Autumn Knitting Reset: Get Ready for a Great New Knitting Season
If your knitting corner feels cluttered, half-finished projects are staring at you, and “what should I cast on?” keeps stalling you — or if you’ve had a long summer break from knitting and want to pick up where you left off — an autumn knitting reset is just what you need.
It clears the decks, helps you find your place again, and it’ll uncover those forgotten treasures in your stash — those gorgeous beautiful unicorn yarns and inspiring patterns you may have squirrelled away. Going through these can reignite your enthusiasm and get those creative juices flowing again.
By the end of this little tidy-up you’ll 1) see all your glorious stash at a glance so you stop buying duplicates, 2) finish what you still love and frog the rest, and 3) line up a simple 1–3 project knitting queue that fits your time, wardrobe and energy — so you can actually enjoy all the lovely new autumn patterns coming out.
Why October–November is the perfect time
You can of course have a yarn reset at any time of the year, so if you miss this in Autumn it’s no big deal. But Autumn is a great time for this as:
We naturally move from garden/outdoors to more time indoors.
If you paused over summer, this is the moment to pick up where you left off: find the project, note the needle size, write the very next step, and get a few rows in.
Rediscovering forgotten yarns sparks fresh ideas — seeing colours and textures together often suggests new pairings or the perfect small project.
Designers release heaps of tempting patterns now — knowing your stash helps you cast on faster (and more intentionally).
A tidy, moth-safe space + a small plan = more knitting, less rummaging.
And, if you do Christmas/seasonal gift knitting, this is your “there’s still time!” moment.
Think of this as a calm reset, not a punishment for buying yarn or neglecting your knits — it’s about clearing the decks ready for cosy overwintering and immersing yourself in the joy of making, putting those treasures to good use.
Stage 1: Take Stock & Organise Your Stash
This isn’t about throwing everything out. It’s about seeing what you actually have so you can use it, or make mindful new purchases. Here are some simple steps to take stock of what’s already in your cupboards and other containers.
Gather & inspect— pull out the yarn that’s in cupboards, baskets, behind the sofa, and include any yarn you’ll reclaim from frogged projects.
Sort it — make a “keepers” pile of yarn you still love and a “let it go” pile for yarn you know you won’t use. Let-it-go yarn can be sold, gifted, or donated — but do it soon so it doesn’t creep back in.
Group it — put ‘keepers’ together by weight (4ply, DK, aran, chunky) and by shade/number. This stops the “oh, I didn’t know I already had three greys” situation. Also put any started and abandoned projects you find in one separate pile - we’ll be tackling those in stage 2.
Bag it! - I also recommend popping each bundle or project-in-waiting into it’s own clear sturdy zip lock bags like these. Yes it’s using plastic (I know, I know…), but with care you will be able to use and re-use those for many years, and it means you can see at a glance what the yarn or project is. Keeping separate bags for each yarn bundle also protects your precious stash from the dreaded moth!
Make a list — Not essential if you’re not list-minded, but this is helpful for keeping tabs on what you have when a yummy new pattern is in your sights. Making a basic stash list now (with meterage/yardage, not just weight) will be a great help for when you match yarn to patterns later.
Do a quick tool tidy — corral needles, tape measures, stitch markers into one place so you stop buying duplicates!
After this process you’ll be able to see at a glance what you have to play with, and having spent some time getting reacquainted with your stash, you will probably be feeling inspired and excited to get knitting. You can also now easily shop your stash when a nice new pattern speaks calls our name.
How you go about doing these steps is entirely up to you, and I’m not going to go in any great depth here - home organisation and decluttering is a whole topic of it’s own. I would recommend though, that if you don’t have much stash and a full half day or more of time to dedicate to it, then a Marie Kondo style, done in a day approach may be a good option. This involves getting all your yarn etc out on the table (or your bed), so you can see what you have, weeding out any to destash, then decide on where it’s going to be kept for each of your categories and put it away.
DO NOT, for the love of all things holy, do this if you have a large stash or you only have small snippets of time available to work on this - you will just feel overwhelmed, get in a horrible mess and feel worse off than when you started! For this scenario I’d recommend a Dana K. White-style approach instead (check out her book Decluttering at the speed of Life ).
In a nutshell, this method starts with identifying the new ‘homes’ for your yarn categories first, then pick through a few items at a time without pulling it all out, putting those straight away in their rightful place, (to it’s new ‘home’ or destash pile). It may not be as efficient, but this gentler approach copes with brief time blocks, interruptions, is much less overwhelming, and you are never left with an even worse mess to come back to at the end of each ‘micro’ session.
A quick word on “do I have to declutter?”
No. Not everyone needs to slash their stash. But if seeing it all makes you feel stressed, guilty, or out of control rather than happy and abundant, then a small release of yarn will help. This isn’t about perfection — it’s about making your knitting corner somewhere you want to go and make things.
Let me know in the comments if managing yarn stash is an issue for you, and if you’d like me to go more into this subject in another blog post.
Stage 2: WIP Wrangling — Find, Finish or Frog
Now we’ve taken stock of what’s in the cupboard, it’s time to review what we already have on the needles - our assorted WIPS in their various stages of completeness, or indeed abandonment!
If you aren’t already familiar with these terms you may be thinking, Donna, what on earth are you talking about? Here’s a helpful glossary for you
Now to deal with the projects on (and behind) the sofa:
Bring out your WIPs and UFOs. (Also fondly known as ‘bring out your dead!! 🤣) Go to all your little hidey-holes and put everything on one table — works in progress, hibernating projects, and knits you’d meant to start.
Sort into two piles:
Pile 1 — Keep/Finish: things you still like, still fit, still want to gift. Bag each one with its pattern so it’s grab-and-go.
Pile 2 — Frog/Destash: things you’ve gone off or can’t even identify. Any languishing UFO or indeed UROs are a no brainer for this pile. Frog them now and rewind the yarn so it can go back into your stash, and straight into either your ‘keepers’ or ‘let go’ piles.
Be honest (but kind!) If a project makes you feel guilty or burdened rather than joyful, it goes in pile 2. Give yourself permission to renege on any old unfinished ‘duty’ knits. We mostly knit for enjoyment and creative expression these days — why let old projects nag you?
Stage 3: Plan Your Autumn/Winter Queue
Hoorah! — the hard bit’s done, now for the fun bit. With your stash sorted and WIPs under control, it’s time to plan what to knit and get to the best part: casting on. Now you can see the wood for the trees, ask:
1) What would I love to finish before year-end? Look for easy wins. If something’s nearly there, finishing it gives a lovely boost and sets the tone.
2) What’s life like over the next month or two? Busy weeks suit smaller, quicker makes; quieter spells (often the New Year) are perfect for a bigger knit.
3) Am I gift-knitting? Be realistic — knitting takes time and shouldn’t feel like a slog. One gift may be plenty (or none at all). It’s also absolutely fine not to knit gifts, as it’ll eat into your precious knitting time which you deserve to enjoy. If you are making gifts, pick small accessories or chunkier yarns.
Limit your number of current projects (my Rule if Three)
“Monogamous knitting” (one project at a time) makes sense — and if that’s you, bravo. I struggle with that, because different moments call for different projects (a tricky pattern isn’t great for TV or social time). I also have form for too many WIPs, and I’ve learned over the years that both restraint and freedom are needed if creative ideas are ever going to become finished knits.
I have also learned that often an impulsive cast on was due more to my burning curiosity about a stitch pattern or how a particular yarn behaves - all of which can be served better with a simple swatch rather than committing to yet another project (or UFO in the making!).
So, my compromise: the Rule of Three — up to three projects at a time. Keep only these 1–3 in your basket; everything else goes away in its proper place; no new cast-ons until one finishes. My 3 projects usually consist of:
1 UFO from the pile
1 new project on the needles
1 working design (including swatching)
I keep a good mix too: one more involved, one easy/TV, and one good for out-and-about. A slow, longer knit (a blanket, for example) is handy to pick up and put down between other projects. That’s what works for me — your Rule of Three might look different. How could you adapt it for your knit life?
Consider projects you’ll actually want to knit, wear and use
What do you actually want or need in your wardrobe or for your home? Already got 5 blue shawls? Then maybe it’s time to choose something different! What are the gaps? What will go with other items in your existing wardrobe or home decor?
What colour of fibres are you excited to buy and try? If your stash revealed a lot of similar shades and qualities, think about what new colours or yarns you’d like to being into your knits.
Shopping from your stash? Use your stash list to see what you can knit with what you already own — shawlettes, hats, mitts, small cowls, even a cushion if you’ve got DK/aran leftovers.
If you are not sure what you can knit with your stash yarns, take a look at ravelry.com - for those that aren’t aware of it, it’s a online community hub for yarn and fibre folk, and a yarn & pattern database for knitters and crocheters. You can search for patterns using a whole host of search criteria - which is great for stash busting as you can get an idea of what you can knit with the amount of yarn you have - for example if you have 450m of 4ply weight yarn, you can search for patterns that use that amount of that weight of yarn. You could even narrow that down further, for instance, to scarves or shawls that use that amount of yarn.
While you might find you have a full sweater’s worth of yarn in your stash, it’s more likely that you’ll have just 1-2 skeins of each. Creative use of smaller quantities can enable larger projects, but this is where smaller accessories, such as mitts, hats and cowls can be a great option, and are a good choice if you like to knit gifts.
Feathered Friends bundle
If you need a ready-made pattern that works beautifully with stash and makes a lovely gift, have a look at my Feathered Friends patterns and bundle — ideal “I want to finish something this month” knits.
Feathered Friends Collection - available as single patterns or a bundle from my ravelry store here
Siskin Hat | Greenfinch Cowl | Greenfinch Mitts | Treecreepers Mitts
To purchase the bundle, put these 4 patterns in your ravelry cart together, the price will automatically reduce for the bundle discount at checkout.
If you bought any of these 4 patterns already, whatever you spent on on them will be counted towards the price of the set so long as you’re logged into the same ravelry account when you make both purchases
Projects to grow your knitting skills
If you are keen to learn new skills and techniques, Smaller projects are a great way to learn new techniques, and smaller projects may be a better choice as:
You can learn new techniques more quickly by knitting several smaller different type of projects than if you are knitting a large project.
once you’ve successfully completed a smaller project using the new technique, you’ll have much more confidence and bigger knits will be far less daunting.
You can test out if you enjoy that technique or type of yarn before committing to a larger project - better to find out you really don’t enjoy knitting lace or flooffy yarns before you cast on an a whole sweater ( a future UFO to be sure!) so you can avoid making an expensive mistake.
With a small, thoughtful queue of knitting project ideas you’ll enjoy the new season’s patterns and yarns so much more — you’ll know what suits your time, wardrobe and stash, and you can say a happy “yes” to the right new pattern and cast on straight away. I’d love to hear what projects you’re planning - let me know in the comments below.
Wrapping Up…
An autumn knitting reset isn’t about being a strict and orderly — it’s about making space so you can enjoy the best part of the season, which is sitting down with yarn you love, for projects that excite you, and actually finishing things. Do the audit, wrangle the WIPs, make a short hit list, and ease yourself into the knitting season. And because you’ve done the groundwork now, before the busy run-up to Christmas kicks in, you’ll be all set for those quieter, wintry days afterwards — when you can just reach for a ready-to-go project and sink into some gloriously cosy, unhurried knitting - a bit like a squirrel happily enjoying the acorns she tucked away earlier.
And if you want an easy win to pop into that queue, don’t forget to check out my Feathered Friends patterns and bundle — they’re perfect for getting back into knitting if you’ve had a break, using what you have in your stash, and gifting as we come towards the end of the year.
Happy Creating!
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