UFOs 2022: finish up craft projects that have been left unfinished now

The new thread for the UFOs 2023 is online.
UFOs 2023: land your UFOs now = finish up craft projects that have been left unfinished


Dear users, dear designers,
I get the impression that a few UFOs (= unfinished objects = half-finished craft projects) have been left lying around with you. So if you want to use the turn of the year to shrink your UFO collection, this is the right thread for you. Here is the anti-UFO strategy for 2022. Of course, you can get started right away.

Step 1:
Which UFOs do you really still want to finish? Please ruthlessly unravel / undo / throw away / give away all other half-finished projects. It doesn't help anyone if they just sit around.

Step 2:
Introduce the remaining UFOs here in the thread. Please include your own photos and a short description of the difficulty, or describe why it became a UFO.

Step 3:
Finish them, upload photos, receive praise and kind words from the users and designers.

Have fun.

I still have several UFOs lying around here.

First, I’d like to finish—hopefully—some little dresses. The tops are knitted and done. Now I just need to sew on the skirts. (Photos to follow)

Then there’s a loop scarf here. It’s almost done. (Photo to follow)

And… then there’s a hoodie. I’d already knitted three different sizes of it. But then I decided against it because the neckline didn’t seem flexible enough. So, I started over from scratch, using different yarn.

I wonder if it’s a UFO or a long-term project 🤔.... my patchwork blanket (knitting) 

For me, the only thing holding me back is writing the patterns. My crochet hook is faster than my fingers when I’m typing.

Love, Gabi

Who would like to join in with “All UFOs finished or unraveled by the end of March”?

I’ve decided to spend the weekend gathering up every UFO—and there are an endless number of them. Then I’ll make a list. I’ve set a goal to finish one every month. I don’t think the number of months in 2022 will be enough to finish them all. But it would at least be a start. 

I’d love to see photos of your UFOs.



All the UFOs 👽 from one room. I’ll gather the rest later. 

I’m in.....
I don’t think I have that many left, at least I don’t think so. But this might finally let me finish my jacket—there’s actually only one sleeve left; the rest is already done and sewn together enough that I could already wear it as a vest.... 

I just always have to pick up stitches from the previously knitted section, and that’s really annoying for me....
But this is a “positive push” to get back to it.... 

You know how it works.
By the end of March, the UFOs should be finished, taken apart, unraveled, or thrown away. :-)

Josefa, I definitely can’t do that.

But I already unraveled 4 UFOs yesterday, and all my UFOs are now in a box. I’ve decided to quickly take care of little things like weaving in ends. And to look through the box every month and pick one out to at least keep working on it.

And here’s a list of my UFOs. I’m sure I’ll become the UFO Queen. Not exactly a title worth aspiring to.

Oh wow.
That’s a lot of UFOs.
But I think it’s great that you made a list and are thinking about what you actually still want to finish. And you’ve unraveled four UFOs. That counts as finishing them, too.
If you finish all the UFOs that are almost done in the first quarter, and finish one more UFO per month on top of that, that should make a noticeable difference.

I hope so.

I promise to do better. Often, it’s really just a few threads or the seam left to finish. But new ideas and new yarn usually win me over. I always want to start something new...... 

I’m curious to see how many you can finish.

This is my UFO, front and back. It’s going to be an oversized summer sweater with a boat neckline. I’m currently working on the sleeves. I’d like straight cuffs instead of scalloped ones, but unfortunately I don’t (yet) know how to do that. Maybe someone here can help me?! 

@Woll-Zauberei-Steffi
Your jacket is beautiful—the pattern is amazing. It must be very complicated... 

If any UFOs still turn up somewhere, I’ll unravel them.
In most cases, I won’t even remember where I left off.

.... The pattern itself isn’t complicated at all—you always have just a few stitches on the needle. In the second picture, you can see how it’s structured. For example, cast on 32 stitches, knit them in garter stitch, and knit the center stitches together. This creates a diamond shape; for the next one, you’ll pick up stitches from it..... 
I just don’t like picking up rows from the edge...
Could you maybe “close” the “jagged edges” on your summer sweater by using short rows? 

Oh dear, at least that sounds very time-consuming. But you don’t have that much left to do. 
Short rows are a good idea. I’ll definitely try that. Or I’ll have to crochet something in between. 🤔

Oh Petra, that’s really an impressive list! Mine would probably be pretty long too, if only I knew where all my UFOs were hiding. Some of them have actually been lying around for years!!! Today I already unraveled one—a narrow scarf made with fringed yarn, the kind that was all the rage a few years ago. Then there’s a little kids’ jacket (which I’m going to finish knitting for Selina now), a sweater for my husband, some socks, a blanket for the bistro table, and a little baby doll that just needs to be put together—that’s what comes to mind right now. I’m afraid there are quite a few more lurking in the depths of my closets, baskets, and boxes… oh yeah, I forgot the mosaic shawl and an amigurumi… I’ll try my best to finish one or two of these by March, but I won’t be able to get everything done—there are way too many new projects taking priority, like birthday gifts. I think it’s great that this topic has been brought up again—it’s incredibly motivating!
Pictures to follow! Right now I have a mouse problem in my craft room; I can smell the dead little mouse, but I can’t pinpoint where it is, which I don’t find funny at all!

Christina, I’m really glad I’m not the only one with so many UFOs.

I went through three rooms over the weekend and gathered everything up. Now it’s all stored in a box.

A mouse in the house isn’t funny. Hope you find it soon and that it was a loner.

@Ellenmama = Maybe this stitch pattern would work for the edging. It’s single crochet and double crochet stitches.
I tried to mark which stitches I mean.

Christina.... too bad you live so far away.... Otherwise, I would have stopped by for a quick visit and brought my dog along. She’d definitely find that little mouse. She’s used to cats bringing home “half-dead” mice, letting them run around in the utility room, and before you know it, they’re under the cabinet—the cat can’t reach them and the mouse can’t get out.... The nice thing about my dog is how calmly she searches😇
I went through my boxes again—one UFO project has now become a blanket for the cat in her den (it can’t be unraveled, and the color is awful), and I found two more dragons; one is still missing its wings—it’s already sewn together—and the other one is getting unraveled.... I put the yarn for it in the donation box and don’t want to reorder it.
I’m sure I’ll find more....

Yeah, Steffi, that’s really too bad—we could really use a sniffer dog like that! Our cat sniffs around too, but unfortunately she didn’t find the mouse either. I’m afraid it’s slipped into some tiny little crevice… The annoying thing is that I can’t use the room right now, so the big cleanup I had planned has come to a standstill. 

Did you find the mouse?

Unfortunately, not…

Would a pest control expert be an option? Maybe they can find dead mice, too?


I’ve already crocheted the first parts of the wings 😇
The little figure has been sitting on the shelf without wings for at least 2 years now.... Now I just need to finish crocheting the wings completely, and then she can finally take flight....

Mouse problem..... Don’t you have a hunter among your friends? I know that dachshunds love to track down rabbits and the like.... He should probably be able to find the mouse... 

Here’s a selection of my UFOs:

 

The pattern for the men’s sweater has gone missing… luckily it’s with the baby jacket; without it I’d really be stuck.  I’m still undecided about whether I should line the Japanese knot bag—what do you think? The knitted one stayed unlined, which I often regret. I want to finish the amigurumi soon, actually as soon as the dino potholder is finished.

What would you use to line the bag, Christina?

What would you like to put in the knot bag? If you’d regret it with the knitted one, lining it now might be better, so you don’t get annoyed later. I think the colors are great for the bag. So bold and fresh 🍃💦

Why can’t the knitted bag be lined anymore?

@Wollwunderpetra
Thanks for the suggestion. Unfortunately, the pattern really doesn’t go with the points, but I’m sure I’ll come up with something. Now that I finished the last sock of 7 pairs today, I’m continuing to test the short rows. Or maybe I’ll change the shape of the sleeves again. 🤔
@Woll-Zauberei-Steffi
The dragons are so adorable, they really deserve wings. So cute. 

Have you brought your UFOs in for landing, or are you about to be beamed up by aliens?

As of today: No new UFOs, but unfortunately, none of the old ones have been finished either. 

Anyone who hasn’t finished at least one UFO by the end of March is easy prey for the aliens. :-)
Tip: Unraveling also counts as finishing a UFO.

And what about throwing them away—does that count too? I actually have a prime candidate: a gray jacket with a beautiful openwork pattern, knitted from lace yarn that can’t be unraveled because the stitches get tangled up. Unfortunately, it doesn’t suit me: it looks like a boring little bed jacket…

As for why I haven’t lined that knitted bag yet: pure laziness, I guess! 

Throwing it away definitely counts as finishing a UFO. Are you sure you couldn’t use the cut-up jacket as stuffing for a pillow or amigurumi, etc.? For sustainability, it would be good to make use of everything.

Lining a bag also counts as finishing a UFO, of course. :-)

Christina, my big pumpkin also contains clothes from the bag of old clothes I wanted to donate.

A sweater from my daughter, two silk scarves I no longer liked, a child's fitted sheet, and lots of socks with holes - it all fit inside.

Hey there, it’s me again… I actually found 4 more UFOs while cleaning up and hope that’s all of them now. Sewing knitted pieces together just isn’t my strong suit. 🙄 But I’ve already unraveled 2 of them; the others are getting finished now. The aliens don’t stand a chance. 💪
I still haven’t found a solution for my jagged-edge sweater, though, so out of frustration, I’ve started knitting socks again. 

What category do socks fall into that have strange “damage” on the foot and therefore need to be reknit in parts? Yesterday I tackled my first such “patient” and reknit the heel section, but now I have to finish knitting the UFO sock first.

Here’s what it looks like!

So my UFO has found its purpose too—it became a small pillow for my lower back. That thing had definitely been sitting in my knitting box for over a year, and I hate UFOs!

Best regards, Inge

@Ellenmama,
What about your zigzag sweater? Maybe someone in the forum can help you with it.

@Christina,
Completed repairs are also landed UFOs.

@Akela,
What’s the name of this yarn? I mean that fuzzy yarn.

First UFO completed: Just in time for my husband’s birthday, the socks are finally finished…



I also tackled my first UFO yesterday, finished crocheting it, and sewed everything together.

I bought the yarn back in 2014—it feels like I moved it from one corner to another 50 times



Yesterday, I turned it into an Easter bunny comfort blanket for the donation box



I added a border in a darker brown—the light brown and the yellow are long gone by now—and then a little ball with big ears. 

You’re all so hardworking.

Hi Josefa,
how is that even supposed to work? — I was actually planning to use up my scraps, and now UFOs too; I think I’ll have to ask my boss if I can take some time off (until the end of March 😂😂)

As UFOs, I have
the Frankie blanket I started in January
then a poncho
then the Hanna shawl (made from scraps)
and a ponchollover (that’s way at the back of the list — it’s meant for summer 🤔
and lots and lots of scraps — which will be turned into hexagons and bunnies 😉

So, okay, I’ll finish Hanna now — I work on the blanket every day anyway, and in between I make hexagons and bunnies — no wonder my husband says I’m always crocheting — it’s all your fault 😘



Unraveled—gone.

One UFO 👽 less

@susanne-b3,
You can do it. You can use up leftovers and finish UFOs.

@Petra.
Unraveling counts as finishing, too. I don’t understand, though, why you unraveled it. It was great.

Wrong yarn, wrong needle... I don’t know. It just didn’t work out.

Now I’m moving on to these socks. One is finished. On the second one, I’m working on the cuff. I always find it so boring to knit the second sock. I wonder how the others do it? Both at the same time? They’re all yarn scraps. 

Hey Petra...
I know all about that sock thing too 😝 Last year I finished knitting my very first pair of socks.... It was an MKAL—every week a section or chart was released for download.... I actually knitted both at the same time. Otherwise, I would never have finished them. By the way, I do the same thing with gloves… otherwise, it’ll never get done…
I’m still working on my current project, and somehow my UFOs are still sitting in their box, waiting… I actually gave away the matching yarn for one of them without even having that UFO on my list yet… so that one’s going to get unraveled 🙈🤷

That thing about giving away yarn is really annoying.

Yeah, it’s the same with gloves and wrist warmers. The second one is already getting boring.

Maybe together we can finish one or two UFOs. I’m totally motivated.... who knows how long that’ll last...... new yarn, new ideas everywhere. 

Yesterday, two more UFOs were completed: For the wrist warmers, I just had to sew up the top part; the glove had a hole in the little finger. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the yarn I’d used, so I had to spend quite a while looking for a reasonably suitable replacement.

How are the January UFOs coming along?

One UFO less. I finished my shawl today. 



And I’m still working on the socks. All that’s left is the toe. 

Oh, I’ve got a few candidates myself… I think I can finish one more UFO in January!

Oh crap, it’s already February *cackle* whatever, I’ll find two too!

Glad you’re joining us, mifas.

So, I just destroyed one UFO. The soul warmer (pattern from here) had already been knitted as a rectangle, but I didn’t like the yarn and color with the pattern, so the thing just sat there. Recently I bought a pattern here that seems perfectly suited for the yarn. So I just eliminated the UFO.
I’m not starting anything new yet, since I have both a knitting and a crochet project in progress and *cough* still a few UFOs, which I won’t unravel but will finish!

What are you going to make with the unraveled yarn?

I’m going to give this piece a try...

You're right, Michaela,
I just unraveled a UFO (poncho), too - somehow I didn't like the yarn for it after all.
But I think Shirt SUMMERTIME crochet pattern should work well with it - and if not, the yarn will just be unraveled again - maybe it will go into the next swap package then 😇

@mifas,
great choice. If you stick with it, you’ll be finished by the time the weather warms up. And then you can wear your new top and get lots of compliments. :-)

@Susanne,
also a great choice. Very summery with that vacation vibe.

It seems like all of you have checked off winter and spring and are already in a summer mood.

I still have winter and Easter projects. I have a hat that just won’t turn out the way I want it to and an Easter bunny missing an arm. But neither is more than 14 days old, so they’re not UFOs

One UFO is now finished. Number 3 on my long list

Spiral socks made from scraps with a lace pattern 

Unraveled one UFO (poncho) again 😂

One UFO shawl (made from leftover gradient yarn cakes) finished

Next UFO finished 😉
One more to go 🙄

Wow, that was definitely worth it. 

The colors are fantastic. The one on the bottom is the poncho. How do you wear it? Like a blanket over your head? 

Thank you 🥰

Oops—Petra, I guess that came across the wrong way 🤔
I unraveled the UFO poncho 😇
Somehow a blank line got lost there 😂

The bottom one is the “Frankie” blanket 😉
Here you can see it better again Handicrafts | Photo - Crochet pattern for the “Frankie” blanket (crazypatterns.net)

Wow, that long shawl looks great. The colors go so well together. You can really see that in the gallery. Thanks 

How are the UFOs coming along?

Ta-daaaaaa.................. I finished 3 UFOs today.

All I had to do was weave in the ends on all of them.

A crocheted triangular shawl



A knitted triangular shawl—made with summer yarn. I really loved the colors of this yarn back then



And this was the most expensive yarn cake I’ve ever bought. Also a triangular shawl



And since the start of this challenge, I haven’t started any new UFOs. 

Wow.....
You really did great there 👍
I still have three UFOs lying around here... At least my current project, the purple sweater, hasn’t turned into a UFO 😇
If I can get it off the needles today or tomorrow, there’d still be a little time to finish at least one more UFO. The dragon wings are already crocheted; they just haven’t been sewn together yet, and they still need to be attached to the dragon.... The evening is still young 😂🤷😂

How are the UFOs coming along?

For me, the number hasn’t gone down since my last post at the end of February.

But… I haven’t added any new ones either. Everything I’ve started, I’m either still working on or have already finished. 

It’s going well for you. :-)

Olivia had to languish as a UFO in a plastic box for quite some time before she was finally allowed to keep the garden mouse company:

It turned out beautifully

Christina, your two little fellows are really lovely. If only I had the patience and the right fingers for such tiny crocheted or knitted things too. 

How are your UFOs coming along? Were you able to finish many of them by the end of March?

I haven’t finished any more, but no new ones have been added either.

Everything I’ve started is currently getting finished. 

Should we extend the UFO challenge?

I’d totally support that. I still have so many

Oh wow :-)

The UFO challenge is moving on to the next round.

You have until the end of June to deal with your UFOs:
- finish them
- unravel them
- make something new out of them
- give them away
- throw them away. --> That counts too if nothing else works.

What’s the current status? How many UFOs do you have? How many do you want to get rid of?

Yesterday, I finally finished another UFO—the first pair of socks with a new foot! 

Awesome

Thanks—I agree: one less to go!

Could it be that some UFOs have been left unfinished?

Have all the UFOs been finished?

The cat blanket is turning into a UFO—it’s not much fun in this heat. I’m already quite far along and am now knitting at the table so I don’t have the blanket draped over me but can lay it out in front of me on the table. But it’s warm—I can already confirm that....

I confess—I haven’t finished a single one and have started a whole bunch of new projects. But most of them will end up being unraveled again, because they didn’t turn out the way I expected. 

Looks like you all have plenty of UFOs.
How about trying to get rid of them all by the end of the year? Are you too tired to do that right now because of the heat?

For me, it’s less about the heat. I do manage to finish things every now and then, and right now I’m really enjoying my letter pennant.

But there are so many new ideas in my head that are just waiting to be tried out. A lot of them don’t get finished—the yarn doesn’t work, the pattern doesn’t match the yarn, and so on.

Right now, I’m working on a pattern with post double crochet. What started as an idea for a sweater for myself (since I have some really great summer yarn in my stash) turned into a shawl after I started crocheting it—I didn’t like it. Then I tried making a hat—I ran out of yarn on the first try. The second attempt is now sitting there unfinished—how do I decrease? New yarn, maybe—or perhaps a granny square? A large granny square—maybe a baby blanket? Or maybe a triangular shawl after all?

And that’s how a single pattern test quickly turns into three new UFOs for me.

I’ll probably never be UFO-free, but a few of them do eventually get finished by me too. 

I think it’s great that you’re motivating each other to finish your UFOs.
Unfortunately, I have quite a few myself.
Mostly because they don’t look the way I imagined them.
My most important UFO is a picture with the alphabet and lots of little deer.
It has to be finished by the time school starts, though.
Unfortunately, I can’t manage to post a picture here.

I hope you have a lot of fun finishing your UFOs.

@johansi - For me, projects that look different from what I imagined usually become UFOs. Sometimes I have an “unraveling day”; often I also unravel things when I need the yarn for a new idea. 

When I have to finish something, I force myself to work on the “mandatory” craft project first, and then I reward myself with something nice. I make a schedule and, with a sigh of relief, check off one day after another. 

This usually happens around Christmas time for me........ I still have to finish the last few gifts. 

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that your gift gets done. Lots of little deer.... sounds interesting. 

How are the UFOs coming along?

Where did Alf end up? Haha

Luckily, I don’t have any crochet UFOs
Only photo UFOs. Hihiii

Happy 1st Advent to everyone! 

... a few are still “cozy” here, floating around... though I’ve already caught one of them to unravel it. It just doesn’t “suit” me anymore. It was supposed to be a small bag—I’d have needed about 10 more rows/rounds 🤷—but since no one here would carry the bag or appreciate it, I’d rather use the yarn for something else.
  Then there are two more zipping around in orbit here....
Still the “waiting room project,” which has now mutated into a UFO. And a “Ten Stitch Blanket” that I keep working on sporadically every now and then. .... 

Did you finish a lot of UFOs in 2022?

The vexing topic of UFOs… I still have an endless number of them floating around. But they’re all just old UFOs. No new ones have been added in the last two months. Everything I’ve started has either been finished or immediately unraveled.

For the past two days, two half-finished wrist warmers have been sitting in my box in front of the sofa. I’ve decided to finish these. After my headband and the pennant garland—not that I want those two to become UFOs too. 

Great that you’re sticking with it so consistently, Petra.

I’ve created a new thread for the UFOs 2023. Have fun with it.
UFOs 2023: land your UFOs now = finish unfinished handmade projects