Finishing Month: Should You Finish or Frog that Project?

Hello, and welcome to Finishing Month! Another popular New Year’s resolution (after stash busting) was the desire to finish more projects and/or to know how to finish those projects well. This may be a slightly shorter series than the last, but as always if you have a specific question or a topic you’d like to see covered, let me know and I’ll try to work it in.

The first step when it comes to finishing projects is finding and evaluating all the projects you already have on the needles. There may be more of these than you expect. And of course, “unfinished” projects can also include the single sock or mitt you never knit the mate to (I have one each of those!) or the project that’s done in terms of the knitting but just needs the ends woven in or seams sewn or a button sewn on (I may have all of those, too).

So if you’re following along at home, the first thing you need to do is get all these unfinished projects together. Set aside those that just need finishing beyond the knitting, because we’ll get to those skills later in the month.

Now take a look at what’s still on the needles. Ask yourself some questions:

How long has that project been languishing?
Do you still like it?
Is it the right size for you or its intended recipient? (Babies grow fast, you know.)
If not, do you have someone else in mind you could give it to?
Would you wear/use it if you did finish it?
Would you rather use the yarn for something else?

All these questions should help you evaluate each project and determine whether you want to finish it or frog it (rip it!). There will be some of both in your basket.

But the point of looking at each case is that you need to be honest about the projects you aren’t going to finish. Don’t let them linger any longer. Rip them out now. It’s actually kind of liberating to say goodbye to projects you know you don’t want to see through, and if nothing else you’ll replenish your stash of knitting needles.

If you decide to rip out some projects instead of letting them linger longer unfinished, I’d love to hear about it. I know I have at least one (that blue cabled scarf) that I’m going to get off the needles really soon.

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

Have you read?

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