Five Ways to Boost Your Crochet Motivation

If you’re anything like me then you may find it tricky to keep up the momentum once you start a bigger project - cough Blankets cough - or perhaps you run your own crochet business selling finished products and are struggling to motivate when making multiple of the same item. You don’t want to crush your love and enjoyment for the craft so it’s important to keep it fun and not make it something anxiety inducing.

Here are my top 5 tips for boosting your crochet motivation.

1. Make things that you enjoy!

I think that this is the most important of all the tips, crochet should be fun, whether it’s your business or not, and there is no point in making something that you simply don’t enjoy.

For me, amigurumi is just stressful. I love the look of the finished products from other makers but I’m always disappointed with my own and I don't enjoy the process at all. I made the decision early on that no matter how often people asked (friends, family and customers) I would not be making any amigurumi. On the other hand, I have a real passion for crochet clothing and so this is where I like to focus my time and energy.

2. Set yourself a deadline

Give yourself a deadline for when the project needs to be completed. Note this down somewhere and then work towards it.

If it’s for an order then of course this is the date by which you need to get it posted out to the customer but if it’s a personal project then it could be a special event when you’d like to wear the garment or a friend’s birthday when you plan to gift the blanket. Try to make it have some meaning rather than just the 'last Tuesday in March' otherwise it'll be a deadline that keeps getting pushed back and that's me talking from experience.

3. Break it down into steps with little rewards.

If I’m making a cardigan for example, then I may say that once I’ve finished the main body I can go make myself a nice cup of coffee. When I’ve finished a sleeve, I can take a break and read for half an hour. Once I’ve sewn in all of my ends I can have a couple squares of chocolate (who am I kidding, we’re having the whole bar and we deserve it because weaving in ends is the worst!) You can even take a break from one project by working on another smaller project - think instant gratification like hats, bonnets and appliqués!

Taking little breaks with longer projects is important because not only does it keep your motivation up but it prevents you from getting tired and making mistakes.

4. Have an assembly line

If you are making multiple of the same item at the same time then I personally think that assembly lines are the way to go. When I was making and selling Poet Cardigans I would select a few orders and then work them together. First I'd make all of the yokes, then complete the main bodies, add on all of the ribbing and finally complete all of the sleeves.

I found that this helped me to get through the orders quicker because I didn’t need to keep referring to the pattern (although by now I do have it memorised) I could just do one, repeat it for the rest and then move on to the next step.

5. Share your project on social media

People love to see what you’re making so why not bring them along on the journey. Show them you choosing the yarn, selecting the pattern and maybe share the deadline you’ve set. You can then give a few updates as the project progresses. It'll feel amazing when you can show off the finished item in all it’s glory and get other people's reactions to it too.

Bonus Tip: Don’t be afraid to say no

 This is aimed more towards my fellow crochet business owners but it applies to everyone - don’t be afraid to say no to making a product even if it’s something that you have previously made.

It’s no secret that my business saw the biggest growth with the popularity of Baby Poet Cardigans (Amazing pattern by Sandra of Little Golden Nook can be found here).

Over the course of about 18 months I made close to 260 Poet cardigans and by that point I was pretty burnt out and really struggling to motivate myself. Even with my top tips above! I struggled on for another 6months or so before I finally admitted to myself that I just could not make any more and I took them off the website.

I had a lot of DMs and emails from people asking if they could order and I just said no, sorry and directed them to other makers that I knew sold them. I even had friends and family members asking if I could make them for their little ones and as much as I wanted to (I'm a chronic people pleaser) I had to say no.

Did I lose out on business? Yes. Was it worth it? Absolutely! If I had continued trying to force myself to make and sell them then my mental health would have deteriorated further and my love and enjoyment of crochet as a craft may well have disappeared altogether. I did what was best for me and I will never regret that. Now I am able to make Poet Cardigans again without cringing, I love the little bobble stitches rather than resent them and I'm so glad about that!

As makers we put so much of ourselves into the items that we create. It's important to remember that it’s okay to say no, to change direction, to make whatever you want to make!

I hope that these tips help you with your crochet motivation. If you have any of your own motivation boosting tips then please do share them in the comments!