It’s officially one week into December, and like many people, I have a few projects that are just about ready for finishing – things like seaming, weaving in ends, blocking, etc. This year, I will be trying to work on the finishing touches as I go along, which means I will hopefully be able to avoid the mad dash of sewing and seaming.

For one reason or another, as soon as I bind off my last stitch my mind instantly categorizes my project as done. But! There is still so much to do after binding off, I know this yet, I try to avoid it. Once I get into a good workflow, I can spend the weekend finishing up projects and blocking out shawls with no problem. Like everything, starting is the hardest part – even if it is the finishing that you are starting on.

Although it may seem simple, the last few steps that you work into your project can really bring it together, giving it a nice and polished look. Neat seams and woven in ends, add a set of perfectly matching buttons and you are set! Since it is the season for gift knitting, I figured it was probably the season for finishing up all of those gifts too! And speaking from experience, it took me a while to realize that there was an actual way to seam together the pieces of sweaters and cardigans, and not just hapazadly go through some point of a stitch on one side and into the other.

After practicing things like grafting and mattress stitch, I could not believe the difference it made in my finished pieces! The first few times I used these techniques, it was like magic watching my stitches come so neatly together.

And to help out all of the busy hands frantically finishing gifts, we made video lessons on mattress stitch (used for side by side stockinette) as well as how to seam together side by side pieces of garter stitch.

Here is the video that shows you how to seamlessly join two sides of garter stitch!

You can also find the video on mattress stitch on the Knit Picks tutorial section here. You can also find a great selection of tapestry needles that work wonders for finishing on the Knit Picks tools page here.

So – do you finish things as you go or are you like me and save up a bunch of projects to finish all at once?