What to Do When Projects Go Wrong: From Abandoned Cardigan to Baby Blessing

When knitting projects don't turn out as planned, we often feel guilty about "wasted" time and materials. But what if those abandoned projects are actually waiting for their true purpose to emerge?
In this week's story, I share how my abandoned heirloom quilt cardigan - knitted with hand-dyed yarns from indigo workshops and garden plants like bronze fennel and willow herb - found new life as a baby blanket. Sometimes our tension changes (literally and figuratively), sometimes we outgrow our original vision, but the threads of connection between our hands, the materials, and their eventual purpose run deeper than we realize.
This connects to the work we've been doing in The Studio this month around abandoned projects - looking at them without guilt and discovering whether they want to be finished, transformed, or released. It's about shifting from seeing projects as success or failure to recognising the web of meaning in our making.

I'm Jane, and I help mid-life women find their way back to slow, meaningful making through Snapdragon Life. The Studio is my gentle online membership where we explore natural dyeing with plants from the garden, hand-stitching, and story-led creativity at the pace of seasons. It's not about rushing through projects or collecting techniques - it's a space for makers who want to work with intention, see the connections between ancient methods and their own inner landscape, and be part of a smaller, thoughtful community. If you're drawn to craft that moves slowly and goes deep, you might find what you're looking for here. You can learn more about The Studio at www.snapdragonlife.com or join our community of seasonal makers who understand that the journey is just as important as what we create.