A stitch ripper is a hand device that people who sew use. People who are learning to sew use it a lot. There are several different styles, but the idea is the same–you use it to cut the threads in a line of sewing that need to be taken out. They are also called seam rippers.
After ripping out the stitches from the front, I learned that if you flip the project over and pull out the bobbin stitching, you do a lot less damage to the fabric and make the sewing thread come out in longer pieces, making opening a mistake faster.
And then, because I wonder about odd things, I wondered if it wouldn’t be a great idea to have a plan ripper. Don’t like the way a project at work is turning out? Flip over your whole team and pull the thread that holds together poor thinking and wrong conclusions.
Don’t like the plot line in your story? Flip it over and find out what emotional stitching got tangled up in the logic thread and pull it out.
Unhappy with the direction your relationship is heading? Look at the other side carefully and see if the ideas, goals, dreams you both share are lined up right, There might be a wrinkle in the relationship that sounds similar to, “I’d really love that person if only s/he would change for me.” Time for the seam ripper.
I hate making mistakes, and I hate using the seam ripper, because undoing work isn’t fun and the stitch ripper requires some skill in itself–you can’t be too fast or vicious with it. But knowing that no sewing is final holds out hope for a better seam.
QuinnCreative 
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Sure now, aren’t we all “OK with corrections.” The nicest thing about a seam ripper, once the mistake is ripped out it is gone forever. No evidence of the mistake, no looking at the mistake over and over with regret, just the knowledge learned from making a mistake, erasing it, and making it better.
This is a nice addition to the concept–once the seam is out, it no longer has a hold on the fabric.
I have a great rubber stamp from Viva Las Vegas Stamps: “Next time I’m going to do my life in pencil so I can erase the parts I don’t like.” What a great idea–right up there with the seam ripper!
Love that stamp! I always wanted my tombstone to have that old print production manager’s sign-off: OK With Corrections.
I love this post – it reminds me of reasons for why I got divorced and how…I had to ‘seam rip’ my life and some people in it that were mistakes. I am re-sewing my life back together in a way. 🙂 Thank you for your creativeness here!
I’m so glad the image worked for you–I started to think about a “seem” ripper, but that’s another blog post.
Amen, Sister. I own three seam rippers (and I think I just started a collection of proverbial rippers). It can be theraputic if you use the right approach; I mean sometimes the whole seam isn’t lost, you just need a “do over” in parts….
I once did a postcard challenge on “do-overs” in life and got GREAT answers! Yep, seam rippers can take out the bad and leave the good. Another useful trick!
love this and your ideas..thanks for making me smilexlynda
Knitting has a different kind of ripper: called ‘frogging’ because a frog says ripit ripit. And if you do one stitch at a time it is called ‘tink’ which is knit, backwards.
I think a writing ripper is the delete key. I hate it and use it a lot but it’s especially useful for those nasty-grams you need to write but shouldn’t send.
I didn’t know it was called a ‘tink’ –I generally knit backwards because when I unravel, I miss the corner stitch and it makes a mess. The writing ripper could, indeed, be the delete key. Such a useful thing, so painful!
Your thoughts are always interesting. All from a simple seam ripper. What could be call a writing ripper and what would it look like? An eraser? A blank page? Hmmm, interesting.