The yarn crafts most likely to fail by type and season, based on data

Aug 06, 2023

The dog days of summer are also the dog days of crochet. Crocheters put down their blankets and sweaters in summer to pick listlessly at bags and tank tops — and who can blame them? We’re all allergic to wool when the heat index is over 100.

But hat season is closer than you think. I delved into data on more than a million crochet projects from the crafting site Ravelry to discover when crocheters pick up their hooks, and the kinds of projects we actually finish.

New year, new craft project

Crochet projects created on Ravelry

each month

10K

0

20K

30K

Crochet project creation is usually highest in January ...

2020

... unless there is a pandemic in the spring.

2021

December projects are the most likely to be finished ...

2022

... and summer projects are the slowest to complete.

2023

New year, new craft project

Crochet projects created on Ravelry each month

Crochet project creation is usually highest in January ...

December projects are the most likely to be finished ...

30K projects created

20K

... unless there is a pandemic in the spring.

... and summer projects take the longest to finish.

10K

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

0

New year, new craft project

Crochet projects created on Ravelry each month

Crochet project creation is usually highest in January ...

December projects are the most likely to be finished ...

30K projects created

20K

... unless there is a pandemic in the spring.

... and summer projects take the longest to finish.

10K

2019

2020

2021

2022

2023

0

Crochet is a winter activity, thriving on the inherent optimism of New Year’s Day. More crochet projects are created on Jan. 1 than any other day of the year.

Interest wanes as temperatures cool, except in 2020, when the pandemic caused a flurry of new projects that rivaled a new year bump.

What is being crocheted varies across the year. In January, blankets reign supreme. Tops and bags are the only projects started more often in the summer. Hat-making picks up as early as August, while scarf projects start to increase in September and sweater-making gets a boost in October.

To actually finish a project, holiday deadlines are key: December projects are more likely to be completed than those started at any other time of year. If you’d like to finish a project in July, consider making something small: Over 90 percent of the dishcloths and washcloths logged on Ravelry were marked as completed.

Longer crochet projects are less likely to be completed

100% of projects completed

Washcloth/dishcloth

Applique

Cozy

80%

Doily

Afghan block

Top

Plushie

Vest

Hat

Bag

Scarf

Sweater

Blanket

Shawl

Slippers

Dress

60%

Booties

Poncho

Pillow

Coat/jacket

40%

0 days

10

20

30

Median days to complete project

Longer crochet projects are

less likely to be completed

100% of projects completed

Washcloth/dishcloth

Applique

Cozy

Doily

80%

Potholder

Plushie

Afghan block

Top

Vest

Hat

Scarf

Bag

Shawl

Sweater

Slippers

Blanket

Dress

60%

Poncho

Booties

Pillow

Coat/jacket

40%

0

10

20

30

Median days to complete project

Longer crochet projects are less likely to be completed

100% of projects completed

Washcloth/dishcloth

Applique

Cozy

Doily

80%

Potholder

Plushie

Afghan block

Top

Vest

Bag

Hat

Scarf

Shawl

Sweater

Slippers

Blanket

Booties

Dress

60%

Poncho

Pillow

Coat/jacket

40%

0

10

20

30

Median days to complete project

Some complex projects are especially likely to be abandoned: Fewer than half of the crochet coats and jackets on Ravelry are completed, far lower than longer, simpler projects like blankets and pillows.

A small minority of projects face a fate worse than abandonment: frogging, when a fiber artist unravels a project to re-use the yarn elsewhere or bury it deep in their closet until they find a new purpose for it. (It is called “frogging” because chanting “rip it, rip it” sounds like a frog’s ribbit.)

Frogging is most common for tops and shawls. Some crafters frog projects because they run out of materials, known as “losing yarn chicken.” Others frog because they just don’t like the finished product. As Ravelry user w00fdawg put it, “I made it, I hated it, I frogged it.”

Crocheters are a persistent bunch, though. More than 75 percent of projects started on Ravelry are finished, and the average crocheter finishes about twice as many projects as they abandon.

You don’t need to wait until January to join the thousands of crafters who start crocheting a blanket then. Because crochet is one of the hottest styles this summer, it’s a trendy time to pick up a hook. You probably won’t frog it — but I can’t guarantee you’ll finish it.

This story uses Ravelry projects created between January 2019 and mid-July 2023, collected via the Ravelry API. Time-to-completion estimates are based on projects created between 2019 and 2022.

Story and visualizations by Alyssa Fowers, who learned to crochet as a teenager, wrote one of her college admissions essays about crocheting and crocheted a lace chuppah canopy for her 2022 wedding. She has frogged several shawls.

Copy-editing by Laura Michalski, who has knit more than 150 pairs of socks but is still working on a lace shawl she started in 2015.

Photography by Matt McClain, who has never considered knitting but respects the craft.

Editing by Kate Rabinowitz, who has a drawer of half started yarn projects she’ll return to with full vigor this winter. Maybe.

The crochet pieces in this article used one skein of KnitPicks Palette in the colorway Chicory and a 3.75mm hook. Time to completion for the crochet pieces: 1 day.