I had put away in my attic some unfinished projects (puffy yarn pillow, child’s purse) with the intention of getting to them at some point. But the cats had other ideas and conveniently peed on them. I say conveniently, because they are teaching me about taking care of my yarn and my unfinished projects.
As much as it saddens me, I have had to throw out several skeins of yarn because of cat pee. I worry that even if I washed it, some other cat could still smell the scent and decide to mark its territory. I would not want that to happen to someone who needed a blanket.
The lesson? Never leave precious yarn on the floor, or in a bag where a cat could crawl in and create a cozy litter box.
It does irritate me. I have to then go out an replace the yarn. It isn’t expensive, but if it happened enough it would add up. And it might be the skein I need to finish the project.
As for those items in the attic, they obviously didn’t mean that much to me, or I would have finished them and donated them. The puffy yarn pillow was cast on and bound off too tightly, so it didn’t lay flat, so it would not have made a good pillow anyway. And since that yarn seems to be not a popular as it once was, I don’t feel obligated to show examples of it.
There was a good blog in Love Knitting about how good it sometimes feels to rip out (frog) a project that doesn’t work out as it should. That is a good option if the project is not living up to your expectations. But peed upon? It is not worth it to me to try to salvage it. Out with it. Sadly, but good riddance.
Some projects just don’t work out. You know it as you work on it. It’s a struggle; you can’t stand the sight of it; it causes you grief.
Your options? Rip it out and use the yarn for something else. Throw it out, even if unfinished. Donate it – sometimes I’ve found needlecraft projects in thrift stores that have been started by someone who didn’t want to finish it. As long as you have all the yarn required, maybe you can tackle and finish it.
Handwork is meant to be pleasurable and stress-free. There is no need to ‘suffer’ with a project that you hate.
And be careful where you leave your project (especially if you love it and you live with critters).
Blanketed Owl 