To frog a project: taking a project off the needles and ripping it back and undoing all the stitches. It gets it name from what your doing “rip it rip it” which sounds like a frog.
To tink a project: undoing your work one stitch at a time until you reach your error. So you’re knitting backwards and it so cleverly spells knit backwards.
I hate knitting mistakes. I mean hate hate hate them. I know most non-knitters won’t notice the error but I will and it drives me crazy. Every time I undo a project that I’ve started my hubby looks at me like I’m nuts and cringes. But you’ve already done so much he says. And for the most part redoing it without errors doesn’t take any time at all. But when it’s a fairly large project, like a blanket, and my mistake is near the end and I can’t decide what to do it it usually goes into the unfinished projects basket for a long time out.
Deciding whether to frog or to tink all depends on the project and how far along you are. If I notice an error a few rows away, I usually opt to tink. Especially if it’s a blanket and I’ve done quite a bit then tinking is the way to go.
This blanket I had to tink twice. I was nearing the end and there was no way I would be able to frog it and not have a mental breakdown. So large projects like this are tinked or they go in a time out.
If I make a mistake that has no way of being fixed by tinking then I frog the whole project. This would be an item with an intense pattern or a lot of lace work that would be difficult to tink. Also, if it’s a fairly small project like a hat or mitts I usually frog it and restart since it takes no time to get back to where I was.
The Muti Dress I had to frog multiple times. I kept making mistakes with the repeats in the collar and there was no way I’d be able to tink it back without making more mistakes.
When My Mistakes Happen
- I’m too tired and I can barely keep my eyes open but I want to finish a project. Happens more often now with the baby and lack of sleep. I should probably be napping when he naps but I just want to craft without baby interruptions.
- I’m watching tv and it’s something interesting. So my attention is split between TV and knitting. Unless it’s a simple project like a hat or mitts or a simple sweater, I have to either turn to something I’ve seen or turn on the radio.
- Not using stitch markers with a complicated pattern with multiple repeats. This is what happened with the Muti Dress that I frogged more than twice.
- Not properly tracking cable rows. I love the look of cables but if I don’t track exactly where I am then I often add the cable row too early or too late and throw off the whole pattern.
- The last few rows of a pattern. I’m always so eager to finish an item once I can see the light at the end of the tunnel that I make stupid mistakes. Dropping a stitch is the most common mistake I make near the end of the project.
How do you decide when to frog or tink a project?
Happy Knitting,
Ashley
