Thanks to my blog and it’s handy archives, I have noticed a pattern with me. At least over the past 4 years, I tend to get a little sluggish around this time of year. The end of summer/pre-fall season. I don’t want to knit or sew–can’t really think of anything I want to make. I don’t want to cook or try new dishes. I certainly don’t want to blog. I am tired. Bored. Uninspired. Simply put, in a funk.
If I could write this off as an isolated occurrence I would feel better but using my blog as evidence, this is a pattern. This discovery is troubling to me. Fall is my favorite season…or so I have always thought. Actually no. It is. Fall is my favorite. I love the weather and the food and the holidays and the clothes and everything about how it feels. So why aren’t I anticipating it? Gearing up? Planning my fall adventures?
My worry is that (as in years past) the funk that falls over me bleeds a little too far into the actual season. Thus spoiling, or at least preventing me from fully enjoying fall. I am not sure how to snap out of it but I figure recognizing the pattern is my first step. Second step…Inspiration.
My first thought was knitting. I need to start knitting something I actually want to wear and make. Everything I have started since I finished the carp hasn’t done anything for me. I go to ravelry for the first time in ages and the first pattern I see…Delancey Cardigan! Ummm…I love it! Looks different and fun to make. Plus it looks like something that would actually look good on me.
Could this be it? The answer to my post-summer/pre-fall funk? Maybe it is that easy but just to be safe I think I need a little more inspiration to wake my soul up a bit. So I was thinking, maybe you guys (the faithful still reading my blog) could help me out. What has been inspiring/exciting you lately? Doesn’t need to be knitting or craft related–really anything: a recipe, pattern, song, book, quote, activity…whatever. Thanks in advance. As you can see, I can really use your help.
LOVE the cardigan!! So what inspires me? I’m in the same slump as you. I finally found some inspiration from my one allotted Diet Coke per week which was today. But then I realized it was the surge of caffeine that got me energized. The surge is gone and now I sit on my couch. But I sure love that cardigan! 🙂
I get a knitting funk in the summer too. BTW – that cardi is $2 at KnitPicks 🙂
It’s sort of a weird transitional period right now, isn’t it? Maybe instead of looking at it as funk, you could consider it a rest period to get you ready for fall and winter fun 🙂
How about gearing up with a small-ish project? I’ve seen some cute berets on ravelry lately. Or make a pillowcase or other home accessory for your apartment? Sometimes just dreaming of and planning projects gets me back into crafting mode. That Delancey cardi is pretty cute, it would be fun to pick colors for it!
Are you sure it is a funk, or is it that you are enjoying the season. I think it is hard to be as productive in the fall because you are busy just enjoying it!
Margaret has been inspiring me. AND her amazing auntie.
I get pretty sluggish around this time too. I think it is mostly just utter exhaustion from having done so much over the summer. I’m doing my best to put my chin up and barrel through. Canning and photographing the seasonal change are helping me get through right now which is probably evidenced on my blog as of late.
You’re probably one step ahead of most in noticing the pattern though. Hang in there!
Gah! I’d try to be more sympathetic but you have to make that cardigan! It is fabulous, it would look great on you, and I want to see it happen. 😉 (And by the way, I don’t know about the seasonal aspect of it, but it would take me a looong time to recover from the perfection of Carp.)
Are you anticipating any fun fall events, like a cornmaze, hayride, bonfire, apple picking (former Midwesterner here, obviously)? Because I can see you getting amped over knitting this sweater for something like that. And then you & Kara can do a photo shoot in a pumpkin patch!
I find inspiration this time of year in the form of fairs, festivals and the like. I find a website for local craft fairs, or farmers markets or even commercialized fairs, they have some crafty stuff too. I am in MA and the area is big on fall harvest festivals and such. So I count on caramel apples and other artists and crafters to inspire me. And the colder weather helps too, because I just want to stay home and knit. Good luck! I look forward to seeing your next project.
Amy
(anabeln on ravelry)
Seeing the morning ski with Orion overhead, the blackness against the morning light, and the shades of blue dawn fill my soul. The mountains full of color, a hike along a trail (don’t forget to look at the views and not just the trail), with the colorful leaves shuffling in the air. In other words, strength can come from nature, her rich colors, and crisp air.
Weed allergies have been making me feel less than energetic lately.
Having said that, I’ve been craving a better tactile experience with my knitting. Addi Turbos are great, but what sounds divine is knitting a nice crunchy wool with some Lantern Moon Ebony needles.
Also, some of the chunkier yarns and patterns at Quince and Co. have caught my eye lately. Simple and elegant.
Crafy-wise, these cute Winter ornaments have been trying to inspire me to design some of my own. Winter!
Finally, if you haven’t tried it, scroll through Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.
Good luck!
I’ve been wanting to make Delancey as well. It’s such an awesome cardigan. What colors are you envisioning?
I agree with Steph; a small project may be the right step to get you engaged and inspired.
If all else fails, maybe making some kind of baked good that contains cinnamon would help invoke the season.
I, myself, haved been feeling a little too tired to be inspired lately. But I LOVE the cardigan. Most of my little bits of free time are spent reading lately. Driving around and looking at houses, driving through the canyon/picnicing (Utah) and going to the library always get me inspired. Love you!
Well, if it helps any, I’m pretty sure it is a natural phenomenon. I mean, a lot of creatures in the animal world are stuffing themselves silly, getting ready to hibernate. Some of that has to have been carried over in our genes, don’t you think? The days are getting shorter and night is coming sooner. I think everyone must feel some sluggishness this time of year. I know I do. Love the cardigan. I think it’s okay to go slower and take the season easy. It becomes so beautiful outside that just sitting and enjoying it, storing up emotionally for winter, is the perfect way to spend fall days.
PS This is what I’m casting on today and I’m pretty excited about it. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fresco-colorwork-wrap-vest
You need to get inspired, cuz I love reading about what you’re up to! I’ve been considering Delancey, too. I’ll be interested to see your color choices.
That Delancey cardigan is amazing!! Maybe you just need this time to rest & regenerate all the crafting urges…
Lately I have been inspired at the thought of moving.
However I have been feeling somewhat uninspired in general.
And I love the cardigan.
I understand craft funks. I’ve actually been feeling so overwhelmed with things I want to make that I’m paralyzed.
right now, the thing that is inspiring me is need. Greta needs skirts, I need skirts and dresses. I just hope that inspiration turns into making before it fizzles out.
I sometimes find just looking at the ready to wear clothing ads that come out so much at this time of year get my mind going in the knitting direction. But I also find so many things I want to do my list changes almost daily!
Sometimes just casting on gets me going and I bet that would work for you as well…just start! or to coin a phrase..
just do it….
I do not believe you want to see my UFO stash. It’s mortifying. I keep starting things and then getting bored. Ugh. So bored. I LOVE the cardi. You should defo knit it.
Good to read you again! Not related to knitting: learning spanish! Knit wise knitting: small projects like baby knits (lots of baby coming in my surroundings), mittens, socks… and finish my Thermal….. I was gonna say that the Delancey Cardigan must be fun to knit! What colors will you choose?
So, this is totally consumerist, BUT – yesterday I too had a bad bad case of the mehs. I decided to just lay low, put on some netflix, and since I had a pair of socks I felt obligated to knit, I ran through my options. I had originally thought of a particular skein of yarn, but it wasn’t doing it for me. So I pulled out a skein of yarn I had spun, and cast on for it. It was very inspiring to use yarn I had made, and this morning, I started crusing through Etsy. (The consumery part of this story.) But it was just so COMFORTING and INSPIRING and BEAUTIFUL to see all the beautiful yarn and dyed roving and things I have loved purusing for years. I think I just needed to fill my creative and visual well with beautiful images. Didn’t have to buy any of it, but it was really necessary to get the visuals to start revving up my own dreams again. It was also inspiring to think of making something for someone I love.
Oh, and Martha Stewart magazine completely inspires me – there is this recipe for a stew that you make INSIDE a pumpkin, and I am Inspired to make it. Because I didn’t do it last year. And this year has been about making sure to do the lion’s share of things I haven’t done but wish I had. So stew in a pumpkin is on the docket. But you are right, this time of year is so interesting – I savor every fall day, and want to get ready for it, but sometimes there is just both too much and not enough – time, energy, inspiration – it can be sort of a scattering time!
Anyhow, consider that boredom is a necessary and vital counterpoint to inspiration. What are your body and mind doing when you are listless, bored, tired, uninspired? It is resting. Perhaps you just need or want to lie down in a quiet room. Boredom is the state before dreams can begin again. Boredom is you just needing to slow down and do nothing. And out of that stasis your dreams can begin to once again forment. So don’t worry about it. Go with the flow. Do other things. The drive to do and make will hit you again.
I vote for the cardigan. It would be a stunner!
I’m so relieved to hear of someone else feeling the same way – though I wish both of us felt better! My knitting doesn’t suffer when I get a serious case of the mehs (everything else does instead). That said, I have done a bunch of smaller projects lately that have gotten me all fired up – a striped noro hat, my first stranded colorwork project (also a hat) and a pretty scarf and I find that I’m all wound up about so many other things to knit. I think smaller projects are great to get one excited again (I’m usually a sweater knitter!) Good luck!
I’m with you on the funk. Not sure why exactly but it’s probably six of one thing and half dozen of another. Journaling helps me to get back on track. Also, a really great book for life inspiration as well as craft inspiration is Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. It sounds like it would be just about being creative but it is so much more. Time and time again it has helped me overcome the emotional or rough spots in my life. Hope you have a wonderful day.
I think it can creep up at anytime but the changing seasons always leave a small amount of grief at their passing. I’m inspired by this right now. http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/dark-and-stormy I can just see it in so many lovely colours, not just the gray.
Sometimes when you get out of your usual environment for a while, you can find renewed interest in your crafts. Yesterday we went to Cape Cod, MA for the day (it’s a 2 1/2 hr. drive from my house), and I came back much more inspired to knit and write than I have in a while.
Good luck!
I really do hope that you started that cardi already! if you see something that you really want to knit, and need something to work on start it. Work on it and get into it. I picked up twist after I put it down 2 years ago, I think I had holiday knitting, and then no desire to knit a grey sweater in January. I wasn’t really into it until after the ribbing and then oh, wow I’m in love with this sweater!
Right now I can’t get enough of Alton Brown of good eats on the food network. I’m not really a cook, however I love his show and how he talks about the whys, and hows of food. It’s making me into a cook 😉
I completely get it. It’s a transitional period, and change takes some energy. It’s a hard one this year too because it’s technically autumn now, but it’s not cold enough to inspire knitting for warmth. I guess if I have any advice it’s to recognize your rhythm and go with it. Sure, do a few minutes a day, if you want, to keep the knitting skills sharp, but enjoy doing some other things and consider this period a period of filling the well. When it’s full you’ll go back there and find more inspiration and excitement when you need it.
One thing that has been inspiring me lately is a video gaming podcast called IGN Girlfight. It’s the female parts of the editorial staff of IGN talking about what they’re playing, answering viewer mail, and talking about gaming conventions, controversies, and their lives. It’s frivolous, but it’s fun.
I also enjoy taking walks with a camera, ie. my phone.
Oh, and if you want instant inspiration, Black Sheep is having a sale right now through the weekend.
Um, I’m inspired by reading blogs and finding cool cardigan patterns to copy! 🙂
[…] is not enough–you still have to learn how and I was dragging my feet. As a result of my call for inspiration (thank you, thank you to everyone who shared what is inspiring you) I decided that learning a new […]