Another Piece, Another Lesson...

Every crochet project seems to come with at least one lesson. This one came with two.

Lesson #1: The pattern isn't giving you yarn recommendations for jokes.

The pattern I was looking at recommended a different yarn and hook size to the ones I was using, but I didn't think anything of it. Thought I could wing it, surely it'd be fine.

It of course, was not fine.

I got wayyy too far into the bag before admitting defeat. It wasn't looking right and the connection points were off, so I had to frog* the whole thing and start again.

Even after restarting, because of the yarn and hook size I was using, the finished bag ended up smaller than the original pattern. A little annoying? Yes.

Still proud that I actually finished it? Also yes.

I can't even be mad because the stitch is so pretty.

Lesson #2: Wrap. Your. Yarn.

This is Crochet 101. Like... embarrassingly basic.

Yet somehow I convinced myself I didn't need to wrap the yarn while frogging it.

I took the project on holiday thinking I'd spend my spare time crocheting.

Instead, I spent them untangling a milliin yarn knots. There were knots inside knots. Every time I untangled one bit, I somehow tightened another. I genuinely think I spent around 20 hours untangling that yarn over the course of the trip.

I've never been so patient with anything in my life.

My only strategy was taking deep breaths and reminding myself:

If it got tangled, it can get untangled.

By some miracle, on the flight home from my eight-day trip, I finally pulled the last knot free. Perfect timing lol.

The takeaway

Every project teaches you something.

Sometimes it's a new stitch. Sometimes it's patience. Or sometimes it's simply:

ALWAYS WRAP YOUR YARN WHEN FROGGING A PROJECT.

The fact I even have to write that down lol. Hopefully future me will learn from my silly mistake.

Don't be me.

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* In crochet, to frog means to unravel or rip out your stitches. This is usually done to fix a mistake or restart a section of a project. The term comes from a playful pun: frogs go "ribbit", which sounds a little like "rip it."