How to stay motivated

10 minutes ago

2 min read

I've felt burnout with knitting before. And I love to knit. So finding my favorite thing to do boring, tiresome, or feels like work - it makes it hard to get back into. Here are some things I do that help keep me motivated in projects and inspired to keep going when it gets hard.

DON'T HAVE TOO MANY WIPS

I know people who have had 12 WIPs at one time. I've also heard from these same people how it feels like they never finish a project, or they get bored easily. I am not like this. I have no more than two WIPs at one time. One is a larger project I can do at home, like a sweater. The other is a smaller one I can take with me on trips or when I am stuck in traffic, like socks.

With each project you complete, you'll feel accomplished and proud of what you made. This will help inspire you to start AND finish your next project.

SET GOALS

Make sure your goals are attainable. Write your goals down in a knitting notebook, and set deadlines. Maybe you want to learn one new stitch pattern a week. Maybe you want to make a complicated sweater you've always wanted to make. Maybe you want to knit one row a day on that blanket you've been working on for who knows how long. Whatever it is, make sure your goals are small enough to be achievable but large enough to make it feel like you are making progress.

FIND A KNITTING GROUP

This could be on Discord, Instagram, or your local yarn shop knit nights. Find a place where you can share your progress with others. This also helps hold you accountable in your projects. You can reach out to these groups when you have questions about yarn or need help understanding a technique. Make sure you check in at least once a week to once a week to help keep you on track for your goals as well.

FIND INSPIRATION

Instagram or Pinterest are perfect for this. Follow knitters who inspire you, who you find interesting, and who you want to learn from. Ravelry is the best place, because you can save the patterns and it's easier to find them later rather than trying to hunt down a pattern found on Instagram. Keep rotating your outlets to find new knitted items that bring you inspiration and keep your imagination and creativity flowing.

TAKE MENTAL BREAKS

Sometimes you just need to take a pause from knitting altogether. Maybe your project is complicated and you keep making the same mistakes. Take a few days to just stop, reset, and come back at it with fresh eyes and relaxed mind.

Do you have other tricks on how to stay motivated? Let me know in the comments!

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