In A Funk

#1

I have no idea why, but, I seem to be in a knitting (and crochet) funk. I just learned to crochet the other day and made a washcloth and a scarf, and, I’m dying to try my hand at more stuff, but, nothing is really striking me.

Unfortunately, the same goes for the knitting. I finished off a section of a blanket I’m making for hubby and wanted a little break from it as it was very tedious, but, I just don’t know what to work on now.

I still have all my beautiful yarn I bought with my gift certificates from Christmas and have no clue what to do with it. I’ve been looking through patterns like mad but, to no avail.

I’m waiting for something to just jump out at me, something that makes me say, THAT’S IT! but I can’t find a thing! :frowning:

So, I just end up feeling incredibly restless…I can’t get the feeling out of my mind that I HAVE to be knitting or crocheting something, but I don’t know what to make! I don’t want to “waste” my new yarn on something I won’t really use, like a scarf or hat, but, I don’t really have enough of each color to make much else…lol…BAH! I knew I should have picked out a project first and then bought the yarn.

How do you all get through your funks? Do you knit or crochet anyway or just hold out until you find something you really, really want to make?

The worst part of it for me right now is that restless feeling…That I should be making something instead of sitting there, staring into space, frustrated by the thought of not knowing what to make…lol

#2

I have these funks too sometimes. When it happens, I just don’t knit or crochet for awhile because I just find it frustrating and I am prone to mistakes. I find other things to do (reading, watching movies, etc.). It has never last more than a week or so. But I think it happens to everyone who knits or crochets regularly.

#3

I get that way. I find it helps to cast on for a few projects. Ones that get my attention but don’t hold them. I’ll stitch away on them for a bit.

If they just stay blah, I pull them out with in a day or two [I knit fast], wind the yarn/wool up again and just wait.

Or… I’ll cast on an ‘interesting’ pair of socks.

Read: my husband, kids and other people who want my socks think socks shouldn’t have holes knit into them in patterns, etc.

I find socks really good for getting me past the funk because I can try a new technique, or something and be done with them rather quickly.

HTH’s!

#4

I’ve been there, too. I just take a break, but look at KH and Rav and eventually it came back. :thumbsup:

#5

I was in that same funk a couple of months ago. I wanted to do something but nothing was striking me. I got myself out of it by finding a complicated pattern (complicated for me, an intricate lace design) and worked on it. As I saw the pattern emerging I got all excited again about knitting and know have a to do list that is getting a bit daunting hahaha…

Libbie :slight_smile:

#6

Yeah, I know the feeling. For me, it’s a good time to look at some stitch dictionaries and try out some of the patterns. My fav “don’t know what to make but have this yarn I want to try” project is wristwarmers. You get to try the yarn out, you can make them as fancy or plain as you want, you can practice all kinds of cast-ons, bind-offs, techniques (I just learned Kitchener Stitch – finally – with a pair of wristies yesterday), and patterns you like. And people love getting them as gifts.

#7

What gets me out of a funk is to knit a small item as a gift for somebody who needs a lift…someone who might be lonely, sick, or just in need of a caring hug.

I sent a short, soft scarf to an e-friend on a forum as a ‘warm hug’ and she talks about it on the forum a lot, seems to be wearing it every day, even around the house. She lives in Colorado where it’s snowy and cold right now.

and as a bonus: she is going to learn to knit too (at age 50)!

So my advice: make someone’s day with a small (or big) cuddly scarf.

#8

I agree with everyone. I just end up either taking a break or I do another type of project. Making blankets CAN be very tedious, so I switch over to crocheting or knitting something small that can be completed fast (like toys). Sometimes it’s just about changing things up. And sometimes it’s about taking the needed break and coming back refreshed.

#9

funk funk funk ! yes that’s the word and that’s the feeling.

I get nutsy when I don’t have a good pattern/item on the needles. Well, I always have this huge afghan made out of bits and pieces of left over yarn… going, it’s been almost a year for that, I just do a bit now and then. But I agree about SOCKS, I just about always have a sock on the needles, I love knitting with little dpns, I just made my husband a beautiful thick purple pair and now I’ back to my pair. but it’s still not enough! I want 3 or 4 great things going and I’m really looking for a nice vest now and something else…

Do you make socks? Oh, I started a really neat on the diagonal scarf from Morehouse Farms this morning, it’s really neat, variagated yarn is that spelled right, variegated yarn, very unsual and easy too. Keep looking, you’ll come up with something soon…

#10

Sometimes what I will do is just make a square, but use a new pattern/stitch. However, I do it with a means to an end. I use some of my stash, make a bunch of the same sized squares in complimentary colors, which I will eventually stitch together into an afghan. That way I feel like I am working toward accomplishing something, but don’t worry about the time aspect (and I don’t tell anyone that I am putting together an afghan, so there are no expectations!)

#11

I just got out of a blue funk recently after several months of not picking up the needles. I would always check this forum and Ravelry hoping something would come up and hit me in the face and I’d continue knitting. It did, finally, with the Sylvi coat, which I am currently working ‘at’ and so I think this is rather normal. The same thing used to happen to me when I sewed all the time. I would feel sort of ‘burned out’ but really wanted to hit the old Viking sewing machine and eventually I’d see a pattern I had to make. Take heart, you will shed the funk and get back to something you really want to make.

#12

You’ve got me thinking… sometimes it helps to visit unusual knitting sites and see what other knitters are doing…

like this for instance:

http://www.knitonthenet.com/issue1/patterns/hairbow/

#13

That is so cute! And, I just bought some Sugar and Cream yarn in pink and white that I think would work great with that pattern!

#14

You know browsing around sites is also something I will do when I have a case of the creative blahs that doesn’t resolve on its own fairly quickly.

I like to peruse Ravelry and admire the amazing work there reminding myself that I , too, will one day knit a Starmore Sweater. :slight_smile: (The most difficult part won’t be gathering the courage to steek. That actually kind of excites me. It’s the shelling out of major cash to get one of her books that is the scary part.)

I like to go to Knitty and look at some of their patterns that I maybe didn’t pay attention to the first time around. Then I like to dig into the archives and read or reread articles on technique.

When I am ready to look at all patterns, all the time, I go to my big 3:

http://Knittingpatterncentral.com

http://Crochetpatterncentral.com

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/kategori_oversikt.php (Drops Designs)

Before, I’d peruse them, thinking about which ones I might like to make and with which yarn I had in my stash. Lately, though, I have also been looking at some sweaters that I might have passed by before and pondering how I might steal some element or rework the design to turn it into something I might like.

So maybe doing something like that might help too.

#15

I love putting in a yarn weight and yardage amount on Rav and searching for projects that work with it! :slight_smile:

#16

How about knitting something fun and crazy? If you have any white, yellow, and orange yarn, I once came across a knitting pattern for a felted candy corn bag (a bag in the shape and color of candy corn!) It was very cute. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll dig up the pattern; I didn’t save it.

#17

I found that pattern:

#18

Thank you! My daughter would LOVE that as she loves candy corn! :teehee: And, I do indeed have white, yellow, and orange yarn…All acrylic, however, so I won’t be able to felt it but no matter, my daughter would like it either way :slight_smile:

#19

You’re very welcome! It does seem like a very fun knit, doesn’t it? The lady who created the pattern did a felting bag, but I think a regular bag would look just as cute. Happy knitting!

#20

i find the best way to get out of a funk is to start 4 or 5 projects before you get into it! I always have multiple projects on the go so i don’t get bored of one, and if i do i can just go onto the next project

and as i finish one i replace it with another

i do go weeks or months sometimes without knitting because i need a break… but i always have a queue of projects