Hello! I’m here today because I have a peculiar problem and I’m hoping I’m not the only one who does this.
Nervously clears throat
So, I have this odd tendency to get SO inspired when looking at patterns on here, that I decide, after downloading my quota of five in a day from Ribblr’s free servers (sob@Ribblr can’t we increase that limit /j) that I somehow will be able to start and FINISH them ALL in the course of a week!
Please take a moment to appreciate the stunning amount of denial and confidence (gosh, 4am me thinks I can conquer the world, poor naive girl)… that goes into that belief.
The worst part is, I do this EVERY WEEK.
Without fail. It’s like some miraculous memory failure. I’m not saying I never finish projects, because I do, it’s just that I take on too many and often suffer from burnout.
I’ll start thinking I’m the Wonder Woman of crochet and end ready to stab myself in the eye with a yarn needle but unable to do so because my hands are burning and I’ll have developed a twitch in my eye that is impossible to ignore.
Then, the next week rolls around and —you guessed it—there I go again.
I guess denial really isn’t just a river in Egypt.
So if you’ve read to the end here—and aren’t ready to put a needle in your own eyes by now (sorry), I’m wondering if I’m not the only one who does this. Anyone else think they can conquer the world with crochet and then realise they can’t?
Maybe this is all just my ADHD, but I’m hoping I’m not the only one!
Tl;Dr: I start too many projects at once and rarely finish them, only to do it all over again. Does anyone relate?
I can’t, if I have more than 3 projects (I’m a knitter) going it causes anxiety, so I only start a new project when I finish one. I do however set them up by putting the yarn and pattern in a project bag and line them up. Makes me excited to finish one so I can start the next project. :). I have a long term project, that I know won’t be finished soon, it’s a project that generally takes no brain power and I can do when I want to knit but dont have the brain power for something more intricate. Then I have 1 or two projects that have a date to have done by, like birthday or Christmas etc. My long term project is my “hats for warmth” for my local homeless shelter, they are a simple knit 2, purl 2 ribbing all the way up because it will fit most people and the prettyness comes from the yarn used, I send them to the shelter when I have 4 or 5 hats done. Just set up 30 min or 60 min (more if you have more time) of crochet or knit a day to start working on the projects you want to do, put them in the order of the projects that get you excited the most or the ones you can whip out the quickest ;).
Thank you so much for taking the time to comment! It sounds like a really smart system and I think you may have just motivated me to be a bit more organized
That’s so sweet that you knit hats for the shelter—when I have time I work with a crochet group and we make blankets for veterans
That’s actually fantastic advice! I will definitely start doing this!
I heard a term years ago and have claimed it for myself… I have startitis… It’s a condition of seeing a new pattern and starting it, knowing you haven’t finished your other projects. Sometimes, I work really hard to squash the desire to start something new; other times, I roll with it; and other times, I can’t avoid it.
My most recent examples:
I have been working on 2 sweaters for a few months (craft time is extremely limited), I’ve told myself no new projects until they are finished. I had done really well at this until Halloween… I realized I needed to make my daughter a hat for her costume, which led to buying yarn and seeing the perfect yarn to make some cobweb decorations (my own personal Wonder Woman moment happened with them thinking I would make so many and I only made 5, some were smaller just to finish them) . The hat was unavoidable as there was a need and a deadline. The cobwebs were just rolling with it, knowing I wouldn’t be making any after Halloween and could get back to the sweaters. Startitis won twice, but so far, even my desire to start a sweater for my daughter and a dress for me has not won
The hats I make are very easy to knit but the yarn makes them nice. We get cold here in IA so I like the brim to fold up quite a way up for extra warmth for the ears. :). One more and I’ll send them off and start on the next batch.
Oh my gosh, Startitis— finally a word for my suffering
Oh, well with sweaters, they’re such a commitment what I tell myself is that it’s okay to whip out a hat or similarly small project to ‘take the edge off’. Anyway, the cobwebs sound like a really neat idea and it sounds like you’ll be able to beat startitis (gosh I’m going to use that for everything craft-related now, thank you)! Thank you so much for sharing!
I wholeheartedly agree. Sending love to your dad for his service and you for making the hats for veterans—they look absolutely gorgeous—thanks for sharing the photo!
I did the same thing when I heard it… I was delighted to have a term that fit so perfectly
I should add that one of the sweaters in making was a resurrection from 2 years ago and the second sweater was a startitis because my son asked “I can’t remember, were you making that for me?” So, of course, I had to start one for him! I’ve been struggling the hardest with not starting one for my daughter because the “if I make one for her big brother, I need to make one for her” guilt keeps trying to set in, hehe
Ye i got the same problem lol, its my ASD tho not ADHD. Thats why i started pattern testing, cus my brain works better when theres a due date and when someone relies on me to finish.
As for the limit, its there cus the website will get laggy when people are downloading too much. I think there used to be no limit and the site kept crashing cus people would spam downloads (this was before i joined tho, so idk)
But ye, i got a million wips, and not just from crochet, i got crosstitch, diamond painting, whittling, paintings, drawings, the list goes on lmao
/j) that I somehow will be able to start and FINISH them ALL in the course of a week!
, I’m wondering if I’m not the only one who does this. Anyone else think they can conquer the world with crochet and then realise they can’t?
Anyway, the cobwebs sound like a really neat idea and it sounds like you’ll be able to beat startitis (gosh I’m going to use that for everything craft-related now, thank you)! Thank you so much for sharing!