The importance of graceful exits
The art of starting and finishing (knitting) projects - Part 3, CraftDoodling Designs updates, etc.
For as long as I have been knitting, I have struggled with resistance to the very projects I want to complete. This is especially true in the middle of a project when the end is nowhere in sight. 🧶 I have been writing around this topic for the past two weeks.
Thank you for indulging me with your comments and feedback, I am so glad to see these ideas and thoughts resonate with so many of you. 💗 Read them here and here if you had missed earlier.
Last week we talked about how hard it is to make ourselves do the work even when we know that it is the only thing left to do and how important it is to be consistent.
But how to keep going day after day like that without losing motivation? Some days I find myself highly motivated 🙋🏾♀️ and wanting to do things but other days my motivation hits the rock bottom.
For example, I used to do midnight knitting sessions 🌃 with gusto in the past, only to find out in the morning that I had forgotten to change needle size or had knitted a couple extra inches. I simply didn’t feel like working on it again the next day.
Sometimes I push through several steps in my designs even when I am exhausted, only to undo things and return to the white board yet again. At those times, I feel so frustrated and clueless 🤦🏽♀️ that I end up not doing the necessary work for days.
The real secret to not losing motivation day after day, it seems, is knowing when to stop. The idea is not to douse that little flame of motivation inside you, but keep it going. 🕯️
You write until you come to a place where you still have your juice and know what will happen next and you stop and try to live through until the next day when you hit it again. - Ernest Hemingway
I am slowly learning to pace myself in my work. Having a graceful exit point for our everyday sessions, makes it easier to pick up the project and continue with it the next time.
If I am knitting a lace shawl alternating complex lace rows and rest rows, I would stop a day's session right after working a lace row. So I can ease into the next day's session with a rest row.
I have seen knitters finish a sock or a mitt, and immediately cast on the next one and knit a few rounds before calling it a day.
For tackling lots of stockinette like a sweater body or sleeve, prolific knitters often have a daily limit or visual indicators to keep them going. I sometimes stop when I reach the end of an audiobook chapter, so I can look forward to the next day's stockinette session.
When I am working on a design, I alternate between sample making and calculations as necessary. I try to stop each session when I have clear ideas about the next step. Sometimes I just have enough time to research, compare techniques that I want to use in a particular design. 👩🏾💻 Working on it will have to wait for another time. It is hard to work like this instead of just going, but it helps to minimize the amount of rip and redo sessions. 🐸
You have to find ways to save some of that motivation, so you can use it to start your next session successfully. I like to think of it as saving some starter dough to bake a brand new loaf the next day. 🍞
How do you practice daily motivation? What little things keep you going in your craft? I'd love to hear from you. 💙
FEATURED PATTERN
I had forgotten about featured pattern for a while, but here it is again. (: I find myself reaching for the warmth of this little shawl these days.
Pattern: Low Key Scarf available on Ravelry and Payhip. I have used one strand of fingering weight yarn and one strand of lace weight mohair to get the fuzzy texture. It can be knitted with DK weight yarn as well.
CRAFTDOODLING DESIGNS UPDATE
I have written two classes for brioche beginners last week to teach at my LYS. Keep an eye out for them if you are in the area.
Brioche Swatches My sock design is going on well so far. I am onto my second one. Here is a little reel I posted on instagram of me walking and knitting. :)
I have a test knit coming up soon for a very beginner-friendly brioche scarf. I’ll post details soon. If you wish to be notified as soon as my testing calls go up, please join me on Slack and send me a DM.
OTHER THINGS YOU MIGHT LIKE
Books I Just finished reading 📖
Reasons to Stay Alive - Matt Haig
After Dark - Haruki Murakami
Books I’m Currently Reading 📚
Watchmen - Alan Moore
Until next time,
Kavitha. ♡
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Sometimes a design will just grab me, like your Shirin Shawl did, and I have to force myself to put it down each day. I did like the balance of lace and garter stitch and bobbles I always tried to stop for the day with a few rows of just garter left to ease me in to the next session.
Oh my goodness, this is so relatable. Sometimes you just need to know when to put something down and step away. You might come back to it, or you might not but either is better than persevering with something that you know deep down isn't working.