To Frog or Not to Frog

I finished off a couple of projects that had been weighing on me for a while. I finished one of the pillows that I started back in July. It's nothing beautiful, but it looks OK, and I won't feel guilty about buying all of that Jo Sharp yarn and not using some of it. I read on someone's blog a while ago that she had started the same Jo Sharp throw that I had intended to knit. She had the same complaint that I did. It was all done on a set of circulars and had about 300 stitches with all of these changes in every row. There was no way to memorize the pattern in the beginning or to check that you were counting right. I started about five times and called it quits. I ended up knitting a nice easy Debbie Bliss throw instead. (Thanks, Debbie!) I also ended up with lots of extra yarn. Considering that I spend a bundle on the original twenty skeins, I have felt guilty about not doing something with them. My guilt is now beginning to subside, and it should completely dissipate once I finish my second pillow which I have half-way complete.



Now to mention my weekend failure. I knit a sweater for my then four-month-old niece back in the spring, but I never put any buttons on it. I used an old pattern from the 40s or 50s that my aunt had had. It looked so cute with its curved button band. I finally sewed on the buttons today. Now that it's finished, it just looks kind of weird. I think I made the sleeves too small, not to mention the fact that my niece is fast approaching a year in age! I spent $1.75 a piece on six adorable Peter Rabbit buttons for it, and I don't want to waste that little expenditure on a dorky looking sweater that I don't know who to give to anyway. I'm so glad that someone invented the word "frog" because I know now that I am not alone in putting hours of my time into something and then deciding to destroy all of the evidence. Oh, I forgot to mention that the sweater is partly cashmere, which isn't as wasteful as it sounds since it was such a small sweater. I still had a relaxing afternoon with the cat who loves to sit on my lap anytime I appear to be busy with something. I'll probably think about it a while longer before I decide what to do about the sweater...it does feel so soft, maybe I could find a baby who would like it!