FREE! (AKA Destash Contest #3)

This week's Destash Contest's Prizes are 2 Skeins of Lang Viva Yarn in a milk-chocolate brown color (knit just a bit to swatch) and a hardly-used needle holder that I made:

To enter this contest, leave me a comment about a time when you lost your "Knitting Mojo" (or the urge/desire to knit) and why you think it happened.*  Again--same rules apply as before--mention the contest on your blog and if someone else mentions that they came to my blog via your mentioning it, BAMM!, another entry for you.**  Deadline is Monday, October 29, by midnight!

*Why this specific question?  Because I seem to have lost the desire to knit; most likely due to working all the time, teaching full-time for the first time, going to school to finish up my masters degree, and living in San Francisco at the very same time (which means I am too busy having fun in the city to knit!!!)!

Comments

[Lia]

The last time my mojo ran away from me was after a bit of gift making binge. I was only knitting for other people with a necessary completion time. I got it back by finding a totally frivolous project for me and just knitting when I felt like it. I hope your mojo returns home safely soon!

[Robyn]

The only time I lost my knitting Mojo is when my son was born last December I stopped knitting for a little bit, because I was just simply too tired. Other than that... I've only been knitting 2 years religiously, so that's the only time!

[Angela]

I lost my mojo shortly after I first learned to knit. Predominately because I was bored of dishclothes & scarfs, and because I was intimidated by what looked complicated... Then someone sold me on a sweater kit, and I tried it, and got excited again to knit. I will be a knitting maniac for a while, then taper off to knitting "here and there". Spin, repeat.

[BethC]

Ok, you got me thinking and I just did a post about my recently lost and found mojo. I know you don't want it all here... so check out my blog!

[Lisa]

I just regained my mojo. I think it happened because I was having a pity party about not having any money to buy some lovely new yarn. Once I told myself to suck it up, I became reinvigorated. I am knitting something from EZ--always gaurenteed to get your knitting brain moving!

[Hanna]

I've actually found that it's the times when I'm over-extended that I MOST want to knit, maybe because it can be such a lovely, meditative way to drop out of reality.

But when the knitting becomes part of the to-do list, rather than an escape from it (like at Christmas), that's when I can lose my desire to do it.

And then I'll eventually treat myself to a cool new yarn, get inspired from knitting blogs, and I'm off on my way again.

p.s. I've posted about your contest on my knitting contest blog: WiKnit (http://wiknit.blogspot.com). Please let me know if I got anything wrong, or if you want me to add a photo!

[Penny Karma]

I lose my mojo every once in a while when everything I actually manage to finish seems to suck. And the stuff I haven't finished sucks even more.

[Penny Karma]

How I get over it is - I find a quick pattern that I know I can master, and then I feel like a genius again.

[Suzy Girl]

So sorry you lost your mojo but when life settles back into a groove and you're less busy you'll find it again. I just hope you don't lose it for as long as I did. I hit a busy period in my life several years ago that went on for several years and I was so overwhelmed I couldn't find the time to knit.
My advice to you.. don't let that happen. Find a little time in your day to work on small, satisfying projects using really nice yarn, maybe if you commute or on your lunch break. A few stitches here and a few there.
Best of Luck and I too, believe Gore won in 2000!

[Tanya]

Well, aside from knitting something you just are not into...i have lost my mojo a time or two when i have just felt overwhelmed with things to do in life in general, or even just a slight bout with depression. I will usually find a really cool yarn or small project and start with that. Sometimes even 2-3 projects i will start just to keep me interested. Relax with some tea (or wine), have a pot of soup on the stove, pick some really nice autumn yarn and start with just a simple scarf. Re-perk your spark!

[z's momma]

I lost my knitting mojo when I almost finished my second sweater and realized it was going to make me look like a dark blue muppet (it's a navy blue acrylic boucle). Yes, it's still sitting in a box...taunting me. I stopped knitting, shopping for knitteryly things, and even stopped going to my knitting group. How did I get it back? I think I gritted my teeth and started back w/ baby steps...small instant gratification knits.

good luck. But why is living in SF getting you down?

[Jen C.]

I lost my knitting mojo late last year through to late august of this year. It was a combo of starting a new job, a couple projects that required lots of frogging, buying a Nintendo DS :o). I still looked at patterns and knitting websites/blogs, but I hardly did any actual knitting. Ravelry helped me snapped out of it. Seeing everyone's inspiring knits was a big push and also realizing I had hardly finished anything in 2007. So, less video game playing, more knitting!

[Barbara]

Hi - I've never responded to a blog before - but I do know how you feel -
I came into knitting only a couple of years ago - started out with a bang - wanted to learn everything, knit all of the time, buy everything - couldn't learn or do it all fast enough or good enough - After knitting scarves, easy sweaters, fingerless mittens,etc. I now have an almost finished felted bag - I'm mean I'm at the end - sewing on some decorations, deciding whether to line or not (it's felted), an afghan of squares from 200 block book, a tank started 2 yrs ago, and a felted bowl - I wanted to do holiday gifts - after not being able to stop - now I can't seem to get started - I'm recently retired - so a job is not the issue - though I'm still busy with family, dogs - new puppy in training and older dog going back to training, cats, teenager, baseball (these boys don't stop playing till the fields are frozen over. - so I understand how you feel - sometimes the mojo is just lost - Maybe we get into doing so much that we loose track of the reason we started - cause we liked it, it's fun, relaxing, gratifiying. So take a few deep breaths - pick one of the projects you really, really love and try to work on it for just 20 minutes every other day - see how that goes - I wish you well
I know what it's like to be a full time worker, parent, wife, and student - Don't know how I did it all - but somehow it all worked out - Good luck - Barbara

[Holly of HollYarns]

In response to Z's Momma's comment--Living in San Francisco is NOT getting me down...there is just TOO MUCH TO DO!!!

[Jo]

Usually I lose my knitting mojo when my favourite authors come out with a new book. I am one of these people that has to read the new book right away - and if I am lucky enough, all in one go.... knitting be damned ;)

[Natalie]

Just two weeks ago I had an incredible day planned- no kids, an empty hotel room and a big project I was working on. I got sick - too sick to even lift the needles! What the heck? The illness lasted almost a week - - and almost a week passed before I had energy to do something I loved...

[kathy b]

Well having newborns completely took away my knit plans. I was too in love to do anything but immerse myself in their every waking moment. And they never slept! I started knitting again about 13 years later....

[Sarah]

3 kids, parttime job, training for a half marathon. I'd like to knit more but I'd rather sleep. But I dream about knitting.

[Amber]

I am coming over from BethC's site (http://bethc.wordpress.com/). I lost my mojo when I was working on my MS3. It was too much pressure to try and keep up with the clues and I couldn't enjoy any other project. That is the last time I will be doing that! :)

[zumagirl]

I lost my knitting mojo last spring. I think it was a combination of having a few projects go wrong & having to frog them. Plus the weather was getting nicer, so I was less inclined to sit & knit when I could be up & about.

For me, the way to get my knitting mojo back is to do completely no-stress no-obligation knitting. One time it was baby hats for charity, didn't have to stress about gauge because it would fit *someone* I used inexpensive yarn and played with some very simple patterns. Eventually I got inspired to do something new for me.

This time when it happened I got a big ol' stack of Peaches & Cream cotton and started knitting simple dishcloths. I did about a dozen of them over the course of a couple weeks, and then was inspired to do something more complicated.

I've now finished a shawl, almost finished a cardigan and cast on for a couple more projects.

[Tonia]

Oh I have so been there with the loss of knitting mojo. I lost mine at the beginning of the summer. I blame it on my re-found love of spinning. I was infatuated with spinning and couldn't get enough. I didn't have the desire to knit. Finally since the weather is starting to cool off I am finding that I am wanting to knit. Plus a friend is having a baby and I want to make something for them. So it is slowly coming back. It has to come back so I can knit up my hand spun. ;)

[Tinkingbell]

Came via trampled by Geese - losing knitting mojo - happened twice
1. Teenager told by Home ec teacher that 'that's the ugliest knitting I ever saw' - didn't knit again for 7 years
2. Knitting a mohair jumper while pregnant and had premature baby. Mohair jumper wnet into hibernation until had that baby and second baby 2 years later and then another 18 months after that - a 4 year hiatus - and all because I didn't realise that you could be knitting more than one thing at a time - and because mohair fibres aren't great for babies. But when the nojo came back - well then I was hooked - obsessed - like an alcoholic falling off the wagon. I am now an evangelistic, born again knitter!

[Awesome Mom]

I have gone through several waxes and wanes of my desire to knit. I learned while my eldest son was in the hospital after he had a stroke. He spent three weeks there so I had plenty of time to practice. After that I only picked up my needles off and on through the next few years. What kept my knitting mojo down I think was that I had so many other demands on my time that I found it hard to make knitting more of a priority. What has really inspired me lately has been a practical project (knitting diaper covers for cloth diapers) that has helped me feel more confident about my knitting skills. Now I have even started dyeing my own yarn, that is how obsessed I am now.

[Knit Girl]

The only time I lost my knitting mojo was when I lost my grandpa. It was really hard on me, and I just couldn't bring myself to knit any stitches. As time went on, I was able to pick it up again and haven't put it down since!

[Bianca]

Don't worry... your mojo will come back. Especially when you will take the time to relax a bit (holidays and stuff) I found my mojo after I stopped working and in that time I was pregnant, expecting my youngest son. Now I am even designing... so things can go weird :-)