Good Morning!  It is going to be a beautiful day, and all I want to do is sit outside and crochet.  Oh, I wish I had such luxuries…maybe if I hurry and get my work done I might be able to take a break outside (a girl can wish, right?).

Today I wanted to talk about fear.  Fear creeps up in many life situations.  It is so easy for self-help books to say that it is all in your head, and you have to re-train your thinking, but for the person going through the fear, it isn’t so easy.  I never thought I would be afraid while crocheting, but last night I had butterflies in my stomach and self-doubt lines running through my head.


“This is the front, what if it isn’t big enough?  What if I hate it and never wear it?  Did I really do this right? It doesn’t look like the professional garments,” and on and on went the running commentary in my head.  My thoughts paralyzed me from crocheting last night, and that ain’t right.  So here are five ways to beat the fear that creeps up when working on a project.

 

 

 

 

1. Read the Entire Pattern

I don’t always do this, but I am going to start.  When beginning a big project from a new pattern, read the entire pattern first.  This includes the notes, special stitches, and different parts of the garment.  There is a reason teachers told us to read the question and ALL the answers before choosing the right one, you aren’t going to be successful if you don’t have all the variables.  Oh, and although I hate this, we always have to check the gauge.

2.  Make a swatch with a bigger, cheaper yarn

This goes along with Plan ahead, but it can be helpful nonetheless.  If the pattern you are using calls for 2 miles of alpaca, and you love how it looks, but is a complicated pattern with different stitches, give it a try with a cheaper yarn.  This way, when you finally use the “nice” yarn, you’ll feel more confident on how it works out.

3.  Walk Away

A break is never a bad idea when you are having doubts.  Sometimes the time away will give you a new appreciation of your project, sometimes you’ll decide you don’t want to go further, either way you’ll look at your project from a new perspective. Oh, and don’t feel guilty about not finishing something right away, crochet should be fun, not stressful.

4.  Frog it

I hate frogging pieces.  You put all that work into it and it just doesn’t look like the photo, plus it fits lousy in all the wrong places.  If you are at a place in your project that you know you will never wear it (and there is no guarantee someone else will wear it), then frog it and save the yarn.  No harm, no foul, you learned something knew – maybe that the chunky acrylic doesn’t drape as well as the merino, yes, I’m writing from experience.

5.  Push on through

Sometimes you have to push on through to see your results.  I’m at this point now, with my Irish Crochet Top.  I can’t try it on to see if it will fit, so I just have to finish the back.  If it doesn’t fit, I can still frog it and salvage the appliqués, but I’ll never know until it is complete.  Plus, clothes, can be altered, unraveled, or complete, but you’ll never know the results if you don’t try.

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Do you ever feel stuck in a “fear” rut?  What do you do to move passed it and succeed?  Hope everyone is having a great start to the week!  Happy Crocheting!

 

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