Finishing Workshop: Getting Motivated

I think the hardest thing about tackling your unfinished projects is just getting motivated to do them. There’s a reason you didn’t finish them in the first place, and it can be hard to get excited about them again when you’ve spent a lot of time away from them.

That’s why I like to start with the easy projects that aren’t going to take a lot of time, because then you can build a little momentum for finishing and have a nice new stack of things to wear, use and gift, which should help motivate you to work on other projects as well.

Some simple deal-making with yourself can help, too. Tell yourself you’re not going to start a new project until you’ve finished x number of projects from your pile. The x will depend on how many unfinished things you have and how much work they need, but I’d say at least two or three. This is a way of bribing yourself, particularly if there’s a project you’re itching to start. Making yourself wait until you get those other projects finished likely will help you to get them done that much faster.

If you need to make a public commitment to finishing, please do so here. I’d love to hear how many projects you’re committing to finishing and any status updates you have.

As for me, I’ve ripped out one project I knew I was never going to finish, and that dress I was talking about yesterday is drying out after blocking on my dining room table. Day six and this month has already been a success!

If you have any tips for getting motivated to finish projects, I’d love to hear them. Goodness knows we all need help from time to time!

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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