Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Finishing Workshop: Keeping Track of UFOs

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orgnaizing ufosThis is probably something I should have mentioned back when we were talking about unfinished project triage, but I only just thought of it today while I was cleaning up some projects that had landed on my dresser.

When you’ve figured out which projects you want to work on right away and which ones it will take you longer to get to, you need a way to safely store those projects that you aren’t going to work on right away but that you still want to finish.

Make sure you have the yarn and needles, the pattern instructions and any notes you may have taken all together in the same place. For some projects you might also want to take the time to figure out which row you were on or mark where you were in the pattern if you didn’t when you stopped working on it before.

That way you won’t have that hurdle to get over when you get back to the project. (And believe me, feeling like you’re lost in a project can keep you from picking it back up for a long time.)

I know it’s better to use cloth bags for wool and other natural fibers, but I tend to use plastic food storage bags for this purpose and just leave them open at the top so they can breathe.

Then the projects can all go in a box or basket together, possibly organized in the order you want to work on them, and the next time you need something to work on all your options will be ready to go.

How do you organize unfinished objects? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Comments

  3. That’s a tricky one. Sometimes you can count rows in a pattern repeat if you can read your knitting and that will help you figure out where you were. Or if you were knitting a garment or something measured by length, you can measure your piece and see where that would put you in the instructions.

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.