It’s normal but feels pretty devastating when it happens. Especially when we don’t see it coming. Losing our knitting mojo can leave us feeling empty and sometimes a bit panicky. But, there is a remedy, so don’t despair. Let’s talk about how to get back in the knitting groove.

How do we lose our mojo?

Lack of mojo seems to appear out of nowhere and often comes as quite a shock. One day you’re fine, then bam, the next day you wake up and JUST. DON’T. FEEL. LIKE. KNITTING.

When we look back we might notice a pattern, or see a few clues that explain why we’ve lost our knitting mojo.

• Maybe we’ve knitted A LOT. Fast and furious knitting, working to deadlines (even self-imposed deadlines), and churning out project after project at breakneck speed are a recipe for burnout. Combined with a couple of stressful life events, a difficult work situation or a health scare and the knitting that was keeping us keeping-on ends up being the first thing we want to drop when life starts to slow down.
• Perhaps we’ve just been working on the same kinds of projects for (what feels like) FOREVER. 12 pairs of vanilla socks in a year sounded like a great plan in January but by September it’s starting to feel a bit of a chore. A hat for everyone in the family is great … until you’re on hat number 10. Shawl after shawl after … shaaaaawl might feel boring when your fingers are itching for a cardigan. All of a sudden, you don’t feel like knitting another stitch.
• Or maybe, every time you hit a tricky bit in your knitting you put it in the “naughty corner” and cast on something new … and one day you realise you’ve 25 WIP’s and no finished projects and your WIP’s just don’t hold any appeal. Or, maybe you tried a new stitch or yarn and it just isn’t working out like you’d hoped and, feeling disappointed, you give up on your knitting and don’t feel like picking it up again.

Relax, your mojo will return!

I know, it’s easy to say “relax” but often hard to do. But really, relax. Trust that your knitting mojo will come back. When it will come back is harder to predict, but there are a few things that you can try to help things along. The very first thing to try is: try not to panic. Panicking and stressing that you’ve got no knitting mojo will slow things down even more. So, R E L A X.

Do something you love.

Take your lack of knitting mojo as an invitation to indulge in something else you love.

• Love to cook? Then cook. Love flowers? Pop some in a vase. Love to read? Grab a book. Go crazy; dance, garden, sew, crochet, paint, weave, draw or journal. Do whatever makes your heart sing and enjoy it like there’s no tomorrow.
• Are you tired? Often we can start to think that we’re “over” things when we’re just plain old tired. If that’s the case, sleep. And then sleep some more.

Knit something low stress.

Make it truly low stress. Find an easy-peasy knitting project and give yourself permission to just roll with it. No pressure about how it turns out. Forget about whether the yarn is “perfect”. Ignore gauge if you need to. Just knit with abandon on something that has no strings attached.

Squish yarn!

Do you have a stash? It doesn’t matter how much yarn you’ve got. Get it all out (or a lot of it if you’ve got a huge stash!). Spread it on the bed and remember what scrummy yarn is hiding in there.

Get up close and personal; gaze at the colours, squish the yummy fibres and listen for the whispers about what those skeins want to become … let your imagination go. You don’t have to cast on, just let your mind wander and see what happens.

Take the opportunity to sort things out. It’s surprising how invigorating a tidy stash can be. Give your shelves, baskets or tubs a wipe, pop in some fresh smelly soap, lavender or whatever else you use to keep things fresh and take some time to put all your yarn away so that it’s lovely to look at and easy to access.

You might be tempted to keep a few skeins to one side … and you might find your fingers itching to cast them on.

If you don’t have much of a stash, visit a local yarn shop. Take your time, browse and squish your way around the store. If something feels delicious, buy it!

Love your tools!

There are so many knitting tools to love! Notions, bags, books, magazines - pour a hot cuppa and remind yourself what you’ve got. Grab a few extras if you’re needing anything and put a notions pouch together. Check out my knitting notions blog post for some ideas.

Be generous.

How about casting on something special for someone special? Knitting with a knitworthy recipient in mind is a happy thing to do and it might help you shift your knitting slump. Choose some yarn they’d love, a pattern you’d enjoy and knit a bit of love into every single stitch.

Chat with your community.

• Do you belong to a knitting group? Don’t stay away because you’re not in the mood to knit. Bake a cake and head along even if you don’t knit one row when you’re there. Enjoy the company, admire the knitting and soak up the yarn fumes.
• Try visiting the Truly Myrtle Knit & Chat Hangout! It’s a super friendly, supportive community. , Pop in to say “hi”, even if you’ve got nothing on your needles. Tell us about your struggles. A problem shared is a problem halved! Scroll through the gorgeous photos and feel inspired.
• Don’t lose touch because your mojo has vanished. We still want to see you!

Most of all, don’t lose heart. Your mojo will come back when it’s ready!