How do you stay motivated—or what do you do when you get stuck?

Hello, dear community,

right now I have a UFO/WIP that I’m stuck on. The patterns are clear, but either my yarn is giving me trouble or I’m just being clumsy. Strangely enough, I can’t recognize my own stitches on the wrong side row anymore and think I’ve made mistakes where there aren’t any. So I’ve already done some unraveling several times for no reason.
I’ve put it aside for now and would really rather not work on it anymore.

What do you do in cases like this? Do you power through until it’s going smoothly again? Or do you work on another or a new UFO/WIP? And what if you’re feeling unmotivated? Wait it out? Work on small leftover projects? It’s a shame to let all that yarn go to waste :-)

Thanks in advance for your suggestions...

Best regards,
Anton2412

Hi Patricia,

when a craft project frustrates me that much, I put it away.
Either I work on a small “in-between project” that I know I’ll definitely finish, or I grab another UFO and try my luck with that instead.
It can happen that these UFOs sit around for what feels like an eternity and never seem to get finished, but I can live with that.
If it really does seem to be just the yarn’s fault, I’m also happy to try a different kind of yarn and see how it goes.
But I don’t force myself to finish things like that… after all, it’s supposed to be fun :)

Best regards, Nina

Hi Anton,

I think we all hit a little snag like that from time to time :-)
Well, I always think about who I could give the UFO to
once it’s finished, and I imagine how happy that person will
be and how they’ll tell me how great it turned out.

Best regards,
Birgit

Since I usually have larger projects on my needles, getting stuck isn’t uncommon for me.
Unless, of course, the pattern practically flies along.

When I “just don’t feel like it,” I set the project aside and tinker with little things.

If the yarn is to blame for things not going well, I’d restart the project with different yarn.

Hi,
I usually have one big project (at the moment it's a baby blanket) and 2 or 3 small projects. 
Most of the time I plan to crochet, for example, 30 rows of the blanket, and after that I spend 2 days on the small projects, depending on my mood. 
Then another 30 rows of the blanket, and so on. 
That's usually how I keep my motivation up. 

If it really isn't working at all, then sometimes I need a longer break. 

And when nothing works anymore, I switch to a different type of needlework and do something completely different. 

I also put things like that on hold for a while (like my winter sweater right now, which is still missing a sleeve) and crochet something else or keep myself busy with completely different things like reading, gardening, or making concrete figurines.
Eventually, I’ll tackle the UFO with renewed energy, and most of the time it usually goes smoothly then.
Don’t get discouraged—it’ll work out. And if you just can’t get the hang of this yarn, try a different one.

Hi Anton,
Well, UFOs aren’t anything unusual for me either.

• One option: Set it aside and pick it up again when the flow returns.
• That’s what happened with my knitted dress: the “skirt part” was finished, as was the center section, but then I wasn’t sure for a long time how I wanted the top part to look. After about two months, I finally got the hang of it and finished the dress.
• There was another project I didn’t even want to unravel—the yarn was from a bygone era and was rock-hard cotton—so I threw it away unfinished along with the leftover yarn and was glad to be rid of it.
• Sometimes a pattern just doesn’t turn out well at all with a certain yarn. In that case, it helps to either change the project or pattern, or to use a different yarn for the project and tackle it again when the time is right.
  

So there are many cases like this… The important thing is to enjoy what you’re doing right now. If you’re not enjoying it, maybe it’s just not the right time for this project.

Best, Traudelina

Hello Patricia,

When it comes to UFOs that aren’t fun, I set them aside for a while until I feel like working on them again. The problem with that (at least for me) is that after some time, I have to get back into the swing of things. That’s why I always write down every step—including the number of stitches, etc.—and take photos along the way. That way, I can pick up where I left off later using my own pattern. It works great, even after a long break from the UFO.

I, too, always have one big project on the needles and several small ones. It’s just more motivating to finish a small project every now and then.

If nothing’s working at all—and that seems to be the case for you—then I’d give up on that project and start something completely new. And if it’s the yarn’s fault, just start over with a different kind of yarn.

By the way, it does happen sometimes that I notice a mistake later on. If it’s minor and only visible to me, I leave it as is. But I’ve actually had to rip out quite a bit of work on several—even larger—projects just because the mistake bothered me.

In short: Motivation often comes from a new project that I really like and that I’m already looking forward to seeing finished.

Wishing you
lots of success and joy, Monika

Why does a project become a UFO?
- it gets boring over time: put it aside, do something else, and pick it up again later
- the material just won’t cooperate: unravel it, put the yarn aside, and look for another 
   use for it
- i overestimated myself: start the project over with a different pattern that I can handle

Basically: Handicrafts should be fun. If it’s no longer fun and turns into torture, give it up. There’s no shame in that! You can almost always invest the material in other, more worthwhile projects that will be fun again.
If you have more ambition and are having trouble with the pattern or technique: start a small swatch and look closely at how you can get the problem under control. It’s not as frustrating to have to unravel a small swatch as it is to rip back 10 rows of 50 stitches (or more). YouTube is also very useful. Sometimes it’s very helpful to see certain techniques or how to handle a particular material demonstrated. It has definitely helped me a lot before
Finally: keep things in perspective: Handmade work is handmade work, not machine work. Of course you want a beautiful result. And you should! Still, I don’t think it’s a big deal if little mistakes creep in, as long as they don’t affect the overall result. The question is always: who sees the mistake? Only you, or is it obvious and does it bother the overall result?
My problem: I can’t knit with eyelash yarn. I’m like you there: I can’t see the wrong side row. But I can crochet with eyelash yarn! So the fringe gets crocheted up, and I’m happy with the result. Don’t let a silly project take away your joy in handcrafting.