The summer season is synonymous with crochet for crocheters. As the temperature rises, they put aside their blankets and sweaters and turn their attention to more lightweight projects like bags and tank tops. It’s only natural that wool becomes less appealing when the heat index reaches over 100 degrees.
However, hat season is just around the corner. I conducted extensive research on more than a million crochet projects from the popular crafting site Ravelry to uncover the timing of when crocheters pick up their hooks and the types of projects they actually complete.
Crochet is commonly associated with winter, as it aligns with the optimistic spirit of New Year’s Day. Interestingly, more crochet projects are initiated on January 1st compared to any other day of the year.
However, interest in crochet diminishes as temperatures cool, except for an exceptional surge in 2020 due to the pandemic. The unprecedented circumstances led to a flurry of new crochet projects that rivaled the usual New Year’s bump.
The types of projects being crocheted vary throughout the year. In January, blankets dominate as the most popular choice. Tops and bags also see a significant increase in summer. Hat-making gains momentum as early as August, while scarf projects start to rise in September and sweater-making experiences a boost in October.
To ensure the completion of a project, setting a deadline around the holidays is crucial. Projects started in December are more likely to be finished compared to projects initiated at any other time of the year. If you wish to complete a project in July, it’s advisable to opt for something smaller. Interestingly, over 90 percent of the dishcloths and washcloths logged on Ravelry were marked as completed.
Unfortunately, some complex projects are prone to abandonment. Less than half of the crochet coats and jackets on Ravelry are completed, which is significantly lower compared to longer and simpler projects like blankets and pillows.
A small minority of projects face a fate worse than abandonment: frogging. This refers to the act of unraveling a project to reuse the yarn elsewhere or storing it away until it serves a new purpose. The term “frogging” comes from the sound “rip it, rip it,” which resembles a frog’s ribbit.
Frogging is particularly common for tops and shawls. Crafters may frog projects either because they run out of materials (known as “losing yarn chicken”) or simply because they dislike the final outcome. As one Ravelry user, w00fdawg, aptly expressed, “I made it, I hated it, I frogged it.”
Nevertheless, crocheters are known for their persistence. More than 75 percent of projects started on Ravelry are successfully completed, with an average crocheter finishing about twice as many projects as they abandon.
Don’t feel like you have to wait until January to join the thousands of crafters who begin crocheting a blanket. With crochet being one of the trendiest styles this summer, it’s a perfect time to pick up a hook. While it’s unlikely that you’ll end up frogging your project, there’s no guarantee that you’ll finish it either.
This story is based on Ravelry projects created between January 2019 and mid-July 2023, collected via the Ravelry API. Time-to-completion estimates are derived from projects created between 2019 and 2022.
Story and visualizations by Alyssa Fowers, who developed a passion for crochet during her teenage years. In fact, she even wrote one of her college admissions essays about crocheting. As a testament to her dedication, she crocheted a lace chuppah canopy for her wedding in 2022. She confesses to frogging several shawls along the way.
Copy-editing by Laura Michalski, an experienced knitter who has crafted over 150 pairs of socks. She’s currently working on a lace shawl that she started back in 2015.
Photography by Matt McClain, who may not have considered knitting, but possesses great admiration for the craft.
The crochet pieces featured in this article were created using one skein of KnitPicks Palette in the colorway Chicory and a 3.75mm hook. These crochet pieces were completed within a day.
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