
Image: Melanie Kyer
My mother taught me to crochet when I was a little girl and I was never much good at it. I could do basic straight stitches but anything that required reading a pattern was out. These days, there are excellent tutorials on YouTube that make everything much simpler. I’ve decided to re-teach myself some basics so I can make little baskets. During our recent storm I pulled out some scrap yarn and started crocheting. It was a little lumpy but I figured it would all work out, so I kept going. Soon I was making the sides of the basket. The bottom bulged up like a sombrero, but it was kind of cute, and I had worked hard on it, so I kept going. I didn’t want to tear out what was mostly nice work and a half hour of my precious time. Still, as I plugged on, I kept looking at that uneven bottom. I realized that I would never look at it without regret if I didn’t do something.
I remembered a wise piece of advice: “Don’t cling to a mistake just because you spent a lot of time making it.” I sighed and pulled out all my stitches. We’ll just call that practice, shall we? The next one will be better! Frogging is the crocheting and knitting term for undoing your past stitches and starting over. As we leave winter behind and move into a warm post-easter Spring, there are probably lots of mistakes we all need to let go and start over whether we spent a half hour on them, or maybe much longer. It’s never too late for a new beginning. Where do you need to do some frogging?
Oh, and my next one still wasn’t perfect but it was much better. And when I started another basket, you can bet I had to tear that out a few times as well. You just have to figure out how many imperfections you can live with. And if I still need help with my crocheting, I know I can find some on Wednesday nights at 5:30 at the knitting circle at St. George’s.
Melanie Kyer