I saw the light and this light illuminated several unfinished sweaters, cardigans and vests distributed all over the living room and my studio. Some with missing buttons, others with their yarn ends peeping through the stitches and some still in pieces waiting for me to sew them up. And know what: I have finished them all.
.
.
.
The clever reader by now knows that this is an absurd exaggeration and that I absolutely still have at least 10 projects hiding in various stages of unfinishedness in our home. But… three projects less than two weeks before.
left photo old chaos, right photo (groan) new chaos
What have I done, you ask, to facilitate this wonderful behaviour?
- The sweaters I am speaking of sat before me in a box every day. I was forced to look at them and to also notice that the weather is changing into spring and that its perhaps time to finish the winter projects.
- Friendship. Yes honestly, friendship motivated me to tackle the most gruesome part of sweater knitting (hand-sewing, just to remind you what I really hate) Some weeks ago @shanibeer wrote a post about her unfinished projects and I so wanted to answer her but never did it… in words. Today I will answer her call and present you all my finished objects.
- The third point was a more „negative“ motivation which is very specific to me. I had nearly everyday headaches (and yes, I am doing something, like visiting several doctors to again try to alleviate this). As you remember from my post last week, I also had an exhibition going so that my energy to do anything beyond this was near to not existent. I either worked (with headaches) or was out (with headaches). My energy was so low even knitting was no option. But in these moments, I discovered that the horrible task of sewing yarn ends in or sleeves together was manageable for me. I admit the tasks itself brought me no joy, but the possibility of being able to to something was great.
- My lust for new projects was the next step on getting the unfinished projects done as I honestly could not justify adding another new project onto the box on my desk, quite apart from the fact that with more unfinished projects in this box I would be unable to look out of my window 😱
- And the last step to reach the ultimate motivation to finish my knitting projects was that I noticed over the years that I do not wear them when the time between casting on and finishing is too long. So far, I am not completely sure why this happens, I only know that it happens. Perhaps I have seen the garment too often (in the box before me) so that the novelty factor is gone and wearing it feels boring. Or perhaps my taste changed over the time and this sweater is no longer to my liking. Or perhaps it does not fit to the clothes I currently like most (which can be very different to clothes I liked a year or more ago). All in all, finishing a handmade garment fast means more wear for me. And I find this very important.
I hope I could help you to find motivation for yourself to tackle some of the more unloved parts of needlework, so that we can have more joy with crafting.
What are your tips to get things done (although you really, really intensely do not want to do them)?
Thank you @crosheille for initiating and @marblely for hosting the #needleworkmonday and the community builder team @lauramica, @romeskie and @kattycrochet I am so glad to be part of.
If you want to see more beautiful projects with yarn, fabric and most of all needles, follow @needleworkmonday on hive blog. Or even better grab your needles and keyboard and join the #needleworkmonday community. You can read more comments on this post on my hive blog.
Read more about my art und upcoming exhibitions on neumannsalva or buy some of my digital artworks on NFT showroom.
Last but not least: if my post coaxed a smile on your face you could support me with cocain coffee on Ko-fi