Frogging

The Internet has spread many new words to the ends of the earth. Craft-wise, one that I love to use is the word Frog. I first heard, or rather, saw, this word in connection with knitting and crocheting in internet craft groups.

Crafters use it when they unravel a word in progress when stitches have gone wrong. It doesn't matter whether it is 7 stitches or 77 stitches, when they unravel, they Frog it. It means to rip out stitches, and it refers to the way a frog sounds, "ribbit, ribbit, ribbit." I just love that.

Ripping out stitches used to be a hassle. Now it's humorous, fun, and productive. I tend to be more willing to rip out stitches to correct an error now that I think of it as "frogging."

The reason I thought about this today is because of something that happened yesterday morning. During our Friday morning 2-hour session of "charity crafters," a community resident passed through our clubhouse. He noticed our crocheting and said it reminded him of when his wife was alive. He started making motions showing how she looked crocheting. First he gestured as though using a crochet hook and invisible yarn. Suddenly he stopped, and started making motions of someone ripping out the stitches just made. We all laughed. Any knitter or crocheter knows that drill.

Errors can require frogging for many reasons. It's not always the work of the knitter or crocheter. Sometimes it is in the way the directions are written, or the weight or type of yarn used. No matter what the reason, if we are making a handcrafted item, it's not worth our effort unless we do it right. Frogging may seem tedious or annoying to onlookers, or even funny, as it did to that fellow yesterday morning. But it is necessary so that we end up with something worth our time, love, and labor.