Of course. It’s getting it back on the needle that’s tricky. I’m here to help! I’ve had a lot of experience frogging…(for newbies: frogging means rip-it, rip-it, rip-it).

You can rip one row/round at a time, alternating colors, but it’s just as easy to rip them simultaneously. The trick is to rip until you’re close to where you want to end up, and then tink (un-knit, knit spelled backwards) the last row or round, one stitch at a time, picking up each stitch as it’s freed from the yarn. This is also how I frog regular knitting.

After I made this video, I frogged this project completely, because it’s a little too big. But I wanted to show you how it worked, before completely undoing it. It turned out to be just a big swatch!

1 Comment

Posted in Knit, tutorial

Tagged fixing mistakes, frogging, frogging brioche, knitting

Do you listen to that little voice?

Posted on August 31, 2016 | 5 comments

The one that says, “That bind off may be a little tight.” Or, “I don’t think that bump is going to block out.” Or whatever.

That little voice knows best. Sometimes It takes a while for me to pay attention to it. A lot of times I don’t listen because it often pops up when I’m nearing the end of a project, second-guessing myself.

I should have listened about the bind off. It was too tight, and it really showed when I was blocking my garter stitch project. I tinked the bind off after the shawl dried, all 470 or so stitches. Ouch. Now I have to re-block the whole thing to get the edging right. But it will be gorgeous.

And recently, I frogged this.

Airplane knitting, and a knitter across the aisle! I had worked on it all the way to St. Louis and back earlier this month, and the more it grew, the less I liked it. That hump at the center neck was becoming more and more pronounced, and it was never going to block out nicely. I listened to the little voice, but I should have listened much sooner. Oh, well. All frogged, and working up nicely in a different design. Or at least I think it is.

This is pretty much my process. It starts with an idea, and I plan it out. Start knitting, see what I do or don’t like, and adjust as I go. Trial and error. I make the mistakes so you don’t have to!

Does that little voice speak to you? Do you listen?

5 Comments

Posted in Knit, pattern design

Tagged frogging, knitting

This is what 10,000 stitches looks like

Posted on September 28, 2013 | 11 comments

after they’ve been frogged.

Approximately 10,000 stitches. Why didn’t I listen to that little voice sooner? But I love the revised version that I’m knitting, and I think I’m back up to about 7500 stitches so far. The little voices are laudatory this time…or are they just playing me?

It’s rainy and windy today, perfect for knitting. The forecasst for tomorrow looks worse. I’m teaching at OFFF in the morning, and shopping after that. I’m not sure the outdoor vendors will hang on that long! I helped Lorajean set up yesterday, and she just messaged me that they’re going to pack it in today. Some of the outdoor vendors didn’t come at all, and the one scheduled to be behind us looked around and decided not to set up. There’s still shopping inside, though, and the animals in the barn, so I plan to enjoy it all anyway.

I’m kind of coveting this fiber, even though I’m not currently spinning. Isn’t it gorgeous? Black and white BFL, hand dyed by Knitted Wit. Even prettier in person.

If you’re local, I hope you had a chance to get to OFFF today, or are planning to do so tomorrow!

11 Comments

Posted in events, Knit, yarn

Tagged frogging, OFFF, yarn

Overheard, in my head…

Posted on April 18, 2010 | 24 comments

The conversation this week:

Wow, I have a lot of yarn left. Look at the size of that ball. I’m sure I can get one more 16 row repeat done before I start the edging.

Are you sure? Right now you have 256 stitches, and 16 rows is at least 4096 stitches.

Yeah, but look at the size of that ball of yarn. No problem.

OK, this lace pattern is so much fun to knit; go for it.

Hey, I’m on row 11, and this yarn seems to be disappearing at a prodigious rate.

Um, maybe you should weigh the yarn before this next row, and see how much yarn you’re using per row.

OK, 21 grams; OK, now 18 grams. That’s 3 grams per row…

Um, that means you have enough for 6 rows, maybe. Which means the last 4 rows of the lace repeat, and, um, TWO rows of edging.

Carp.

And so, gentle reader, I took the whole thing off the needle, ripped out 12 rows, which is at least 3072 stitches, and got it all back on the needle.

This is the same picture, because I’m back at the same place. I took it after the big rip; I didn’t take one before because I didn’t really listen to that little voice, until it was too late. Sorry about the lighting; it was 1 a.m. But I had to do it then because I couldn’t go to bed knowing that it would be waiting for me in the morning.