🍵 Who among you sometimes forgets you’re hungry while crafting?

Dear community,

Libelle11 has just brought up an important point in the thread (September Projects 2025: the Crazypatterns Crafting Group): the loss of motivation. This can be explained precisely with a psychological concept—the dominant focus (a concept that has been used successfully for decades).

The dominant focus (according to Ukhtomsky, 1923) is a prevailing center of excitation in the brain that bundles our attention. A classic example: When we are deeply absorbed in work or in the creative process, we often do not even notice that we are hungry.

How can we use this power for crafting, or how do I do it?

Three key points are important:

1. Reduce distractions—put the phone away, find a quiet place, create focus.
   
2. Make the importance clear—consciously remind yourself why this exact project is important.
   
3. Regularity & only short breaks—a little bit every day is better than a lot only rarely. Small breaks are fine, but not too long. Breaks that are too long cool down the focus too much. 
   

Anyone who takes these points to heart strengthens their “dominant focus”—and stays motivated even on big projects.

Do you know that feeling, when you even forget lunch while knitting, crocheting, or sewing?

Best regards
Alexander & Your Crazypatterns Team 💙

Sources:
- A. A. Ukhtomsky (1923): The Dominant Focus as a Working Principle of the Nerve Centers
- Wikipedia: Dominant Focus (Psychology)

For me, the feeling of hunger works a little differently:

I can’t ignore it because I don’t have the typical growling stomach—instead, I get irritable and feel slightly nauseous due to my blood sugar dropping.
I can’t ignore these signs by distracting myself with crafts.

It’s a different story when I don’t have a chance to eat anything.

I know this feeling of getting completely absorbed in something very well. It doesn’t just “happen” when I’m embroidering; it can also happen with other activities like reading or gardening. When that happens, I lose track of time, and even a little hunger can’t pull me out of it.
Even my mom would sometimes be late serving lunch if there was a puzzle on the table 😃.
And yes, I do minimize interruptions and distractions when I’m doing that. The importance of the activity just has to come from me, not from others—even if it’s “just” relaxation and the joy of doing it.
I’m familiar with that thing about taking breaks from a project, too. If I leave a project aside for too long or even put it away, another one is sure to take its place, and it takes a lot more energy to get back to the old project.
So I can definitely relate to Uchtomsky’s thoughts on this 😉.

Absolutely—dinner sometimes gets skipped (and, surprisingly, isn’t even missed that much). Above all, this shows me that “hunger” is often just a slight appetite or something like that, and then you end up eating at a certain time simply out of habit. And that works just as well with crafts, a book, or a puzzle, whereas a movie doesn’t necessarily do the trick. So maybe subconsciously—as Mel already wrote—it’s also the worry of getting something dirty with chocolate or greasy fingers, whereas you can snack freely while watching a movie.

I’m actually really good at getting immersed in a project—it used to go so far that my husband would say, “Honey, it’s dinnertime, I cooked—aren’t you hungry?” But ever since I had that stupid COVID, I’ve lost all motivation for crafts; I can’t bring myself to do anything—and I mean anything—except maybe knit a few rows. I have tons of ideas in my head, but when I go into my sewing room, look at my stuff, and think, “Oh, no, not today.” The only thing I managed to sew last week was a pillowcase with a hotel-style closure—and something like that is usually just a piece of cake for me—but it totally wore me out. I never would have thought it would sap my energy like that and leave me completely wiped out.

Love, Inge

You hear that over and over again—you poor thing, that’s really persistent. That’s why I keep getting vaccinated every year, nicely paired with the flu shot—I really don’t need that kind of thing.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!

Thanks, Veronika. I got vaccinated against COVID five times during the pandemic, and the fifth shot nearly killed me. I retained so much fluid that it almost squeezed my heart—that’s why this vaccine is a NO-GO for me!

Love, Inge

Hi Inge,
so it’s finally caught up with you—just recently?
Take comfort in this: I’ve been seriously ill with post-COVID since March 2023. I’m on an EU disability pension and can’t even take care of myself because I’m severely physically limited. Thank God I can always knit for a while in the evenings, though in 2023 even that wasn’t possible. I’ve been vaccinated five times, tested positive for COVID once, and had other viral infections during that time. And yet we still have to look ahead and enjoy the beautiful moments.
Best wishes to everyone from Carola in Dresden

Yeah, Carola, it must have hit me sometime in July or early August. My ENT doctor only told me about 10 days ago that it was COVID—at first I thought it was an allergy and that my sinuses were blocked. But they were all completely clear and unblocked, and when I described my symptoms to the doctor, he told me, “You’ve caught COVID—unfortunately, this virus is still around, and since you also have asthma, it’s hit you twice as hard.” Shortness of breath, headaches, constant fatigue, coughing my lungs out, etc. He also said I should brace myself for a few long weeks until I feel better again—I’m not exactly a spring chicken anymore, after all; I’ll be 74 in October, and all that plays a role in my recovery. Thank goodness I have a husband who supports me a lot with the housework and takes a lot off my hands.

Love, Inge

Hi everyone,

that doesn’t sound good at all for the two of you (Inge and Carola). That’s why crafts—or any other hobby—are great for taking your mind off things and immersing yourself in another world. Just switch off from everyday life.

For me, when I’m crafting, doing needlework, or something similar, I can forget everything around me—I get so absorbed in what I’m doing. I don’t forget to eat, but I often forget to drink. Staying hydrated is important. Most of the time I drink way too little, even though there’s a drink right on the table. I have to be really careful that this doesn’t happen to me again.

Wishing you all a speedy recovery and relaxation through crafts and hobbies.

Warm regards from me
Andrea

I’m just like Andrea—I don’t forget to eat, since I usually crochet after dinner. But I often neglect to drink enough. And I also lose track of time and end up going to bed too late. 

Yeah, that would definitely happen to me if it weren’t for my kids, who insist on their regular meals and remind me of them whenever I’m lost in thought or busy knitting. 

I didn’t know the theory of the “Dominante” before; I suppose it’s even more pronounced in people with ADD. My husband, who has ADD, also forgets everything when he’s deeply engrossed in his work: eating, drinking, and the fact that he should actually have finished work two hours ago / is doing overtime 😜 He has to set a timer/alarm for lots of things

Personally, I only have a dominant phase when I absolutely want to finish something, or finally get it finished, because it’s been lying around for weeks or months... otherwise, after 1–2 hours I do notice, okay, now you could have a drink or eat a snack, but then I push myself and “allow” myself to do it only when, for example, the next row or section is finished (and just like that, another hour has passed 😜), just as people always say to children (or used to, at least): homework first, then the reward

On the topic of motivation, I think what’s often forgotten is the monkey mind that humans, like most animals, simply have, where we constantly need something new for variety and the old thing then becomes boring, with the difference that humans eventually recognize this consciously and can take steps to counteract it... That’s why, after so many years, I can definitely only say: even if many people on the lovely internet model the opposite, only 1 or at most 2 projects of each kind, which you then really devote yourself to exclusively, and not this “I have 55 UFOs” thing (or more, which I’ve seen too). Of course you never get anything finished and things gather dust, because something new is always coming along too... and then give that one piece your full attention, even if it’s only annoying you by then, by breaking it down into sections, for example, and saying to yourself: okay, today at least 2 rows or rounds, or at least 1 section, etc.... That way you get a lot finished in the time others spend working on countless projects at the same time and finishing nothing at all... Better to finish 1 piece and be proud of it than to have 55 pieces and nothing finished and feel depressed... It’s much more motivating, in my opinion