Fail-Proof Way to Complete Your Knitting and crochet Projects!

Happy New Year, stitchers!

The year 2018 was an exciting one here at Atelier de Soyun!  Researching, designing and launching a new website was a rewarding, but time-consuming process. As much of my precious time was dedicated towards this new project, I couldn't touch my knitting needles as much as I wanted to last year. I'm used to knitting like a mad lady, completing several projects each month. One of my biggest resolutions in the knitting department for 2019 is to get back to completing around one or two projects per month(hopefully!)  My wanna-knit list is ever overflowing, I have some delicious yarns to play with and I am feeling  excited and optimistic for the year of 2019! So, today I'd like to share some humble tips for completing knitting and crochet projects with confidence.

My best tip is joining KALs/CALs and stitch together with your fellow stitchers. It is fun first of all, but there's an interesting psychology behind them I think. When I knit together with others (it does not matter whether you knit the same projects or not!), I find myself more excited, involved, and active in the knitting process. Also, I am more serious about the project I started and have good confidence to finish as I watch other knitters doing well. I like the energy and excitement all fellow knitters bring in the 'Knit Alongs' and use them as my fuel to proceed.

Second, prepare early and prepare well before you start knitting. Once you decided what project you'll knit or what KALs/CALs you'll join immediately get ready for it. Make sure if your correct size knitting needles are available without any missing ones (this is why you need to have a good knitting needle organizer, wink, wink!) and prepare the notions that the pattern calls for. Check out your yarn stash if you can find the right yarns and most importantly(!) make one or two swatches (I always like to make two in different needle sizes.) to fit your exact taste. Don't skip this step if you really want to save time later. One of the most exciting things is visiting the KAL/CAL message board and browsing through the posts to sneak a peek at other knitters' yarn choices and swatches they created. It always helps me in choosing right yarns and needle sizes.

Third, enjoy knitting, sharing, and inspiring each other. The title says all! Have fun with your stitching, share your progress, and check out what other creative knitters are up to. Keep updating what you're doing and get inspired by others. Ask questions as you need, get answered and encourage each other. The knitting community is full of kind and generous people always trying to help.

So, those are some of my little secrets how I finish my knitting projects more efficiently and joyfully. We usually would like to think knitting is a one-person game but when it comes to finishing well it requires some decent group interactions that makes the process more fun and enjoyable. I like this charming character that knitting offers. 

Do you have any tips of your own? How do you finish your project? What motivates you? Or, do you have a knitting group that you'd like to introduce to us? Please let us know so we can be part of it! Happy stitching, everyone!   -S