A project that you just can't finish

[CLLinda]

I started on a pretty pink afghan for a woman I work with. I am to the point that I just can't stand working on this big,heavy thing anymore.

 

How can I get motivated again to get it done by Christmas?

 

I think I am just bored with it. It's the same row back and forth, without any changes. I still wanted to do another big skein of pink yarn, but I don't know.

 

I have even stopped doing other projects just so I can work on this thing, and now I am not doing any crochet, and I'm not happy.

 

Any words of encouragement would be appreciated. Does anyone else get this way?

 

[donnalynn2]

Oh yes, I think we all do! For me, there's nothing worse than all SC's back and forth back and forth but I have done an afghan all in SC's if you can imagine!!! It is maddening but the only way I can do it is to do other things as well as that project!

 

I also find that if you have a project you need to finish and are having a hard time doing it, do this:

 

Figure out how many more rows you have to do.

How many more days do you have to finish the project?

With some simple math you can figure out how many rows you have to complete each day to reach your goal! If it's 5 rows you know that after row 5 you can work on something fun and for you and if you feel like working even more rows of the dreadful project, you can!

 

When I made my hubby's graph ghan for Christmas last year it took me 6 months of intense work and that's the only way I got through it!

 

In the end, you'll be glad you finished it! You can do it!!!!!!!!!

[contrary.crocheter]

This has happened to me too and it is hard to feel motivated again...you don't even want to look at the thing. Why don't you take a short break from it and make something fun like Christmas fridgies or a snowman...something fairly quick. Then go back to the big project. You can do it so hang in there! You are so close :cheergo :cheergo :cheergo!!!:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer:cheer

[Knit Happens]

I agree a break from it with something small and quick to work up is in order...then allot a certain amount of time daily, or a certain amount of rows daily, until you have it finished. Doing the math part to find out how much time per day it would take is a great idea. "Watch" a good movie while you craft. Often I will interrupt the crochet with a load of laundry or washing a few dishes (yea, I know....housework and a boring pattern--lol) but it does help me get through it all being all over the map. This weekend I've been crocheting and priming my kitchen walls in between the laundry. It'll all get done.

[mva5493]

for me, I have trouble getting things done by a deadline, it feels more like work, less like fun. So to take my mind off the work, I do something quick like dishcloths, or a hat, or a scarf. I also do something altogether different like I might knit or stitch some plastic canvas, or sometimes it is a different hobby like reading or working a puzzle. Then after a break I am ready to go back to it again. It also helps to come here and look at finished projects, it inspires me to get it done, so I can start something new.

[Becky Morgan]

If it's real aaaargh crochet (mindless, heavy, boring) work on it while you're already bored and doing something else--netsurfing, waiting for cookies to bake, whatever. Take it with you in the car if somebody else is driving. Make it your "pick that up when there's noting else to do" project. Or decide it needs a wild border in a totally different yarn

[mudpie]

I almost didn't read the other replies before I posted, but I'm glad I decided to. DonnaLynn pretty much said exactly what I was going to say. If you don't already have one going, start a REALLY fun project and reward yourself with doing that after you have done a certain amount of the boring one.

[purlwise]

Oh yes that happens to me a lot, even now.

[eurolyons]

I'm in a serious slump with all my crochet projects...I'm babystepping as best as I can, but it's really, really a challenge right now...there is one UFO that I just can't seem to get back on track with though...it's about 2 years old and it's a beautiful peacock filet crochet. Just other things getting in the way of it...but eventually I'll finish it.

 

Good luck.

[eurolyons]

Oh and I do do what Donnalynn suggested and that does help...

[paperflowers]

I'm making a giant granny afghan and I swear I can fall asleep with hook in hand . I hardly look down anymore.

 

Set a due date and stick to it. Maybe start a concurrent project that's more challenging and switch to that if you get really bored.

[mason204]

Is it a pattern -- one where you absolutely have to finish the whole thing?

 

If it's already big and heavy, perhaps your friend might be satisfied with it where you're at now? People who are not crocheters aren't as concerned with whether an afghan is exactly 36" x 48" (for example).

 

Is it one of those afghans where it's really wide and you need to keep crocheting in rows to get to the length where you want it to be? I know this sounds drastic but if you sew and if it's not patterned, can you:

 

*figure out what size is acceptable

*zig zag on your sewing machine the size you want it to be

*cut it (ahhhh)

*crochet an edging around it.

 

There's nothing worse then a project weighing you down. With the holiday season, the last thing you need is more stress.

 

Finally, do you have a friend or family member who crochets and can finish it for you? Again, since it's so big and it's not a fitted project, a minor change in gauge might not be so noticeable.

 

Cheryl.

[amdm]

I realise this is of no help to you but, to avoid boredom, do not ever start on a boring project. I see no point in crocheting a blanket which is the same stitch from start to finish - you may as well buy a factory-made blanket. A crochet blanket should have a distinctive and interesting pattern. Something that is fun for the crocheter to make, and shouts out the fact that the blanket is hand-made and special.

[lsm]

Hi,I have lots of those THINGS laying around. My answer to my CAN'T FINISH project is to grab another hook and ball of yarn and start another project. Pretty soon I have little piles all over the house to drive my husband. But I do eventually get most of them finished. I get out of my slump by looking on the internet at different yarns and what I could do with them. So that gets me going to finish my many projects. So I can buy,buy and buy more yarn!!!!!!!!!!!

[kookykatlady]

if i have a project that frustrates me, i always start a fun project, and alternate between the 2 ( sometimes 3 or 4) i set goals to do so many rows on the frustrating one before i can start on the fun ones.

[squirrel]

Take a break from it while you start and finish something fun/lightweight - worked for me

[greeneggs]

I have a couple of projects going on right now but there is one in particular that I just can't seem to finish: a granny square afghan.

 

About a year ago I was watching All My Children and in a scene one of the characters had an afghan on the bed, it was a solid color squares with a black border. The squares were bold and it was pretty. I decided to make one but instead of making a generic block (retrospect I probably should have done that!) I decided to use a basic granny in six different colors.

 

One year later I've completed three colors and stalled out.

 

I have it sitting out on my craft table where I can see it trying to find the motivation to finish and I can't. I don't know what it is about this thing but now I'd just as soon burn it then finish it!

[Ginger]

I don't think I'm ever going to finish the coral picot shrug I started almost two years ago. I actually hid it under my bed so I wouldn't have to look at it.

[CLLinda]

Well, I'm not the only one. I took some advice and worked on a baby bonnet. That gave me the inspiration to finish it.

 

I worked for three whole nights watching tv and crocheting and it's finally big enough. So I picked up some brown yarn today and will start on a fun border.

 

I hope to get it done by Friday at the latest.

 

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE ENCOURAGEMENT!

 

 

[Cherokee2]

I usually have several projects going at one time, so I don't get bored with any one of them. I would suggest not to get overloaded with projects for someone else that have to be done by a certain time. I had a baby afghan started one year for someone who was expecting a baby, didn't get even halfway done with it, because of a death in the family, so I put it aside, and bought something else for it. Then a couple years later, I found out my son and wife were expecting their first baby, so I finished it in time to give it to them when the baby came. Luckily it wasn't pink! They had a boy.

Another thing that works for me is to never start a project that is immediately boring and tedious, like the same stitch, row after row. I have started and done a couple rows and then decided it was going to be boring, so ripped it out and chose another pattern.

I also try to have a variety of things to do...not more than two afghans at once, and with a totally different pattern, and maybe a cap or a toy and a sweater or top.

[CLLinda]

Another thing that works for me is to never start a project that is immediately boring and tedious, like the same stitch, row after row. I have started and done a couple rows and then decided it was going to be boring, so ripped it out and chose another pattern.

I also try to have a variety of things to do...not more than two afghans at once, and with a totally different pattern, and maybe a cap or a toy and a sweater or top.

 

I like this advice. From now on, I will find a pattern that at least changes row by row. It was just way too boring.

 

I did get the monster blanket finished!!!!!!!! I am so happy.

 

Now on to fun, non-boring projects!