Oh Mojo, Mojo...where art thou, Mojo?

I love to knit!  It's been my constant companion for over 40 years (yes, I am THAT old!).  I learned to knit in college and, since then, it has calmed my over-anxious mind, kept my hands busy so I didn't snack in the evenings, helped me to learn to focus my ADHD brain, and brought countless dear friends into my life.  I have since learned that knitting is associated with a decrease in Alzheimer's disease, and increases in cognitive function, ability to focus on tasks, personal happiness, and social engagement well into later life.  Pretty powerful stuff for simply 'pulling a loop string through a loop of string', right?  

Most days I'm amazed that, with all it's benefits and feel-good vibes, everyone isn't out there knitting whenever possible.  I would think it would be commonplace to see folks knitting away while taking a walk or sitting in the park soaking up sun, waiting in the dentist/doctor's office, in the bleachers watching a game...you get the idea.  All those missing minutes spent knitting add up quickly, easily converting into the added benefit of several hats and pairs of mittens per month...or perhaps a sweater.  I've been told that there are actually 40-45 million knitters (or crocheters) in the US alone; about 1 in 6 adults.  Photographs exist of Katherine Hepburn, Joan Crawford, Cary Grant, Bette Davis and Eleanor Roosevelt knitting in public.   In more current times,  Julia Roberts, Sarah Jessica Parker, Russel Crowe, Meryl Streep, and Rosie Grier have all been spotted knitting.  Even so, it's still rare to see someone knitting in public.  A quick glance around the waiting room shows most people spend this time scrolling social media on their cell phone, which has been shown to have nearly exact opposite effects on emotional and intellectual well-being.  Instead of increased happiness and social engagement, scrolling social media is associated with decrease in personal satisfaction and increase in depression!  Imagine how changing this one small habit might positively impact mental health!

I will admit despite the numerous health benefits that accommodate a knitting lifestyle,  I don't actually know anyone who picked up their knitting needles to improve their mental health and well-being.  If you were to ask a knitter why they knit, you will get a myriad of answers, but basically it boils down to knitting is creatively fun and results in beautiful items. Stress relief and mental health are simply wonderful side benefits.   From the anticipation of selecting yarn and pattern, to the excitement of casting on, to the thrill of seeing the fabric draping off the needles. to the joy of casting off , and finally the pride of being able to say, 'I made that!', knitting is a solid journey of happiness and dopamine! I am ever so much more  relaxed and optimistic when I'm knitting.  In short, knitting makes me happy!  Almost always, that is.  Except, well...when it doesn't,  Wait...what????

Yes, you read that right!  There are times in every knitter's life where knitting ceases to delight and engage.  Why are there these periods (sometimes a few days...sometimes a few months) when knitting feels like more of a chore than play?  When none of the new patterns released by dozens of talented designers catch my interest?  When that project I found engaging and fascinating to work on last week, holds no interest for me this week?  And I do mean THIS week; lately I've been struggling to find my knitting rhythm and instead find I'm succumbing to the dreaded 'loss of knitting mojo'.  Often, paradoxically, the closer I am to finishing a project, the more difficult it becomes for me to sit down and actually knit on it.  One might think that knowing I would have a beautiful new garment/accessory to wear would motivate me to commit those last few hours of knitting time.  But, alas, this doesn't seem to be how the knitting muses work.  I'm currently knitting the second sleeve on a sweater (Antique Filigree) that is, otherwise, finished.  So, why am I finding it hard to actually bring this across the finish line??  Lots of reasons I suspect...

One, I had a couple of difficult spots earlier in the project.  I skipped a couple of steps in the setup of a sewn bind off for the waist and then had to unpick the bind off.  I know this sounds trivial but it took forever (at least 10-12 hours) and was mind-numbing. I can't stress enough - DON'T SKIP THE SETUP ROWS in a sewn bind off!  So that happened, and then it took me 3 tries to pick up the underarm stitches in the correct colorwork pattern.  This is the first colorwork sweater that I've knit where the colorwork extends below the row where the sleeves are separated from the yoke.  I did not find it straight-forward by any means...three tries.   I'm glad I took copious notes on what exactly I did for the first sleeve so that I could replicate it for the second sleeve.  Even so, knitting this last sweater sleeve feels more like a chore than pleasure.

This 'second sleeve syndrome' is fairly common.  It even has it's own little slang term - sleeve island.   So, being stuck on sleeve island is definitely part of it and so is harboring a slight resentment that the project threw up road blocks in the sewn bind off and underarm stitch pickup.  However,  it goes well beyond these simple explanations.  

There are numerous reasons for a loss in knitting mojo but first, let me say, that when a knitter experiences a reluctance in knitting, it can be, at the very least, discomforting.  I have had knitters and friends come in and confess in hushed tones, that they are experiencing loss of knitting mojo.  The first time I personally experienced a loss in knitting mojo, I was pregnant with my first child and had the typical morning sickness; I couldn't even look at my knitting needles without running for the bathroom!  I was quite concerned that  I might never want to knit again.  Something about the motion of the needles triggered nausea and it stayed with me until the third trimester, at which time I suddenly found joy in knitting again.  I  had this same response with each of my subsequent pregnancies and have heard from numerous women who experience the same knitting triggered nausea during pregnancy.   However, I promise you I am not pregnant and neither am I nauseous.

Aside from being pregnant, if I have any sort of physical pain, I tend to lose my knitting mojo.  A couple of years ago, I slipped a disk in my back, resulting in an impinged nerve; it was excruciating.  I could sit comfortably and without pain, but the effort of daily mobility left me far too exhausted to even consider knitting.  A friend of mine recently said he felt like he lost his knitting mojo since injuring his shoulder in a fall.  Another has mentioned how she has little interest in knitting after surgery several weeks ago.  There is a time to knit and a time to heal.  

Sometimes, however, there simply isn't an apparent reason why the desire to knit wanes.  I'm not in physical pain and I've been making sure to get 7 - 8 hours of sleep per night so I can function.   It could be stress; heaven knows there are so many things to be stressed about in our country at the moment.  It might even be something like a chronic lack of sleep as we are in the throes of preparing for Maryland Sheep & Wool in 3 weeks!  Truth be told, I don't ever have a lot of time to knit during the month of April and  my mind is occupied with so many business activities, not only dyeing (although that is a major one!), but also truck and trailer maintenance, quarterly and annual tax/accounting submissions, and packing for the festival as well...whew!  So, combine this with being on sleeve island and the difficulties I encountered earlier in the project, and the picture of knitting-mojo-loss starts to become pretty clear.  

Being able to identify WHY  you currently don't have your mojo, allows you to address the reason so you can get back to enjoying your knitting again!!! In my case, I feel pretty confident that once we are settled back home after Maryland Sheep & Wool, my mojo will return.  In the meantime, I need this sweater model to take with me for the festival so I will knit on it and then work on something non-knitting as a reward.  I'm already planning a list of projects to cast on after we return. I have lost my knitting mojo, for various reasons, more times than I can count.  However, like the best of friends, it always finds its way back to me.  In the meantime, I need to just buckle down and knit this because there is no way I'm going to Maryland Sheep & Wool in three weeks without this sweater!

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