Wednesdays Are For Knitting

Friends. I am in a knitting slump.

I have 2 projects on the needles. The Rosestitch Dishtowel . . . which I haven’t touched since the middle of JUNE.

And this hat:

It’s Sarah’s Same As It Ever Was and I started it when we were on our vacation in Maine . . . back in JUNE. I take it with me everywhere but I don’t actually work on it. Like, at all.

I don’t think it’s a creativity slump, since I’m designing things to make with the Cricut. And, while it could be weather related, I don’t really think that’s it either since I mostly have AC wherever I am.

Honestly, I think I’m just bored. Knitting around and around is great for meetings and socializing but it’s not exactly engaging, y’know? I need a project I can sink my teeth into. In the past, that would have been a lace shawl. But the truth is, I have lots of lace shawls . . . that I never wear. So I can’t really get behind that idea.

I suspect that this, like the rare reading slump I sometimes experience, will pass. I’m open to suggestions, though, as to how you all deal with a knitting slump.

HELP ME.

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This Post Has 15 Comments

  1. I too was in a slump. I cast on the Friend to Friend shawl by Leslie Friend. What I liked about the project was:
    * I never made a shrug
    * I could watch tv when I worked on it
    *It was quick -bulky yarn
    ?

  2. Oh boy. The Knitting Doldrums… just suck. I think it has less to do with the projects and more to do with the time of year. There are so many other things to do right now – gardening, savoring the long days, al fresco dining (when it is not a gajillion degrees outside)… By the time I sit down at the end of the day my brain bandwidth for “doing something” is just not there.

    (that dishtowel though…. perhaps you can psych yourself up for a finish by imagining how gorgeous it will be hanging in your kitchen!!)

  3. Yep. Been there. Much as I love shawls, I have so many I’ve started giving them away . . . not even as gifts. When friends say, “I love your shawl” . . . I take it off and hand it to them. Share the joy, y’know? But I still need to knit. I’ve got plans for a boring, basic sweater coming up (boring, but that’s what I wear. . . ), and I can feel a dishcloth “jag” coming on. (Personally, I think it’s time for you to haul out that cardigan again and finish it before it gets cold . . . ) Good luck! XO

    1. I think this is a great idea … and I also think socks – but not your trademark vanilla pattern – small (so quick), and just a smidge of intricacy to keep you interested?

  4. Summer often brings about my knitting slumps. What cures them for me is knitting dishcloths. Maybe you could make a few until you feel like getting back to the dishtowel? They are not very engaging, so maybe you could knit a lace shawl for Hannah or someone else.

  5. Honestly? I’m a serial monogamous crafter more or less. I didn’t realize it until a friend pointed it out. I tend to deep dive in one of my areas of interest for weeks, months, even years. Suddenly, SQUIRREL! And I change lanes with nary a thought to my crafty blinker. (Insert shrug emoji.). I’ve just embraced it, and get more joy from wherever my interest lies then.

  6. It seems like every summer my knitting takes a hit. I just want to be able to be outside as much as possible. I have set up a comfortable chair and table on my porch and claimed it as my knitting spot.
    I am now knitting more and enjoying the outside at the same time. Your mojo will come back.

  7. I am in a different boat – casting on all the projects but then the limitations of a broken foot have me sitting a lot and knitting at least gives me the feeling of accomplishment. Sounds like your making season is in a shift which can be fun too.

  8. When that happens to me, I just move on to something else (stitching, reading, doing outdoor things, etc.). Eventually my mojo always comes back. I have finally started my Shakerag Skirt!! And, I just bought and downloaded the pattern for Hitch on the Move which looks like a lot of fun…and it’s new and different!

  9. The yarn and the color is fabulous and I immediately reacted to it when I clicked on your site. That being said, It might be the summer. I’ve always had difficulty with yarn projects if I’m in a warm climate. Where I live on the central coast of California, it’s cool all the time so I can knit year round. My problem is running out of things to knit that keep me interested. I love to knit socks and am working on your picot topped socks right now but I have so many of them. I just knit them because they quiet my mind and I love to listen to an audiobook while working on them.

  10. Can you knit without looking? I’m thinking if you can, then you can use my strategy for getting through stockinette in the round: knitting while reading a very good book.

    But generally when I’m dealing with a knitting slump, the thing that usually gets my mojo going again is some activity related to future projects, be that looking through patterns on Ravelry or digging through my stash (or both). Usually I’ll get very excited about starting something new, and then I’ll tell myself that I should finish something that’s already on the needles first.

  11. I had to put one of my cats down in June due to Lymphoma. I cast on for Camp Loopy June and knit a few rows and that was about it for the rest of June. The only other time I knit was when my mother was in the hospital in June and I knit on the sock weight hat I keep in the car. I did read a lot though so glad I didn’t just stare into space. I started up again in July and now seem to be knitting each day at least a little bit. My plans of new projects keep coming though I’m not sure when I will get to them.

    That hat is a gorgeous color.

  12. How can you resist the gorgeous yarn in that hat? Well, knitting slump, okay, I get it. I am wishing I could knit, but this fractured humerus lets me do it for about 3 minutes before saying STOP, THAT HURTS!

  13. I am in the same situation right now. However I have had some serious surgeries, so I use that as an excuse to do nothing. But I do want to knit. So here is what I’m planning, I’m going to knit an item and donate it to charity. I met a woman in a doctor’s office years ago and she was knitting a sweet baby sweater. I commented on how nice it was and she said she knits all year long and donates FO at fair time, to be used however they wish. I hope this idea helps both of us.

  14. The color of that hat is AMAZING!! But I get you… every night I sit down and right at-hand are 1) a pair of socks, 2) a Christmas stocking, 3) a blanket, 4) yarn that wants to be a skirt. I haven’t picked up any of them in quite a while. Stymied by needing to do some math or some other type of figuring… or wondering, doesn’t a sock need a heel flap before starting heel shaping, why am I not finding that info in the pattern, what am I missing??

    And it’s too hot to think about these things, much less knit them.

    I know that for both of us, THIS TOO SHALL PASS! xoxo

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