2025: We Survived Every Crochet Struggle (And Lived to Tell About It)

We made it! Another year of tangled yarn, occasional frogging, and that special moment when you realize you've been counting wrong for the last 50-something stitches (uuuugh). If you're reading this and still enjoy crocheting, congratulations! (You're tougher than you think!)

Let's look back at what we conquered (and what almost destroyed us) in 2025 I've included links to the blog posts where we discussed these topics for easy reference!).

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The Struggles That United Us

1. Yarn Chicken

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This post struck a nerve for many of us. Turns out, we're ALL out here playing high-stakes yarn chicken and pretending we absolutely meant to have that perfectly timed yarn end. 

Favorite tip: Weigh your yarn before and during projects. It's not cheating, it's strategic planning!

Read more about Yarn Chicken here!

2. The Art of Frogging

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Frogging isn't failure, it's part of the learning process. It’s a hard lesson for many of us (myself included), but this year we learned to frog with confidence instead of tears. Well, maybe still some tears, but productive ones. That’s a thing right?

What hit home for us: Taking the guilt out of frogging. Sometimes the best way forward is…well….backward.

Read more about The Art Of Frogging here!

3. Second Sock Syndrome

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Whether it's actual socks or the second part of a project, that duplicate part hits differently (in a not so great way). There is some serious psychology behind it, and now we all know that we can share our half-finished pairs without judgement!

Words of wisdom: Start both at once, or make singles into gifts. Problem solved-ish. Kinda.

Read more about Second Sock Syndrome here!

4. Lost Count Syndrome

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The struggle is both real and universal. Stitch markers are life. They are a tool that brings you closer to a less chaotic crochet experience…sorta.

Read more about Lost Count Syndrome here!

5. Yarn Barf and Other Disasters

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Sometimes the yarn fights back. We learned to untangle with grace (or at least with a few less swear words).

Read more about getting tangled and disasters like yarn barf here!

6. Oops, All Mistakes

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There will always be disasters, but we will learn from them and keep going! We came up with a field guide to common crochet disasters and how to fix them when they occur.

Read more about common crochet disasters here!

Skills We Leveled Up

Magic Circle Mastery: For everyone who gave up twice (or seven times), I hope this tutorial finally clicked. Patience and accepting that your first ten attempts will look weird are the biggest tricks to this skill. In Mandalorian, this is the way.

Holiday Yarn Navigation: We talked about those sparkly, textured, sometimes-unmanageable festive yarns and how to manage them before they frustrated us.

Crochet Skill Levels Demystified: Knowing where you’re at (and where you're headed) makes all the difference and gives you a solid starting point to keep improving your skills.

What This Year Taught Me

The intermediate stage is where crochet gets REAL. The names of the stitches may not be familiar but you know you already have the basics down. You know enough to attempt more complex projects, but not quite enough to avoid the risks that come with it. That gap between confident beginner and seasoned pro is where the magic happens. It's messy, it's frustrating, and it's where we all really learn the hard truth about what we need to improve to become even better crocheters.

This year, I watched the crochet community embrace mistakes, share disasters, and keep hooking anyway. It’s part of the creative process and it's also what makes us amazing crafters. I love this community!

Looking Ahead to 2026

I'm expanding what Collectively Hooked offers:

• More patterns in the shop – I'm working on designs that continue to help bridge that intermediate gap, with the instructions and technique tips you've told me you need. Take a look at what is in the shop!
• Deeper skill-building – Tutorials that tackle the techniques intermediate crocheters want to master but often find intimidating.
• More helpful tips – Because apparently we all need strategies for surviving crochet chaos, and I've got plenty more to unpack (no red therapy couch needed).

Expect more of what worked this year including real talk, practical help, and the occasional confession from me. Like how many times I mess up. No, really though. It’s literally all the time with EVERY project.

Your Turn

What was your biggest crochet win this year? Your most dramatic frog? The project that almost broke you?  What’s the one skill you hope to learn in 2026? Drop it in the comments!

Here's to 2026: May your tension be even, your yarn ends be weave-able, and may you win every game of yarn chicken you dare to play!

Happy hooking! 

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P.S. If you made it through this year without rage-frogging at least one project, please teach me your ways.

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