Motivation help?

[notyourwendy]

I have just recently discovered that I'm not so good at large projects.  Unfortunately, I've this learning moment came to me in the middle of a large project that has a deadline and I'm having a really hard time motivating myself to work on it.  I'm at the point where it doesn't seem like my skein is getting visibly smaller or my project visibly larger and I've been doing the same pattern over and over and over and I'm bored with it.

I swear, when this blanket is done, I'm going back to shawls and hats and socks.  I even have the projects all lined up but I can't touch them because I know if I start on something else, this stupid blanket will never get done.  What do you all do to work through times like this?

Comments

[jumpuphigh]

-TV
-Invite friends over to knit with me
-Knit in strange places
-Take a break from the project and do something small and satisfying

[notyourwendy]

I do need to get around to finding myself a knitting group, so thanks for that reminder!

I did some small scarves over the holiday as a break from the blanket and now all I can think about is how small projects result in a finished object that much sooner. :)

[jumpuphigh]

:D I guess that's one of my ideas that won't work for you.

[fire_my_spirit]

I make up little games and bribe myself so I don't get bored. For instance, every two rows of a big project, I might get to eat a piece of candy or play a round of solitaire. This breaks up the monotony, and you wind up still working on the knitting even if you are really thinking of something else.

[notyourwendy]

Bowl of M&Ms, here I come!

[ct]

Spreadsheets! Spreadsheets with little boxes to tick that make the counter go up! But I'm the sort of person who a) likes putting the spreadsheet together, and b) finds it motivating to know that I'm currently 29.97% finished with this pair of socks. Your mileage may vary.

[notyourwendy]

I thought about using two stitch counters: one to tell me what row I'm on and one to tell me how many sets of the pattern I'd finished, but by the time I thought of it, I was well into the second skein of yarn and it seemed kind of silly by that point.

[jackandahat]

I tend to put row markers in it just to prove to myself I am making progress. Not proper lifelines, just weave a scrap bit of yarn back and forth between the stitches when I start for the day. So when I'm at the end of the session and thinking "I got nothing done!" I can look down at it and see my progress.

I also do sometimes take time out for smaller projects. A simple hat is only five or so knitting hours for me, and sometimes it's been worth taking that time out - doing something with different wool, different needles, where I can watch myself making progress. Then I go back to the big thing with reasonable speed instead of feeling like I'm slogging for every stitch.

(I understand if working on other things isn't an option, I'm just answering for what I do.)

[notyourwendy]

I made some scarves over the holiday for gifts and that was what basically confirmed to me that I'm a small project kind of knitter. It was just such a relief to finish something and it actually made going back to the big project harder. The next person I know having a baby is getting hats and booties and bibs rather than a blanket.

[jackandahat]

*nods* It's one of those things where people seem to be at one end of the spectrum or the other.

[gumbie_cat]

Audiobooks and podcasts, or tv/dvds if it's fairly plain and I don't need to be looking at my hands all the time. Distraction is key.

[notyourwendy]

OOhh! Audiobooks, I didn't think of that, thanks!

[bloodandbubble]

I judge my progress by how many episodes of a show I can sit through while working on a large project. Though so far I think my larges has been a lap blanket that's only 36 x 36 inches made with scrap yarn from smaller projects.

[notyourwendy]

It may be time to dig out some bad movies to watch. :)

[bloodandbubble]

It works gives your mind something else to focus on. I've gone through all the anime in the house twice. Makes me debate getting more or actually starting to watch regular TV.

[notyourwendy]

My bad movies of choice tend to be old kung-fu movies with sub-titling, which makes it hard knit and read/watch the movie at the same time. I've got some TV on DVD that I've been meaning to get around to, so this may be the perfect opportunity.

[pensnest]

Listening to a nice long story helps! So, audio books, or even podfic.

Perhaps you could use a tape measure, and track actual progress? It might be more encouraging than looking at your work and thinking, I haven't got anywhere.

[notyourwendy]

I'm going to dig out a tape measure this evening. That's a wonderful idea.

[dhae_knight_1]

N'thing TV. Or, in my case, TV-Shows on an external harddisc, hooked up to my TV. Last time I did this, I inhaled the entirety of Criminal Minds in under 3 weeks, because my TV automatically moves on to the next file in the folder, so it usally goes something like this; ep. ends, but I'm in the middle of a round, so the next ep starts before I get around to stopping it, and then, oh well, since it's already running I'll do just *one* ep more. Conversely, when I'm done with a round the ep's still running, so I might as well continue knitting.

Also; I knitted a dress during fall with some pretty complex increase-patterns, so I actually had to write up the number of rounds and cross them off, just to get the increases right. Did wonders for my motivation to say; "I'll do 10 rounds today." Not to mention looking back and seeing I'd actually done 15!

Tl;dr version? Find something to do so you're not *just* knitting and find a way to track and/or visualize your progress.

[notyourwendy]

TV on DVD is doing the trick for me right now. Well, that and being sick with a head cold so that I'm no longer really capable of keeping track of progress.

[afuna]

TV, yes.

Also tape measure, or if you have a weighing scale, measuring the weight that's left in your skein as proof that something has changed.

[notyourwendy]

Tape measure is a good idea. I usually have one in my bag when I'm making socks, so I'll just grab that one for the current project.

[james]

I third (or thirteenth) the TV! Then I'm not looking at the blanket and seeing it not get bigger. Another thing that helps is accepting the fact it won't get bigger anytime soon and bargaining with myself 'do four rows on the blanket, then knit on project C.' Unless there is a deadline for the blanket, it will still get done but I get the satisfaction of *finishing* things.

Also, another great coping mechanism: don't start large projects. ;-) (I only make baby and lap blankets anymore! I can't stand large ones. If I need a big blanket, I make a quilt!)

[notyourwendy]

Right now I've gone and acquired a head cold, so I'm knitting mechanically with a blank stare on my face and not tracking my progress. Then, when I look down and an hour's gone by, suddenly it looks like I've done a huge amount!

And oh yeah, no more big projects for me. :) Learned that lesson.

[tephra]

TV if it is the sort of knitting I can do without looking at it much, audio books if I have to see what I am doing.

Bribery. For ever X rows on the project I don't want to work on I can do X rows on the one I really want to be knitting instead. I did this when I had a sweater that had gotten monotonous and a shawl I really wanted to work on. I took how many stitches I had in a row on the sweater and figured out how many rows that would be on the shawl. If I wanted to knit more rows than that on the shawl I had to go knit some on the sweater first.

[notyourwendy]

I think I am going to promise myself a cake if I can get this thing done my the end of the month.

[untonuggan]

- Definitely put some sort of marker at your knitting at the beginning of the day to mark where you started.
- Take your knitting to social gatherings (even with non-knitters) and knit while you talk. I got 12 inches done on a lace-weight scarf on #3 needles done this way.
- Audiobooks, music, TV
- Knit where you can people-watch (knitting stores, coffee shops, etc.)
- Bribe yourself. "If I finish X number of rows, I can [go out for dinner, look up other project ideas on Ravelry for when I'm done, download some music from iTunes, etc.]"
- I do find having another project going can help. Just one, and something small. This can also serve as the bribe. "If I do X number of rows on the hated project, I can do Y number of rows on the fun project."
- Knit nights. You can complain to other knitters about how it's driving you nuts, listen to knitting banter, learn knitting tips, hear about their tales of knitting woe/success, etc.

Hope this helps! I'm in the middle of a hellish project of my own right now. Perhaps reading about it will amuse you.

[notyourwendy]

Took the knitting to board gaming on Saturday and got a decent chunk done.

I also have really been meaning to find a knitting group in my area. I've looked kind-of haphazardly online, but maybe this will give me the motivation I need to do a more serious search.

[untonuggan]

Ravelry seems to be the best list of knitting groups I've found (better than Meetup, for example). Also, you might check local community centers, etc.

[notyourwendy]

I'm kinda afraid of getting into Ravelry because I suspect once I log in I'll disappear from the world for a month and a half. But I haven't had much luck (ie, any) with Meetup and I keep running into instances where having a Ravelry account would be useful...

[ex_blackcat765]

Echoing music and audio books. I also toss drama cds into the mix. I don't watch much tv while knitting since I usually need to keep my eyes on my work (unless it's a garter scarf). I'll usually bribe myself by saying if I knit 1 row of a project, I'll watch an episode of a show during my 15-20 minute break. (Which stretches to about half an hour depending on the show).

[cme]

Everyone else has already suggested the things I was going to suggest, but I do want to say that I loooooove your icon and I love Patricia McKillip!

[notyourwendy]

Thanks!

I made it back when my primary craft was needlepoint and it was just a perfect fit. Now that knitting has eaten my crafting time, it's more of a general 'I made/am making some stuff' icon rather than an 'I'm stitching!" icon, but I still love it.

Patricia McKillip is one of the few authors I'll buy a hardback of without knowing anything else about it.