Have you ever lost the desire to crochet?

[Iowa yarns]

I am finally getting back into wanting to crochet again but I had picked several projects in November and December to work up for the holidays and I just couldn't get into them. I put both the projects to the side. Then a couple of friends and co-workers announced that they were pregant which seems to have been my inspiration. I have started a baby afghan and I'm looking forward to working on it almost every night. I know I've had a REALLY rough year but I was wondering if anyone else has ever hit a slump before. If so, what did you do to get out of it. This was my first time (and I have been crocheting for over 10 years) where I just didn't have the desire to crochet. Thanks for listening.

[Karen C.]

I feel this way a lot of times, but I contribute it to too many other things going on around me. If I didn't work, I could really crochet/knit and make everything I want! That's my story and I'm sticking to it:lol

[yarnjeannie]

I have been there. Due to circumstances at work and at home, I found myself getting deeper and deeper "in the dumps" and finally my doctor put me on medication for depression. For 2 years, I had to force myself to pick up my crochet hook and work on a few special order projects here and there. I found no joy in it at all - it was work.

 

The medication I'm taking has improved my outlook greatly, and my circumstances have improved as well (my son dumped his nasty girlfriend and my rude arrogant boss got fired ). My desire to crochet has returned and I'm crocheting every chance I get!

[cgd]

Yes, we all hit slumps or get busy with other things sometimes, making crochet take a back seat or even be non-existent for awhile. I didn't do much of it several months ago when we were putting our previous home on the market. It took a lot of time and energy to get the house ready for showing and to keep it that way for the five months it took to sell it in the dismal housing market! Anyhow, once we got moved and settled in late October, I worked up a couple of afghans and some dishcloths for Christmas gifts. It's OK to lay off for awhile--this is a hobby, it's not supposed to be torture.

[Iowa yarns]

Thanks for the letting me know that I'm not losing my mind. I usually used crocheting as a relaxer and when it wasn't, I was upset with myself. I hoping this next year will slow down a little and I can get back on track.

[irikel]

I have plenty of times....especially now working with this tiger graph which is not working to well for me....oh well...I guess I can just make the best of it and try and finish it ...

[2kute]

there right now... I'm feeling tired and don't wanna do much of anything.

Crochet is my life line though due to the fact I cannot do much more. If I lose the desire to crochet, I might go into depression.

Usually I take a couple days "off" and then I get back right where I left off.

[NanaM3]

yes I have the desire when the yarn or thread seems scratchy or my hands are overly dry ... or my joints are aching ... but pretty much I run out of ideas of what to make before I run out of the desire

 

 

right now I want to make a chair set from the thread sent to me in a swap this Fall and can't seem to find just the perfect pattern ... I only have a zillion books to look thru!

[grrlsmom]

I quit crocheting for years at a time every once in a while. Then when something comes along that I feel like doing, I get back in to it for a few years. It's like riding a bicycle - you never really forget!

[rlou313]

yes. i get tired of looking at crochet. sometimes when i look at the stuff it just doesn't look good like the stitches look kinda of cheap and then other times i love the stuff. go figure

[crazyboutcrochet]

I get that way in the summer. I have too many wonderful things to do outside and be in the sunshine, so crocheting just doesn't interest me. When the weather begins to turn, though, I'm get ravenous to crochet!

[Redheart]

Looking back, I quit crocheting when I lost interest in everything else, too. I realize that for me, it's a sign of depression, like when my college boyfriend was dumping me, I was graduating, needing to look for a job, and feeling generally overwhelmed. When I started feeling better, I went back to crochet and my other crafts, too. BTW, xbf is now on his 4th wife, so I guess he did me a big favor.

[pryor208]

Definitely have been there. I am naturally the sort who dives headlong into a project and then loses interest and motivation if i don't see progress very fast. (which is why a lot of my projects are quick!) And then I burn out on things when I get discouraged or just plain lose interest. Taking a break is fine, and it lets me reboot and start crocheting again later on. I need crochet, because I can't just sit and watch a movie, I have to be doing something, and if I don't have a magazine to flip through or something else to do as I watch a movie...I fidget. So it's neccessity for me, but oh yes do I ever burn out every so often. The stash of yarn suffers when I do, lol.

[awnm]

My motivation to crochet ebbs and flows with the seasons and the weather. I usually don't even pick up a hook between about May and August unless we're doing a road trip and I need a distraction. This time of year I tend to get a lot done unless I'm busy. I took several vacation days around the holidays, but hardly got in any crochet time because we had a house full of people.

 

I usually get my motivation back when I have a specific project to do. I just received some cool yarn from Knitpicks to start a baby blanket for a co-worker.

 

Just go with the flow. Crochet will always be ready for you when you're ready for it.

 

Anna

[Real Deal]

I don't get tired of crocheting, but I think it's because I automatically cut back during the summer when it hits 90 degrees and stays there. It gets very humid in this area, which makes it feel very unpleasant to do anything but quite small projects. By the time it's cool enough to have anything that will drape on you while you work, I've got a long new list of items I'd like to make, and I'm ready to get at them.

[Momcrochets]

I guess how I get out of a slump depends on why I'm in it. January is often a "slump" month, after working on so many gifts. This year I made fewer gifts, and I think that helped...less pressure to get them all done...plus I spread it out over a longer time. That one I usually just take a few days off, read a good book or two, and then start "petting" my patterns or yarn stash, and it goes from there.

 

Sometimes it's depression...still sometimes a day or two off, but then I'll kinda force myself to make something, even a basic dishcloth, as I find the very action of crocheting quite soothing and calming...even therapeutic.

 

If it's b/c my wim list is too full of gifts, sometimes inserting a small "for me" in there helps...or if one project is taking too long, I'll throw in another quick project to give the other a break (It seems I always have at least two, often 3 projects on the go).

 

HTH

[craftybutterfly]

This is ironic. I came here today with the intention of posting a question about other crafts we do, to get some idea's of something new I can start doing. I've picked up a hook once since thanksgiving. In the past year, I've started many many projects, and finished none (with the exception of one pair of wristies for me), nothing nadda zip. I remember when I was in my teens, I put my hook down for years, about 15 to be exact. I love crochet, and there are so many things I want to make, but nothing I've started for so long, keeps my interest. I get bored very quickly. So while shopping a few days ago, I picked out a small simple little cross stitch project. The kind where the pattern is printed on the material. Got it home, excited thinking "maybe I'll take this up for a while and do something different". Wrong! I didn't think about getting one of those little adjustable hoops, a needle, and THREAD (for goodness sake!) So there it sits, just waiting. then I though, latchhook! Yeah, I've done that before. The only thing I could find at walmart was ugly (the nearest craft store is 50 miles away). **sigh**. So, I'm still hoping to find a new craft to start. I will never give up crochet, but I think sometiems we do get kinda burned out and have to do something else for a while. I envy you guys who do other crafts like cross stitch, quilting (which I would LOVE to do), and knitting.

[eurolyons]

I'm just now coming out of a slump...I didn't entirely put down my hook for a long period of time this time, but it was struggle to get with the groove, but I'm starting to like crocheting again. It happens...

[trin]

I get slumps sometimes too... and usually switch to different projects or even different art forms for awhile... and then I get the crochet/fiber kick back.

[texasredhead]

No, I haven't lost my dersire to crochet, but I have lost my desire to do housework~~!!~

[Momcrochets]

housework? Whats That?!? oh ya, that annoying thing that gets between me and my hooks

[HomekeepingGran]

Sure I have. I do other crafts (sewing and knitting particularly) and am always juggling those Big Three. Probably since I am still learning a lot of knitting it preoccupies much of my thoughts these days, but I still like to crochet. Rarely I find myself not wanting to do anything at all but it does happen.

[LegalWoman17]

I've had slumps from time to time also. For instance, once all my Christmas gifts were finished for this past Christmas, I found myself just staring at my yarn stash thinking I should start something, but what?? So I didn't do anything at all for a couple of days and now that crocheting urge is back in full force.

 

It's all right to be in as slump once in awhile. We've all been there.

 

[The_Virginia_Hooker]

I usually do when i've done a lot of back-to-back 'requests.' I love to make stuff for people, but i'm sometimes a little burnt out after the 8th hat in 2 weeks (my toboggans, i use a LA pattern for, are popular this time of year) or the 5th scarf in a week. Luckily no one is pressuring me to finish (not that i would allow it :stone ), but i always like to see someone wear the stuff at least once before it's 70 degrees outside lol.

[~Kel~]

I definitely go through phases of wanting to crochet or not, it all depends on what I'm working on and how much of it I've done lately