Crocheter's remorse?

[Trinket]

I was working on an afghan, and I'm almost done with it. In fact, all I have left to do is the border.

 

I sat back and looked at it and I thought, "I don't like this. I don't like this at all!"

 

Have you ever found yourself disliking the project you're currently working on? Especially when you're almost done with it? How do you deal with that? Do you just finish it anyway, or do you pull it out?

[craziebunny]

I made myself a top one time got all the way done with it.kept looking at it. trying it on and just didnt like it so I pulled it all out.

But I dont know if I would do that to an afghan with all that hard work on it! save it for a gift!

[_Stacy_]

I did that with an afghan I made for my mother this past Christmas. Toward the end all I had to finish was the border but I became so tired of it that I just did not even want to finish it. I forced myself to do a row of border a day until it was finished, I would not do another project until that was done for the day. All I could think was, "as soon as this border is done, the blanket will be outta here!" LoL

[Nila]

I think it probably happens to everyone. If I'm almost done with a project, especially a large one, and I've decided I hate it, I'll finish it anyways. When it's something small or I've only just started, I'll pull it out and try something else.

 

It's also depend on what the intended purpose of the project was. Blankets or afgans for me that I start to hate, I'll do my best to figure out how to change it so I like it. Sometimes even putting it aside for a while is enough to change my opinion. If it's a blanket or afgan for someone else, I'll just finish it as is because usually it's picked out with that person in mind.

[Lady_of_Roses]

With an afghan I'd just finish it anyhow and put it away. If I still didn't like it 6 months later for myself personally, I'd probably try to think of someone appropriate to gift it to. Given that I make my afghans out of acrylic (which is machine wash and dryable), if I really didn't know anyone personally to give it to, I'd take it someplace like an old folks home and really make someone's day there. They'd have an easy care blankie to make them feel warm heart 'n body!

[Krakovianka]

I sympathize...I recently finished a doily that took hours and hours of work, and I decided the color is dire and horrible. But I did finish it, although I'm not sure I could give it anyone, since I think it so ugly. (nice design--just the color is awful)

[PBLKNP]

I just finished a top that turned out just awful. It was partially my fault...I didn't think the pattern was right, so I adjusted the raglan shaping a bit, but now it's all baggy around the armpits. Also, the top is supposed to be a jacket, but there's way too much drape, so it just sort of hangs there. The only thing I can think to do is to perhaps buy some clasps to join the front pieces, so that I can sort of pull the fabric a bit to keep the armpits from being baggy.

I don't think frogging it and starting over is going to be an option, as a) I really don't want to go through this again, and b) I don't think the yarn is going to survive being re-worked again.

 

I'm tempted to take the top and put it in the bag with all the other goodwill stuff and just ship it out, I swear.

[MaryPat]

Sounds like the time I used a basketweave pattern and a cotton worsted yarn to make a crew-necked pullover. Beautiful! I had designed it from scratch, using a sweater that fit. I did a swatch, copied the swatch on a copy machine to create a full size sheet of paper to trace a sweater that fit. I did increases and decreases from the paper outline.

 

O man by the time I was done with it, I was tired of constantly checking decreases and writing notes to re-do it accurately on the reverse side.

 

It was just like the most evil thing to discover that sweaters from cotton worsted using a yarn hungry stitch like basketweave weigh a ton and feel like armor.

[stitchgirl]

That's happened to me with afghans, but I finish them anyway - too much work already in it and too much work to pull it out. But if it's something small and I decide I hate it I pull it out. I've done that with tops multiple times.

[Avon Lady]

Take your doily to a nursing home! Some little ole lady there will treasure it! Believe me! They love to get little things like that to make them feel better!

[angelsmith52]

Thankfully this has only happened to me once! I bought this yarn that had red, orange and yellow in it. It was so pretty in the skein. Once I got about halfway through, I did not like how it was turning out.

 

I had already promised to make an afghan for my ladies group to raffle off or I would have put it away! I just finished it and got it out of the house ASAP!!!

[boksie]

Yep, I have a project like that too. I have an afghan done except for weaving in the ends and it's been sitting for a couple of months.

[kazily]

I'd donate it to a nursing home resident if you still hate it in a week. Sometimes we change our mind which is why I would wait a week.

 

I have gotten crocheters remorse with a thick baggy shrug I made. It was warm but looked like I was wearing a blanket with sleeves It wasn't flattering at all. I donated it to goodwill. Maybe it is keeping someone warm that lives alone & has no one to ask them "are you wearing a blanket with sleeves?":lol

 

The most recent wearable I made was a pullover V neck vest. I wasn't impressed with it at first & thought it would end up the same way. It was baby green yarn! I could have kicked myself for choosing the color but it was in my stash. It has grown on me a little though. I wore it over a white top to church on a Wed night & got several compliments on it (& they didn't even know I made it.) So I looked at it in a different way, trying to see it from someone elses view & decided it wasn't as bad as I thought.

[Craw]

I almost ripped out an afghan I was doing. I thought it was ugly because I hated the yarn (Red Heart Strata). Hubby convinced me to finish it and get over it. Now we fight over it because as ugly as it is, it's the warmest one I've made yet!

[eurolyons]

Oh yeah, it happens from time to time...what seemed like a good idea at the time turns into a bad idea. If I'm almost done, I finish it and give it away.

[FosterMom]

I usually just finish it anyway. What is worse is knowing you dont like something and having to make it anyway. I made these cute bear blankets for my kids and everyone loved them and always ask for one when there is a baby coming. While I admit they are cute, they stink to make and I dont enjoy a second of it. My hubby refers to them as my signature blankets but geesh do I not like them.

 

K

[DawnofMarch]

When I was working on what was supposed to be a blanket for my friend's daughter, I had already finished using one skein of yarn when I realized I'd been making a mistake all along. I was decreasing each row. So I unraveled what I could and used the second skein I'd been using for that blanket for a Scarf that became a Christmas Present for my SIL.

 

I am using the 3rd skein of yarn from that project gone wrong on what had begun as a hat but transformed into a bag. Now if only I could find the hook I was using for it. Sadly I don't have a lot of extras of my hooks. The only hook I have extra of is my J hook, but I was working with my G hook. I think I will let myself enjoy 1 more cup of Tea and then I will tear apart my bedroom looking for it. I'm sure it has to be in here somewhere.

[sandra2469]

I've got one that I absolutely can't stand, but my husband wants me to finish it for him - he loves the pattern! I work on it every now & again & maybe by Christmas he'll get it. I've had others that I've worked on & couldn't wait to finish & others that I was sorry to see them end. I think it's a combination of how tired you are, how much you like the pattern, the color, and the recipient...plus, how much other crochet work do you have waiting in the wings...all of it can add up.

[faedragon]

Yes, that has happened and more than once. I either finish whatever it is and give it away, or if I just love the yarn, frog it and use the yarn for something else.

[cgd]

The wearables I tried to make gave me cases of remorse. I crocheted a sweater, and I knitted one, neither of which turned out well. I threw them out. I'm now making an afghan I'm not crazy about, but at least it's not going to be a monumental disaster!

[cthulhu]

I have an afghan just like that that I am working on now. I started it April 2008 and I am still working on it! Really just needs the border, but it so tedious. What makes it worse is that it's a gift!

[Trinket]

The afghan in question was requested by my mother for a friend of hers that was having a baby. She told me the baby would be due in October, so I worked super hard to get it done, only to find out she'd had the baby before then. Then I took a look at the baby blanket I had almost done and thought... "I just don't like this..."

 

My dilemma is that I don't know very many women who are in positions to have children who don't already have baby blankets running out their ears. I almost want to just finish it and donate it, except that it turned out to be a rather labor intensive and expensive investment. I'm not sure I want to give it up in that way.

 

Sad thing is, it's made with baby yarn, and I have no idea what I would use that for if I did pull it out.

 

I am so stumped.

[Hookerangel]

Have to admit the afghan I'm working on at the minute - a red and black ladybug hasn't turned out how I would have liked (dont think the body stands out enough) but I'm definately finishing it. Just started the baby's name on it tonight. But it is disappointing when things don't go as planned!