Tucked away in bags, hidden in closets or drawers, are knitted projects that just did not work out.  Some were given away as gifts that you have never seen since. Others were items you made for yourselves that never fit quite right. A few fall into the category of, "What was I thinking?" 

The reasons are as varied as there are knitters. Your gauge swatch may lie, fashions may change, finishing was not your best skill, or you never noticed your partner had extra long arms (and face it men rarely look good in three quarter sleeves).  

It might now be time to give those items a second look.  If you have given your sister a bulky sweater that she never ever wears because she has since becomes warm when she wears a tee-shirt, you might ask her if you can replace the sweater with something else, perhaps a purse. Then sweater can then be shared with someone who is cold all the time.  

One other choice, especially with projects you made for yourself that you do not wear or use (I currently have three sweaters with necklines that do not fit right), is to see if there is a simple alteration you can make to fix whatever ails the project. Maybe a neckline can be taken out and re-knit to fit better. 

Finally, you may want to rip the entire project out, and start again.  One caveat to this suggestion, is to never do this after midnight, you may just be tired and things will look better in the morning. 

While fixing or giving away or ripping out these projects think about why they did not work. Sometimes the yarn does not match the use. It might be possible that you were impatient to finish and did not spend the time necessary to do it right. Recipients might have changed sizes or your tastes may differ. Whatever the reason consider them thoughtfully so that your next project doesn't end up in a drawer never to see the light of day.

What do you do when a project just did not work out as planned? Post in the [url=http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=73&page=1]forum [/url] your solutions.  See you there.