How much time a day do you crochet?

[SlowCrocheter]

I can't seem to get anything finished.  I only crochet a few times a week for a couple hours.  Do I need to find a new hobby?  One that does not take so long?  I am so discouraged.

[magiccrochetfan]

I don't crochet every day, especially during the summer. I also don't crochet for hours at a time. i have to take breaks or i get bored, make mistakes, and get muscle/joint aches. Your username would fit me, i am slow! But i enjoy what i do.

 

If you feel like you aren't getting things finished.....what kinds of things are you making? How many things do you have in process at once?

[SlowCrocheter]

Five projects.

Two afghans that I am making motifs for to put together this winter.

I afghan I can't work on till winter.

1 African flower dragon I am making motifs for to put together this winter. (hate how tight this one has to be may not finish it.  Makes my hands hurt.0

1 serape I am working on for myself.  

[Real Deal]

I always have lots of projects in process, but I don't let the time factor bother me anymore. I used to get very discouraged too, because I would see these women who would say "Here's the baby outfit and blanket I made over the weekend." HUH? Or "Here's the afghan I made this week." REALLY. Well, when do you eat, sleep, do housework and run errands? I just stopped paying attention to all that. I work at a pace that is good for me, and during times that are good for me.

 

Not everyone can crochet every single day, or for hours on end. We each have our own pace and there is no "should." Over time, you'll be surprised how much crochet you do. Blankets and afghans are usually the largest items people crochet, so they are a LOT of work. I often stop during my bigger projects and make a bath cloth or 2, which I love to use and love to give as gifts. Sometimes I stop and make a hat or scarf or pair of slippers, then go back refreshed to work on a bigger project.

 

I no longer let people pressure me into making something that is time sensitive. That takes all the enjoyment out of doing what I love, and used to drive me nuts. When I would make things for my sisters and friends, friends of theirs would come out of the woodwork, saying "Oh I looovve that. Make me one, please, please, please. But make it in greens, not blues. And I need it by Christmas." And I would fall for it everytime. I find it interesting that not one person ever, EVER had the money to even cover the cost of the yarn. So no more.

 

So, now I just go with the flow more, and remember to make things for ME too.

[greyhoundgrandma]

Just take it at your own pace and enjoy what you are accomplishing. Your projects are all big ones but they will slowly grow until you're done. I definitely have to crochet in small bits when doing something that requires really tight stitches. I, too, like to do dish cloths or scarves in with bigger projects just to feel like I'm getting through with a project and for a break in the bigger ones.

[TheKnottyMale]

I don't finish things very quickly either. I work in a packaging warehouse so there are times that I'm just WAY too tired to even think of picking up my hook. I've been able to tell myself that "I will get it done when it's done" and honestly be OK with myself.

 

If you like what you do, then it really doesn't matter how long it takea to finish. And if it's a gift for someone, I'm sure that they will understand that it just takes a lot of time to make nice things. We are human beings - not machines for mass production.

[sopo]

you have a list of pretty determinedly hard, slow projects. I've made several of the african flower motif animals and used an F hook and ww yarn. they take quite a while to make. (3 for christmas gifts thought I'd never finish lol)

 

try some small projects in between the big ones. I am short on patience and if I'm working on something big that takes a long time, I get frustrated and bored. I love small fast finishing ones to make me feel like I'm getting somewhere and then can go back to the larger daunting ones.  

[papersmiles]

There are times (days even weeks) when I have to set crocheting aside.  Either family stuff, emergency stuff or just plain life stuff takes precedence.  When my crochet mojo kicks in I often crochet way into the night or even early, early morning.  Then when that little mojo imp hides again I let it be and move on to something else.  Fortunately the down times are more infrequent and shorter than the up times.  I have loads of other hand crafts I like to dabble in so I switch around a lot.  That transfers into "definitely" having a "ring" of UFO's all around my chair, in bags, stacked in corners or hiding under the dining room table....lol.  Years ago I would berate myself for not staying focused or being too slow or even not "crafty" enough.  The end result was that I was enjoying the crochet process less and less.  When I finally let go of my "deadline requirements" the joy of crocheting returned.  Now I just go with the flow and have fun.

 

Barbara 

[ReniC]

I crochet everyday. It's the only way I can complete large projects so they will not wind up in a plastic bin for future generations to wonder what they might have been. LOL.

I usually have 1-3 afghans going at once, but, working every day on them is very enjoyable to me. In the summer when it's so hot here, I incorporate smaller projects to break any monotony. Then all the small items go in a decorative box I keep for future birthdays, Christmas or other RAK gifts. It helps too with any ADHD my little old brain has going on.

Don't give up on crochet if you enjoy it. Do try to limit the amount of large projects at one time. It sounds like you are just overwhelmed with what you've taken on at one time.

[magiccrochetfan]

I agree with what everyone else has said about not pushing yourself to meet deadlines, not taking on projects just because someone "wants" an item, and doing a few small projects as well as the biggies.  It sounds like you are overwhelmed by having several big projects going on at once.  

 

One thing I try to do is not have too many in-process things at once.  It just bugs me to have too big a mental list of Works in Progress.  So if i set something aside and don't have a specific time when I will get back to it, it is in a different category in my mind, and that doesn't bother me.  I would put the cold-weather afghan in that category, on hiatus so to speak; then that only leaves four on the in-process list-----see, already the list is less daunting! lol

 

For the dragon that you aren't enjoying, I would probably also put that on hiatus for a while and wait and see if I felt like working on it again later.  Now the in-process list is down to 3.     Then I would prioritize whichever project you enjoy working on the most, or whichever one is for YOU rather than a gift.  Concentrate on that one for a while.  

 

Also I would be unlikely to have 2 afghans going at once, that would feel kind of overwhelming I think.  Especially if both are motifs that will need to be joined later, because assembling always seems to take me longer than I think it should.  

 

I think it helps me to have a project page on Ravelry, where if I keep it updated I can quickly see what I actually have accomplished.  When I donate or give something as a gift, i tend to forget I even made the thing.  then it's easy to feel I am not accomplishing anything.  But when I look at my Ravelry page and see the things I have made, it makes me happy.  It also makes it easy to see at a glance what my WIPs are, when it's time to decide what to pick up next.   Easier mentally to deal with a list on screen, and I can put the actual WIPs in storage boxes so they aren't cluttering up my living space....seeing them all the time makes me crazy.   

[Avon Lady]

I always have multiple projects!  I teach a crochet class at our local Senior Center, and we make lap-sized afghans for Veterans' hospitals.  Most of my crochet class also belongs to a Prayer Shawl group for our local Hospice, and we make several prayer shawls each month for them, also.  In addition to all this, we also make small items, to sell at crafts shows (to pay for the lapghans and prayer shawls we donate!) So--I work on the lapghans, and prayer shawls, and intersperse them with dishcloths, hats, fingerless gloves, scarves, thread bookmarks and Christmas ornaments and stars, and snowflakes, etc. and many more little items for the shows!  I love crochet, so it really isn't work for me!  Of course, my fingers get achy--and then I stop for a while and do something else!  Crocheting afghans doesn't bother me, because I work in air-conditioning during the summer.  So--I'm a Happy Crocheter!  

[SlowCrocheter]

LOL well ok big afghans are put away.  Guess the stuff for Christmas may not get done this year.  Think I may work on something small. Got a hat I have been wanting to make for me.

[magiccrochetfan]

 Got a hat I have been wanting to make for me.

 

I think this is very important:  At least once in a while, make something for yourself.  For one thing, you will see this one all the time (or at least during its appropriate season), so you will be reminded of your beautiful accomplishment.  Things i give away are "out of sight, out of mind" and I don't always remember them, then I feel I am not getting much done.   Also when you make for YOU, there is only one person to please, and you know for sure what that person's taste is !   

[MissyAnn]

I go in spells.  I may go a few weeks without crocheting depending on how busy I am.  Other times, it's all I do.  Right  now, I've been pretty busy crocheting things for our local fair.  I made a shawl, dishcloth, doll outfit, child's minnion hat, sleep eye mask. and an owl tote.  I just finished with my last project today. 

Next, i will go back to making some cat mats and cat toys for our local humanse society. I might take a break then before I start making hats for our hat tree at my church duing the holiday season.  Hats, scarves and gloves/mittens get placed on the tree to be donated to local families. 

 

I prefer doing quick projects.  I have done bigger projects in the past, but then I lose interest.  I do make lapghans for our local nursing home out of left yarn.  That's probably the biggest project I have been working on.

[greenowlcrochet]

Sometimes I crochet more than other times. On days I do crochet (which are most days), I average about 30 minutes-1 hour. 

[SlowCrocheter]

I started another project. lol I have four items I need to have ready by Christmas so started one of those.

[Ellie 13]

I work 30 hrs. a week at Market Basket. To relax, I  every day, even if it's only 20 - 30 mins. I'm making scrubbies for my friend. She gave me a big box of   last year, so I'm donating to her church fair. I've made 5 scarves, 2 baby afghans, 4 (5  ? ) pot holders and 20 scrubbies so far. I made a baby afghan for my niece's baby shower. I'm so predictable, my family knew what I would give (my niece probably knew too)  . Some times I even  during my lunch break. I always take my "knitty-ditty" bag with me.

Ellie 13

[boksie]

After supper when hubby and I sit down to watch our shows is when I pull out my hook and yarn. Rarely do I crochet during the day unless it is a project I have in my purse and I'm waiting for a doctors appointment.

[Jayashiangel]

Crochet or Knit what you can it's never a race to get to the end...I have lots of time to crochet as the job has 30+ hours of down time waiting to be called to do something so I can sit read or crochet while waiting...So I can do a baby dress in 24 hours however a shawl will take me 3-4 days..

I would not give up my hobby just due to lack of time..:O) no rush to complete things...

[boksie]

When I get frustrated, I make a quick project that I can finish in one evening as I watch TV. A quick, easy project would be a simple dishcloth.