FinishOrFrogAlong 2026: A Progress Report

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 21:27:58 +0100

September is one of my favourite times of year for many reasons. The weather is getting more comfortable, kids have all buggered off back to school, and we often have some kind of road trip planned. But in recent years I’ve also added a crafting event to this list of cool September stuff, the FinishOrFrogAlong hosted by @consumablejoy on Mastodon.

If you’ve somehow escaped me talking about this previously, the idea is that it’s just a very motivational month where the fibre crafters of the Fediverse pool our motivation and cheer each other on to get projects finished or frogged (or occasionally started new because we’re nothing if not good at justifying new starts to ourselves even during an event that’s literally about closure).

This year I couldn’t make a video all about my goals for the event, but I did make myself a todo list. And like most years, we’re now at the end of September and that list isn’t even half done! Luckily, all the way back in year one, some bright spark suggested that we continue the motivational vibes through October as well so every year I find myself abiding by this unofficial rule. 2026 will be no exception!

The first thing I ticked off this year was the quickest win, completing the sleeves on my Tidepool Tee (off-Rav). This is a free pattern from Hobbii, chosen to use two gorgeous colourways that I’d picked up from trips to Norway and Aberdeen!

Like all my other projects, this one had languished during the hot weather over summer, but it was so close to having sleeve ribbing I could taste it (it tasted like merino). Unfortunately the rest of the body will require actual maths, so in my head I split it into Part A (up to the sleeves) and Part B (everything else). Part B will have to wait, but Part A was a gratifying success!

Then my attention turned to a cross stitch project, Beachfront Home by Infinity Bear Designs. This one was started specially for a 24 Hours of Cross Stitch weekend that was probably a couple of years ago now, and despite picking at it here and there progress has just been at a standstill for ages.

No more!

The sky is complete, except for a few stitches at the top because I ran out of the shade of blue and need to go on a supply run, and I’ve done the longest rows on the sand already so that should get quicker as I go. Hooray!

Like I said, we usually plan a road trip of some kind in September and this time it was all the way up to Aberdeen to visit friends. As a still-learner driver, my half of this up to Edinburgh was by far the longest drive I’ve ever done and did wonders for my confidence!

Not wanting to turn up empty handed, I brought them the gift of a needle felted highland cow that I’d been procrastinating making and only finished off the day before, and they gave me the gift of a ceramic sloth they’d found in a charity shop and thought of me. Great weekend!

And finally, last Winter I started work on a Bloomsbury jumper, and I’d read the less-than-impressed project notes on Ravelry and was prepared for a real slog of pattern mistakes and manual calculations.

But actually, it’s been fine! Right up until the warmer weather started and I packed it away knowing it probably wouldn’t get sleeves until the finishalong motivated me to restart.

So yep, that’s exactly what happened, after quite a lot of “where the hell was I in this pattern?!” the sleeves are on the go and I’m hopeful they’ll be done by the start of the real colder days.

As you can see I even took this one out in the car to the beach last Sunday, because…

I passed my driving test! It’s been months of hyperfocus to get here but I passed first time, which is frankly shocking to me still almost a week later. So that drive out to the beach was my first ever solo drive, for the ice cream I’d promised myself on passing. And yes even though it’s not a craft, I totally had it on the finishalong todo list. Check!

So now I don’t need to spend ten hours every day fixated on driving homework, I can actually become a real person again who has time for hobbies and maybe even does some work sometimes. Or at least that’s the hope.

Still on the list are a pair of socks that has somehow taken a year and a half but is very nearly finished, some bigger projects that are unlikely to be finished in time but might at least see some progress, and not one but TWO older projects awaiting a frog. I’ve left those until last as a sort of reward for doing the tasks that take actual effort, because I’m basically a child who needs to be bribed.

All in all, a fairly productive month. But all being well, hopefully I can check in again at the end of October and have a much more complete todo list to report 👍

Cross Stitch on Michelle May

FinishOrFrogAlong 2026: A Progress Report