Without putting too much stress on my poor, pained feet, I found not very inventive ways to complete frogging the yarn I wish to reclaim for use in the felted clogs I will knit for the Knitting Olympics. (Go Team Wales!) And, using brooms, chairs, a radiator and a bus pan, I hung them to dry in a corner of the dining room. (Olive in front, hazel in back.) Since I don't enjoy the process, I wanted to make sure I had found all of the blanket pieces I was frogging, so I sort of bored my way through the stash closet, looking for stray stripes in need of frogging.
It was in the very bottom of the closet in an old, opaque Rubbermaid bin that I found the source of my Olympic shame. In a bag of miscellaneous notions, patterns, and 10 balls of bright red Dale Heilo yarn was the unfinished body of Dale of Norway's 1994 Lillehammer sweater. I thought the sweater had been lost in one of the three moves we made in two years. I had enjoyed knitting it, so I had that unmistakable rush only a knitter can relate to where you think "Hooray! I can start knitting on it again today!"
But my joy was short-lived. I tore through the stash closet, opening every box and bag, but the yarn necessary for completing the sweater is nowhere to be found. Sleeves will not be forthcoming. I can only imagine what frogging it would be like – all of that twisted fair isle. And for the rest of my life I’ll have to live with the knowledge that somewhere, more than a decade ago, a sheep gave up its fleece in vain.
So, Dear Reader, please learn from my mistakes. Never, ever pack your stash in opaque bins. Clear plastic only. I do not wish this shame on anyone.
11 comments:
I was going to write a thoughtful comment, but at the sight of your unfinished, and apparently not-to-be-finished, sweater, I think I need to go have a moment.
Hope the feet are healing nicely.
Can't this sweater be saved? It's so wonderful. I feel a little nauseous. It's like watching the movie Diary of Anne Frank. I can't bear to see it knowing what will become of it...
Oh, Aidan!!!
Are you sure that you couldn't knit the sleeves with differently dye-lot yarn? It may not be too hideously obvious since it will be both entire sleeves and as they are perpendicular to the body (mostly) you can blame any noted differences on the "angle" and "tricks of the light". Think about it - there is so much work there to just put it back in the box!
waht the hell is frogging?
waht the hell is frogging?
Oh Aidan... A little tear sprang to my eye when I saw that... Can't you save it? What about at least turning it into a cushion? Don't undo all that gorgeous work...
Yeah, I'm with Jay. Definitely turn it into a cushion/throw pillow. Machine sew the ends together, tuck the waistband in, and stuff the heck out of it. Frogging something that elaborate would be downright painful.
And look at it this way...how many other folks who have foot surgery get to put their feets up on a hand knitted Dale of Norway pillow? :)
Maybe, just maybe, that yarn is tucked away with some other UFO somewhere. All that work, and so very lovely -- I would not like to see it become a home furnishing --
I see a few balls of yarn in the photo. Can a vest happen? Could snips of yarn be sent to Dale of Norway for a close match?
Just sayin' -- several times I have given up on ever finding something I value and just after giving up, there it is, stashed in a Very Safe Place.
Nonononononono!
Please don't frog the sweater and don't make it into a cushion yet!
The sight of that sweater took my breath away and I can't bear the thought that all the work you have put into might be undone.
Do you know the dyelots and color numbers? Remember that a lot of other knitters bought and made Lillehammer. Surely someone, somewhere has leftovers. I bet if you posted what you were looking for on Knitswaps (a yahoo group) someone might be able to help you. Or some talented knitters out there could help you come up with a way to incorporate new dyelots invisibly (or at least less-noticeably).
Oh, I'd definitely go with the cushion option if you can't track down the yarn anywhere. It's far too nice to frog and I don't often like fair isle.
Kirsty
I bet you could find some yarn in a similar dye lot!
Love that sweater...I knit the mittens but not the sweater.
Dale of Norway sweaters are the best!!!
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