Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Finishing Month: Should You Finish or Frog that Project?

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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.

Have you read?

Pencil Knitting Patterns

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns! 

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil. 

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn. 

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point. 

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up. 

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.