How to get through the summer crafting doldrums

Because sometimes you just need a jumpstart or a new direction

We’ve all been there. It’s too hot to be out in the garden, or you’re getting ready for a trip, or you’re looking for a new project to go with that new audiobook… and you’re uninspired. Looking at your project queue isn’t doing anything for you. What do you do to get out of the crafting funk?

Here’s a list of ideas to unblock the faucet of creative juices - see if any of these work for you!

1. Go to the yarn shop. Seriously. Even if you’re not going to buy anything, that’s why we make samples and put them on display - and chances are, whoever is on duty when you go in is going to be working on something that they’re excited to show off.

2. Check Ravelry or Payhip Marketplace. When you go to Ravelry and visit the patterns area, you have filters that can show you the results in different orders. Mix it up and select a new one! The default is generally “Hot Right Now,” but some of those patterns (Ranunculus, I’m looking at you) will always show up on the first page. If you want to see the latest and greatest, switch to “New to Ravelry.” For Payhip Marketplace, I got patterns right away when I typed “crochet” or “knitting” in the search bar. And the designers and patterns that popped up are definitely not the ones I typically see first in the display on Ravelry.

3. Check yarn manufacturer or indie dyer websites to see their samples and patterns. Believe it or not, you have access to yarn manufacturer and indie dyer websites as an end consumer! Especially where yarn manufacturers are concerned, they usually have an in-house design team or commission designers to create patterns that feature their yarn lines. For example, on the Berroco website, when you search “Vintage,” you’ll get a link to the color card… but you’ll also get designs that Berroco has published through the years to market various members of the Vintage yarn family; these are available through Berroco, Ravelry, or through in-store Ravelry sales at your local yarn shop. (Some yarn companies have a proprietary marketplace that only allows stockists of their yarn to access free patterns, but those are fewer and further between than in the past.)

4. Dump out your stash on the floor and play. If you have yarn stocked up in your closet or totes, pull it out and look through it - can you pair up any single skeins to use them in a 2-color project? Did you forget about that souvenir yarn you bought that one time in Colorado? Or do you have something that might work with that new yarn you saw in the yarn shop at social night? Sometimes you just need to check “deep stash” and remind yourself of pretties you already have.

5. Go to the library. Specifically, the non-fiction shelves in 746.43 in the Dewey Decimal System (or NK8800-9505.5 in the U.S. Library of Congress classification system). That’s where you’ll find books on crochet, knitting, and other textile arts.

Hopefully one of these ideas helps you overcome your crafter’s block - let me know if one of these (or multiple!) are new to you!

-Lindsey