I haven't knit a single stitch in close to 2 weeks. It's kind of stressing me out, but I'm coming to terms with it. I'm working on being ok with taking a break. We've been busy, we had company in town and then I wasn't feeling well and spent the better part of a week laying in bed/on the couch with very little energy. This past weekend I was feeling better and the weather was so nice that I spent most of my time outdoors. Towards the end of last week I began sewing my African Flower Hexagons together, which, though not technically knitting, did satisfy my crafting/stitching needs.
I'm working hard to try and establish a little bit of balance in my life. For the past 6 years I have dedicated almost all of my leisure time to knitting. I love to knit, so it hasn't been difficult, and since knitting sort of counts as "work" for me, spending a few hours a night knitting always feels very productive. But I've got other interests too, painting, drawing, sewing, gardening, baking... these other interests have all been pushed aside while I've focused on knitting.
While I most certainly don't plan on putting an end to my knitting career (or even slowing down really), my goal is to try and manage my time off a bit better so I can become more well rounded. The way I see it, diversifying can do lots of good. Change my perspective, allow me to approach my knitting from a different point of view. As a creative person I've become accustomed to these ebbs and flows of inspiration and motivation. The challenge is learning how to be ok with the lows because I know that a high is just around the corner and I've got to be ready to make the most of it!
Do you guys struggle to find balance in your crafting life? Is it just me? Any tips on how to achieve balance?
I find that my other hobbies either take up a lot of room and kind of require the hubby to not be around (dance, yoga), or kind of have to occur in one specific place (technically, the sewing machine is portable, but really, it lives where it lives), so yeah, my knitting tends to take over. It can happen wherever I happen to be, I can do it by myself or with company, I can focus on other things while I'm doing it... It's hard to find a downside. Sometimes I just have to force myself to tear myself away from it and do one of the other things, and that pretty much always turns out well, but it does require some conscious effort to make it happen.
ReplyDeleteI consider balance to be how I personally feel, regardless of the craft or hobby involved. If I feel out of balance, then I will do whichever craft my heart feels like doing. Sometimes I knit, other times I crochet. Sometimes I go for a photo walk and other times I write. It's whatever activity I feel will recharge me at the moment.
ReplyDeleteSo balance is subjective - do the craft that brings you joy and you will have balance naturally.
Love the African Flower Hexagons. The part about not knitting, not feeling well, and spending some days/weeks on the couch without any energy remind me of my first trimester! :) And I totally understand the juggling act of your passions and interests, as I love to cook, bake, garden, knit, and crochet, take pictures, and more... Always need to have creative outlets and since there's (too) many it's hard to spend time on them all! I think whichever project is grabbing you at the time is the best one to give attention to, and it's just best to be working on what makes your heart happy. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel much the same as you Tanis. I've been knitting every chance I can get for years. I used to read more, and walk more, and cook more. Now all I do is knit. I love it, but I need to find balance in my life as well. Thanks for posting about your struggles, it's nice to know I'm not the only one.
ReplyDeleteYour African Flower Hexagons are looking beautiful. I love the color palette.
ReplyDeleteI find that it's hard to find balance regardless. My life is constantly out of balance due to the stresses of my job (#1), maintaining a clean house (#2), and quality time with my husband and 3 dogs. Knitting or crafting time is usually squeezed in wherever I can fit it. Which is usually on my lunchtime and when the dogs are exhausted from playing. I almost think that it's nearly impossible to have a completely balanced life. it's always going to be a little off center.
Your blanket is wonderful - great color choices!
ReplyDeleteI feel out of the balance if I'm not following my passion at any particular moment. Since I, too, love to paint, cook, and read and take photos, I find that these inform my fiber pursuits. I do go with the mojo - so if painting is it, I go with it. If fiber-related, I go with that. They do tend to all balance out in the end.
I have lots of hobbies, too - mostly tactile fiber-related ones, like knitting and weaving and quilting. I too have struggled with balance between them, but in recent years I have tried to let go of what I "should" be doing and instead follow my heart to what I "want" to do. I think that creative pursuits are food for the soul, and that it's best to let the soul lead the way, rather than the rational mind. If that means that I spend months knitting before a quilting project inspires me to get back to the sewing machine, so be it. Balance is great, but sometimes a certain craft fits a time in our lives better than another one would, and why fight it?
ReplyDeletei wish you luck! i'm still working on finding a time to re-incorporate spinning into my life. i love to spin, but it has somehow fallen by the wayside.
ReplyDeleteI've been struggling with the same thing for a few months now. After the book project, I felt so worn out that I thought about quitting the whole knitting / designing job. I took a little break, did the other things I loved (photography mostly) and now I feel a lot better about knitting. It's not yet as important as photography but it's fun again and I'm feeling inspired again.
ReplyDeleteI think it was the point when I decided that I'll do only what makes me happy, that made the change. I'm not designing something because "I should" and because "everybody else does that", I only do what makes me feel good. I hope it shows in my designs too.
I hope I made sense :)
That's true that since I began knitting (2 years ago), I put aside all my other craft adventures and knitting is filling up almost all my leisure time at home (I didn't loose my love for outdoors activities). I used to read a lot, and also create random stuff using beads, Fimo dough and other. I miss reading sometimes, but I love knitting so much, than, so far, I don't feel like slowing down my knitting habit. This is what makes me happy these days. But I know, one day, I will be ready to diversify and pick back reading and other crafty activities (or discover some new ones), but right now, I achieve my inner peace thanks to knitting only (and yoga!).
ReplyDeleteKnitting is a passion for me. When I started to feel like it had taken over my life to the detriment of other activities, I stopped one day and did nothing. It was amazing how my thoughts turned to a need for a change. My solution was to become a little bit of a clock watcher. I set aside certain blocks of time for knitting (albeit a large block each day) and smaller blocks of time to do something else that I either needed or wanted to do. It has worked for me. Each activity gives me much more pleasure knowing my hobbies and duties are not interfering with each other. Relax and enjoy each and every day!!!
ReplyDeleteWith a 22 month old running around I struggle to find the time to actually have hobbies. I use his nap time as my personal time. I like to knit while listening to an audiobook, which allows me to do two things I love at the same time. Or sometimes I'll take my knitting outside while my son runs and plays in the yard. I echo the many others above me and say "Do what makes you happy. Whatever that may be at the time."
ReplyDeleteI also have problems finding the balance in my crafting life. I have a lot of interests and different hobbies. And after long hours of work, regular exercise, eating and sleeping there isn't much time left and I tend to go to my knitting which just 'easy' to pickup. I've been dying to get back to sewing more (progressed as much as to take out some fabric this weekend) but it's such a 'hump' to get over somehow. It's easy to go 'easy'....
ReplyDeleteVery much so. I run my own web development business, so I already don't have a lot of free time. Then after that, I have to split my free time between reading, interior design, crafts (which including at this moment: a English paper piercing hexigon quilt, Emily Peacock's giant KISS pillow) and knitting (in a category all by itself) of about 3-4 projects at a time, plus travel and visiting the beautiful places in London. Plus, I've started feeling like I'd like to switch careers - something to encompass my love of interior design, crafts and British history, which is why I started a blog for it...plus an Etsy shop. So phew, I feel your pain!
ReplyDeleteI definitely have fits and spurts in my knitting 'mojo'. Often, I find that I hit a low point because the rest of my life is getting crazy, or there's a project I've promised to make that doesn't inspire me. I think early spring/summer is a pretty good time to have a knitting slump, though. The weather is so nice, and being active is so enjoyable that it seems only right to give up more sedentary activities for a while.
ReplyDeleteThe balance is tough for everyone, I think- there are always so many things I want to do, and it feels like there is never enough hours in the day! I'm always trying to figure out ways to get more done, with very mixed results.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is you have taken a hobby and made it a business/work.
ReplyDeleteYou like your "job" but its still work.Kind of like researchers/farners always thinking what if,could we....never ends.
Register for something fun like Italian/Oriental Cooking something you like but in an area you can learn
And if you register for a class,you mix with people and you get to be the student
Ohhh...love how your hexagons are coming togethe! So purdy!
ReplyDeleteI struggle with the same issue. I've really been trying to focus so much on how to balance it all. I've really been enjoying a book called "the creative habit". It's been really helpful.
Also I try to time block. A bit of this and a bit of that so I can fit all my loves in :)
Anytime you want to chat about it all drop me a line :)
That's a dilemma indeed. I make draperies for a living and work from my home. The sewing does provide a creative outlet, but I LOVE to knit. Things that fall by the wayside are definitely fitness, although I manage a 45 minute walk daily, but no Pilates in ages. Another activity that has suffered is my reading. I try, but I am usually up until midnight sewing draperies, so I am even too tired to read before bed. Anyhow, my family is well-fed, my son is happy, my house is messy, I knit when I can and just accept the fact that I am not a super-woman able to do it all!
ReplyDeleteI've been going through one of these crafting breaks for the past couple months and I HATE it. I'm still knitting, although at a fraction of my usual pace. I know it will work itself out, but I always feel uncomfortable during these periods, like something is missing.
ReplyDeleteI thought "harmony" was my favourite word in the English language, but maybe it's "balance". Just the thought of it sounds beautiful ... unattainable like a mountain peek, but beautiful nevertheless.
ReplyDeleteLast year after a mad Christmas knitting rush, I developed tendonitis in my fingers. It was excrutiating so I stopped knitting for a month. I was surprised by how attached I had become to knitting, Ravelry, and knitting blogs. I thought I may never be able to knit again so gone were the blogs & Ravelry. I fell into a slump. When your "Frost" came out for the YIC Club I decided to give knitting another go. With time my hands more or less got back to normal. I had to re-balance my hobbies a bit and spend more time in yoga & playing piano, so all is not lost.
I've recently been through a knitting slump, part of a personal slump in general. My first thought was what I might do with all that stash if I lost interest! Said stash has been living in plastic totes since my husband built a new cabinet, and I hadn't bothered to unpack it. This week, I finally set to it (before I got sick, too!) and I've found that going through it and reminding myself of all the potential has really helped. Also cleaned up my pattern notebook, and found fresh inspiration on ravelry. You'll get your "groove" back! Pam
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