Are you coming along with us on the 2025 Year of Finished Objects? It a year that holds so much promise! All you need to do is finish one thing each month. It might be a UFO (un-finished object) or it might be something that you start and commit to finishing. Maybe you start two things, knowing that you'll need two months to complete one of them. Maybe you start 12 things and rotate your way through them all year, finishing them all in December. There are options, after all.
Some of our friends have signed on to the idea. Kathy has finished a pair of Crunkled Socks. She said, "This is such a great idea for me -- keeping a bit more accountable to my yarn buddies! So many of my UFOs have not even made it into my Ravelry WIPS. I love the creative fun of playing with my yarns by trying different projects, but I definitely need to clean out many bags of starts that I don’t intend to finish and free up those yarns and needles."
Lisa finished a Norway Pine Hat: "I started this toque in the summer of 2022. I finished everything except the washing, blocking, and weaving in ends. This morning, I finished weaving in the ends."
Nicole finished lined mittens, Pam finished Halloween Socks, Belinda finished a cashmere scarf (at a hockey game!) and Chris has made a pair of colourwork, "musical", fingerless gloves - perfect for playing the piano. Kerrie has finished a sweater, and there are more projects and their stories that you can explore in our Ravelry discussion thread.
Barb's "Monkey Business"
Barb found a "sweet monkey project", half finished, in the bottom of a basket. After a number of stops and starts, she decided to make finishing this adorable UFO her first project of 2025. When she pulled the project together, the arms, legs, body and back of the head were all finished. She needed to knit the face and she hoped to have enough yarn. Barb said that she had a feeling she'd "borrowed" some of the yarn for another project.
As it turned out, she didn't have enough of the "furry" yarn to finish the monkey and there were some dropped stitches in the body as well. The monkey is knit with two yarns held together, so Barb decided to pull back on the body, make it a bit shorter and use the fur yarn every other row to make it go further. Once finished, Barb stuffed the monkey with 100% Corriedale fibre, sewed all the pieces together and gave it a big hug!
The kid that this project was originally intended for is now an adult but we agree with Barb that every kid-at-heart has room for a soft, sweet, handmade toy. Wouldn't you agree?
Cynthia's "Rosalind"
When Cynthia opened the closet in her spare room, where she keeps luggage, wrapping paper and all of her UFOs (unfinished knitting projects), she spotted a cardigan that she'd been meaning to finish since... 2017? Yikes!
Pulling it out, dusting it off (actually, washing all the pieces), she found that it was only missing two sleeves and the neck and button/band trims. She happily worked away on it and finished the missing parts in no time at all! But later, after seaming all the pieces together, she found out that the arms were too long and the sweater itself was too large. Sigh.
The adjustments took some time and some "thinking through". There was grafting, seam ripping, a bit of "re-knitting". But now, after a final wash, her cardigan is now ready to wear. And there's room on the shelf in the spare room closet. Now when she opens that closet door, she says, "I don't feel a pang of guilt for neglecting such a beautiful design."
How are your January projects coming along? Tell us about them. You can post on the Ravelry discussion thread or send an email to: info@yarniversity.ca.
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