The Yarn Has Failed Me

For all the knitting and crochet projects that I finish with flying colors and immense pride, there are 20 others that see light for a moment on the drawing board and are hopelessly crushed. I often have trouble figuring out what I want to make, what to make it with, which craft to use, and what pattern to follow (or whether to use one at all).

Most of these attempts are unraveled (frogged) before long. I use the same yarn to create something worth working on, something that will satisfy my momentary desires.

Unfortunately, some of those end up getting nowhere, too. You know a couple of them by name: the Neverending Quilt and the Sweater That the Universe Denied. It's been ages since I worked on the quilt; it's been longer for the sweater.

Here are a few others. They may not have been sitting around for four years, but they certainly have been collecting dust.


I started this topsy-turvy watermelon scarf last summer, when it was warm and gorgeous and this yarn was yelling in my face. At a certain point, I realized I didn't have enough for a full scarf, and I can't remember where I got the yarn. Sure, it's available online, but with shipping included, one skein gets terribly expensive. So it's not worth it to me yet. Perhaps I'll find a skein of something different to finish it one day.


One partially finished leg warmer. I'm pretty bad about knitting pairs of things, unless they're really quick and easy. (This is part of why I haven't started my sock project yet.) I started this project last fall and finally started working on it again a few days ago. It stretches quite a bit as a leg warmer, but might be able to double as an arm warmer.


A single thumbless mitten (yes, that is my very alien-looking thumb sticking out of it). I think I made this last winter. Or maybe in the summer, when I was considering the benefits of making winter stuff in the summer.


Possibly the creepiest unfinished project in the world, this headless teddy bear was supposed to be a baby gift for a friend's first grandchild. I crafted it all from scratch... till I got to the head and realized I had no clue how to design a teddy bear head. Limbs are easy, but a poorly made head can make a child scream in terror. So I gave up on this and made a hat instead.


This is edging for my wedding gauntlets. I'm pretty sure I started this shortly before the wedding and gave up on it shortly after. I mean to finish them at some point, as a kind of heirloom thing, but right now, I'm not feeling much of a rush on that.

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